Estate Planning

Wills, trusts, advanced directives—there are many legal tools available to ensure that your loved ones are cared for and your wishes are followed, but not every tool will be appropriate for your purposes. Most families should consult an experienced estate planning attorney who can help them consider their long-term goals and how to ensure those goals are met.

At the law office of Ables, Baxter, Parker, Pippin & Avant, P.C., our estate planning lawyers are pleased to provide friendly, personal attention to every client we serve. We're here to help you find the best, most cost-effective solution.

What Are Your Estate Planning Goals?

Proper estate planning can:

Minimize estate and gift taxes
Ensure that family members receive your property and assets and minimize conflict over the distribution of those assets
Ensure that your children, aged parents, or disabled family members receive care and financial support
Ensure that you receive the kind of medical care and end-of-life care you want should you be unable to communicate your desires
Significantly reduce stress on family members and time spent in Probate

Wills provide written instruction to your family members about the distribution of your assets. A will is appropriate for a wide variety of people, including those with few assets.

If you have been named Executor in a will, our estate planning and probate attorneys can help you with the legal process of administering the estate. Please see our Probate section under Practice Areas to learn how one of our probate attorneys can help you administer an estate.

Trusts come in many varieties, are more comprehensive than wills, but are also more expensive to produce and administer. In the long run, however, a trust may be the most cost-effective means to reach your estate planning goals as a trust does not go through probate. Depending upon the type of trust you create, you can retain more or less control over and use of the assets placed in the trust. We can also help with trust administration. Clients set up trusts for a variety of reasons, including providing financial and medical care for disabled children and ensuring that assets pass directly to grandchildren.

Medical Care and End-of-Life Decision Making

There are several legal tools that allow you to designate a healthcare decision maker and communicate your wishes to your family or caregivers should you become unable to communicate your wishes. These tools go by different names in different states: living wills, advance healthcare directives, health care proxies, power of attorney, and durable power of attorney.

Our attorneys will work with you to select an estate planning package that truly reflects your values and goals. Learn more about how estate planning can ensure a secure future for your family by contacting our office to speak with a Huntsville estate planning lawyer.