Estate planning allows you to plan for the future of your family, your estate, and your own health. Most people put off estate planning, believing they don’t have sufficient assets or aren’t old enough to begin planning. However, estate planning can benefit anyone. An Edgewater estate planning lawyer can help you craft an effective estate plan that’s personalized to address your wishes.
An estate plan enables you to make decisions about what happens in the event of your incapacity or death. Unfortunately, this could happen regardless of your age. By making an estate plan earlier in life, you can more effectively protect yourself and your loved ones while providing yourself with some certainty about how your affairs will be managed. This may include financial decisions, medical choices, and who inherits your estate.
The attorneys at The Preston Law Firm know that considering death or incapacitation can be overwhelming. So can thinking about who inherits your assets. We can help. For more than 35 years, our team has worked in estate planning and other areas of law that help us support families in our communities.
Our firm’s in-depth knowledge and experience in estate planning help you immensely during the estate planning process. We review your options for an estate plan, listen to your unique goals for your estate, and aid you in making informed decisions about what to include in your estate plan to meet those goals. The Preston Law Firm provides comprehensive legal services to draft your estate plan and prepare for your future.
Experience the Difference. Choose an Estate Planning Law
Firm Dedicated to You and Your Family.
An estate plan can be created with several documents that address your wishes, your assets, and the management of your estate and personal well-being. Your estate plan can be completely customized to your own needs, and your attorney can determine what documents can effectively serve those needs. Some of the more common documents included in a comprehensive estate plan are:
A will is a fundamental document of a basic estate plan. It lists the assets in your estate and the distribution of those assets upon your death. Your will can also state the executor or personal representative you wish to represent your estate in probate court and the guardian you wish to take care of any minor children. As long as you have testamentary capacity, you can update your will at any time in your life to reflect changes to your wishes.
A will is very useful, but it has limitations. A will does not prevent your estate from entering probate court, which is the state’s process of categorizing your estate, settling debts, and distributing it. The process can be lengthy and costly. Probate is also public, so the contents of your will and who benefits from your estate become public knowledge.
Trusts are a useful estate planning tool that can be either irrevocable or revocable. You could include several trusts of both types within your estate plan, and each type can hold assets in a separate legal entity. When you die or become incapacitated, the named trustee still has control over the trust rather than the assets passing to state jurisdiction. This keeps the assets from entering probate, saving your loved ones time and money.
A revocable trust, like a will, can be altered throughout your lifetime. You can name yourself the trustee and name a successor trustee to handle the trust when you cannot. This means you have complete control over the assets, including what assets are in or removed from the trust, and who benefits from the assets. A revocable trust becomes irrevocable once you die.
An irrevocable trust cannot be easily modified once it has been created. The assets in the trust and their beneficiaries are permanent except in rare circumstances, and you don’t have control over the assets. Irrevocable trusts have the additional benefit of avoiding certain taxes during your life.
A living will lists your wishes for medical care and treatment. If you are incapacitated from an accident or illness or near the end of your life, then a living will can state what medical treatments you consent to, any personal preferences for where you receive care, and how you would prefer pain management and end-of-life care to be administered.
Designating a medical surrogate puts a trusted individual in charge of making medical decisions for you. This is common for a living wills. If you are incapacitated and unable to make important medical choices, your medical surrogate can ensure you are cared for. You may want to discuss your wishes with this person when you give them these powers or list your wishes in a living will, which the individual can refer to when making medical choices.
Powers of attorney allow you to legally grant another person the ability to make decisions for you. A durable power of attorney means those powers take effect if you are incapacitated. Creating a durable financial power of attorney allows you to name someone you trust as able to manage financial matters for you if you are unable, such as paying bills or managing property.
A power of attorney designation allows your loved ones to immediately take care of your affairs if you are incapacitated, rather than needing to petition the court for those powers, which can be both time-consuming and costly.
An estate plan can benefit anyone, regardless of the amount of assets they have or what their preferences for how their estate is distributed are. An estate simply consists of the assets you own, including bank accounts, personal items, vehicles, and property. Without an estate plan, these assets are distributed by the state’s laws for estate inheritance. This may not be how you want your assets distributed, and it is also a costly process for your family. An estate plan can make probate faster or help you avoid it entirely.
Anyone can benefit from an estate plan, but it especially benefits those with:
The average cost of estate planning in Florida varies according to the complexity of your estate. If your estate has many assets, high-value assets, or complex assets, categorizing and planning it will be more difficult and, therefore, more costly.
The cost of estate planning also relies on whether you choose to work with an attorney. An attorney can be more costly but can also ensure your wishes are legally sound and able to be enforced after your death or incapacitation.
Your estate plan can be customized to address specific assets, specific beneficiary needs, and many other unique circumstances. At The Preston Law Firm, we can draft you an enforceable estate plan that supports your unique wishes. Contact our team today.
If you find yourself in this or another similar situation, the Preston Law Firm has the knowledge and experience to assist you. Timing is critical, CLICK HERE to contact us today.
The Preston Law Firm
605 South Orange Street
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168
Copyright © 2025 The Preston Law Firm. All Rights Reserved.
