Estate Planning
Your Estate Planning Team
Protect yourself, your loved ones, and your legacy with Butler & Tomko, St. Charles and Lincoln County estate planning lawyers who care. During the estate planning process, our 3-member team is dedicated to helping you make the difficult decisions that accompany estate planning. When you work with us, you not only get depth of experience, you get the personal caring service and the attention you deserve.
What Is An Estate Plan?
Estate Planning is a broad term for legal documents that protect your loved ones if you tragically become incapacitated or pass away. An estate plan helps protect your family from creditors and lengthy legal battles at the most difficult time in life. Estate planning Includes:
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Wills
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Trusts
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Power of Attorneys
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Living Wills/Medical Directives
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Guardianship
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Protection of special needs children
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Conservatorship
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Asset Protection
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Business Succession Planning
The Importance of Estate Planning
In the event that you become incapacitated or upon death, having protection for your loved ones, your home, business, assets, and your personal possessions is crucial. An estate plan can offer financial security and peace of mind. We don’t want to see everything you’ve worked so hard for tied up in court while your loved ones struggle to get by and sort out the legalities.
In fact, did you know that if you do not have an estate plan and estate planning lawyers to represent your interests, months and sometimes years later, Missouri law will decide what happens to your home, finances, and family? At Butler & Tomko, it is our team’s goal to help you protect your legacy and your family if you are unable to care for them.
Trust Administration
As part of an estate plan, establishing a trust rather than just a last will and testament is typically recommended to avoid the possibility of probate. If the legal title to an estate is held by the Trustee of the decedent, then administration and distribution upon the death of your loved one is handled with greater simplicity, less expense, and without the need for probate. We handle trust administration outside of the court system with more privacy and ease.
It is important to note that with a trust, probate may be required if there is a dispute among beneficiaries or creditors file claims against the trust, in which case, the courts may be involved. Your Butler & Tomko attorneys will be prudent in their recommendations and administration of your estate plan and always work on your behalf to make the process comfortable and expedient.
Our Team
By choosing Butler & Tomko to facilitate your estate plan, you will experience this normally stressful, complex process in a simple, easy-to-understand way. Our team of two partner-level attorneys and one assistant is dedicated to giving you the individual attention that you deserve. We are accessible when you need us most.
Our streamlined approach means that when you call, email, or message us through our client portal, you are connected with someone you know and someone who knows you.
You will never feel rushed, pushed into a decision, or talked out of an opinion. It is paramount to us that you are supported while making critical decisions.
Never Too Early to Plan
You are never too young to have an estate plan – it is wise to have one as soon as you begin your working life and especially once you’re married and have children. The future is uncertain. Having a plan in place offers security that’s immeasurable.
Butler & Tomko is here to encourage you throughout the ongoing process of estate planning and will be here to support you and your family as both laws and lives change.
Why Wait? Contact Us Today
Butler & Tomko, serving clients in the St. Charles County, Lincoln County, and the Westplex areas of Missouri, is not only in the business of law – our passion is protecting you, your future, and the future of your loved ones.
If you have not yet discussed estate planning with a professional, or if you are looking to update or improve your estate plan, contact us today. We look forward to meeting you.