Estate Planning

At Dajani PC we believe everyone should have an estate plan prepared whether you are 65 years or older or just turned 18. Life is a roller coaster and having an estate plan prepared protects your loved ones from having to deal with messy probate situations. Having a simple Will could make a difference in how your estate is distributed. Generally speaking, if your assets are below a certain threshold, an estate plan may seem like overkill, but an estate plan is not only a Will or a Trust, but instructs those you care about how you want your end of life care to look like too. These are difficult topics to discuss and so we take great care in making sure you are comfortable with these difficult topics and understand every step of the process.

Below are some of the services we provide for your Estate Plan with some cursory information on what each item is. We take a holistic approach and make sure you’re taken care of both during your life and after.

Wills

A Will tells your family and the state what to do with your assets. In most cases, when there is a trust, we use what is called a “Pour Over Will” which moves any assets that were left out of the Trust into the Trust. Wills need to be probated and do not avoid Probate.

Trusts

A Trust protects your assets from Probate. If you have real property, you can place the real property into a trust. The Trust allows a person you designate as Trustee to take care of your assets according to your instructions without having to go through the costly and time-consuming Probate process. This allows your family to grieve rather than focus on costly court hearings and family drama. A trust is not foolproof but an added layer of protection to your assets.

Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney (“POA”) is a document that protects you during life. Unlike a will and a trust, those documents are for your loved ones. This document is for you. A POA allows you to designate someone to make important life decisions on your behalf when you are unable to. We take extreme caution when drafting POA documents because we care about your independence and autonomy. At Dajani PC, the client’s autonomy and their independence is priority. Every document we draft is with that in mind first. There are different POA documents, such as a Durable or Springing POA. A Durable POA starts immediately while a Springing POA occurs after a qualifying event is met. Dajani PC therefore prioritizes Springing POA documents to make sure that you have full autonomy until you actually need assistance, removing opportunities to be taken advantage of. The POA, whether financial or healthcare, allows someone you trust to take care of you and make the difficult decisions when you are unable to.

Advanced Health Care Directives

An Advanced Health Care Directive unlike a Power of Attorney, Will, or Trust, serves two main purposes. It tells your loved ones what kind of health care you desire and it tells your doctors what to do when you are unable to voice your needs and desires. This is why Estate Planning is important whether you’re over the age of 65 or just turned 18. Sometimes bad things happen, and someone needs to make a difficult decision on your behalf. You need someone you can trust to make that decision and you need to give them some guidance as to what decision you would like them to make. That’s the purpose of an Advanced Health Care Directive, it tells doctors and your loved ones what kind of care to provide when you are incapable of doing so.