Ryan M. Wilson, Practice Area Chair

Estate planning is a personal and highly individualized matter, encompassing everything from planning your retirement to planning for after your death. Proper planning will allow you and your family to receive the full benefit of everything you have worked so hard to acquire. Unless you plan, your estate may be diminished if you become incapacitated during your lifetime. Without planning, the probate code will determine who receives your assets and administers your estate at your death. Also, your estate may unnecessarily pay substantial estate taxes. Without a plan, your family business may not be set up in the most advantageous manner for you and, ultimately, the next generation of owners in your family.

Many issues determine which estate plan is best for you and your family. Who will manage assets for your minor children if you die prematurely? Who will handle your assets and make decisions about your health care if you become disabled? How can you protect your family financially if you have to go into a nursing home? What can you do to minimize taxes at your death, including the generation-skipping tax? How can you protect your spouse and your children if you have a "blended" family? What type of business arrangement is best if you own a family business? Your estate plan should reflect your personal value system and unique circumstances.

Fraser Trebilcock Davis & Dunlap, P.C.'s attorneys are trained and experienced in all areas of estate planning, including, but not limited to:

• Revocable Living Trusts
• Wills
• Durable Powers of Attorney
• Health Care Powers of Attorney
• Elder Law
• Medicaid Planning
• Business and Succession Planning
• Corporate, Partnership, and Limited Liability Company Law
• Taxation of Estates, Gifts, and Individual and Corporate Income
• Guardianships and Conservatorships for Minors, Legally Incapacitated Adults, and the Developmentally Disabled
• Step-parent Adoptions
• Pre- and Post-Nuptial Agreements
• Probate and Trust Administration
• Probate and Trust Litigation

Estate planning requires professionals who are honest, able, responsive and compassionate.  Ryan M. Wilson, a shareholder who has practiced for over 20 years has extensive experience in drafting, establishing and administering estate plans.

This summary is intended as a source of general information. If you have questions regarding this summary, please contact Ryan M. Wilson at (517) 377-0897 or rwilson@fraserlawfirm.com.