Estate Planning

Plan for Tomorrow With Estate Planning Help Today

  • Free 30-Minute Estate Planning Consultation*
  • Best Law Firm by  "Best of the Triangle"
  • In Practice Since 1976

When creating your estate plan, let Dunn & Hemphill, P.A. answer all your questions and help explain matters of estate law to you in terms you can easily understand. Our law office has been practicing estate planning since 1976.

Our team will help you learn how to set up a solid estate plan that not only protects your money but also provides for the financial needs of your family when you pass on. Call us for a FREE 30-minute consultation on estate planning upon completion of our provided Intake Form.

How our Expert Estate Planning Team can Secure Your Legacy

Wills

A will allows a person to direct how their property will be distributed. It is effective when signed, but it is not operative until the person passes away and the will is submitted to the chancery court to be probated. It does not give the Executor any authority to act while the person is still living, and a will only controls assets titled in the person's name alone. It cannot transfer property or assets unless it is probated.

Key takeaways

  • If you have “stuff” or have “people” you should have a last will and testament.
  • A will is effective as soon as you execute it, but does not take affect until you die and your will is probated in the Chancery Court.
  • Your last will and testament is how YOU take control of what happens to your assets at death, otherwise Mississippi law determines who gets your property.

Advanced Health Care Directive

An Advanced Health Care Directive is sometimes referred to as a "living will." This allows a named agent to make medical decisions for the person if the person becomes incompetent. This also allows the person to make end-of-life decisions now regarding issues such as prolonging life, artificial nutrition and hydration, and pain relief. A person must be competent in order to sign a valid Advanced Health Care Directive.

Provide clear instructions for

  • Preferences for medical care or long-term care
  • Your choice to prolong life or not prolong life, commonly referred to as DNR – Do not resuscitate
  • Organ and tissue donation

Trusts

A revocable trust is amendable until the creator becomes incompetent or deceased. This trust is effective and operative while the person is still living. The benefits of this type of trust are that you can avoid a probate, it provides asset management, it helps avoid the need for a conservatorship, and it is favored by banks. However, this type of estate planning document is more expensive and requires you to re-title all of your assets into the name of the trust. It also requires active participation and constant management to achieve the goal of avoiding probate.

You should consider setting up a trust if you want to:

  • Guarantee that your assets are administered to benefit your heirs, according to your wishes.
  • Safeguard your assets, potentially reducing taxes and probate expenses when transferring them via a will.
  • Create a tax-advantaged charitable contribution.
  • Establish a structured approach to managing your finances in case of health-related incapacity.

Powers of Attorney

This document allows a person to appoint someone to be in charge of their financial and business affairs. The person must be competent in order to create a new power of attorney. A validly executed Power of Attorney is effective immediately if recorded or a signed copy is given to the Attorney-in-Fact. This is less expensive and faster than a conservatorship but comes with much less oversight for the agent. This person who is named as the Attorney-in-Fact must be someone that the client completely trusts as a power of attorney. It is a very powerful document and can be used before a person is actually incompetent.

Key takeaways

  • A power of attorney is a legal document that allows someone else (an agent) to act on your behalf due to mental or physical incapacity.
  • Authority can be extensive or limited to make decisions about finances or healthcare.
  • A will is not a substitute for a POA. Wills designate distribution of your assets after death, a POA is related to decisions during your life.

Special Needs Planning

When a family member faces special needs, special care must be given to estate planning to ensure that their access to adequate and affordable health care remains intact. Mr. Dunn is a certified Special Needs Planner and has decades of experience in offering competent and complete special needs planning.

How we can help

  • Provide a clear plan to help ensure your special needs child or family member is cared for after you pass.
  • Through strategic planning, we can shelter their inheritance so it doesn’t disqualify them from government benefits.

Please contact us to discuss your estate planning needs. Call to schedule a consultation today. (662) 327-4211

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