Salt Lake Estate Planning Attorneys
Paul J. Barton

What Is Estate Planning?

You can save your loved ones a lot of money and frustration by devising a plan for the management of your health care and property if you become severely disabled or pass away.

A Salt Lake City Estate Planning Attorney can help you with:

• Advance health care directives telling how you want your health care managed if you ever become too ill to speak for yourself
• Powers of attorney appointing someone to manage your property and sign legal papers for you if you become unable to take care of your own affairs
• Wills and probate that transfer your property to selected beneficiaries upon your death
• Trusts that provide for the care of children or disabled persons, minimize taxes or protect against creditors
• Ways to avoid probate that transfer property at death - insurance, gifts, joint ownership of property, bank accounts
• Medicaid eligibility planning

Questions for Your Salt Lake City Estate Planning Attorney

• If a will doesn't involve real estate, does it need to be probated?
• Do you charge by the hour, or can you write a simple will for a set fee?
• Will my heirs have to pay taxes on proceeds they receive under my will?

Advance Directives

An advance directive is a legal document giving instructions about the medical treatment and care you want to receive if you later become incapacitated. Advance directives in Utah include the following parts:

• Health Care Power of Attorney: You can select someone over age 18, such as a close friend or family member, to be your health care agent. Your health care agent then has the power to make health care decisions for you if you ever become too ill to make these decisions for yourself
• Living Will: You can give specific instructions regarding your health care and indicate whether you want to receive life-sustaining treatment, like artificial respiration or feeding tubes. You can indicate you always want your life prolonged, you want life support withheld in certain conditions, or your health care agent should make those end-of-life decisions

You must sign and date your advance directive in front of a witness over age 18 who also signs the document. The witness cannot be related to you, entitled to inherit from you, your insurance beneficiary, financially responsible for your support or medical care, your health care provider or the person you select to be your health care agent.

Powers of Attorney

In Salt Lake City, Utah, you can sign a durable power of attorney to appoint someone to handle your assets if you become severely disabled. A power of attorney should include the power to:

• Manage and transfer all assets
• Deal with the IRS
• Make gifts on your behalf
• Create and amend any trusts you set up

You don't need to transfer any assets when you sign a power of attorney. It is a good idea to keep the person you've chosen informed about your ongoing financial matters.

Making a Will

In Utah, you can make a valid will if you are at least 18 years old and of sound mind. Your will must be in writing and signed by you or in your name by another at your direction and in your presence. In addition, you must have two individuals sign your will after they witness either the signing of your will or your acknowledgment of your signature or acknowledgment of your will.

In the will you can:

• Distribute your property
• Select a guardian for your minor children
• Name an executor or personal representative to manage the probate of your will and the distribution of your property after your death.

You can change your will by making a new will that replaces or revokes the old one or by making an addition to the will, called a codicil. Changes such as a marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, new property ownership or moving to another state should cause you to review your will and consider whether it should be changed to fit your new situation.

A Salt Lake City Estate Planning Attorney can explain the consequences of some of the most basic choices you must make in writing your will. It makes sense to have an estate planning attorney draft your will so you avoid costly mistakes and achieve your intended results.

Trusts

There are many kinds of trusts. Often trusts are set up to care for minor children or disabled adult relatives. A parent can name a trustee to be in control of the trust finances and property. The trustee is usually a family member or trusted friend. The trustee can be paid an hourly rate or a set monthly amount for their services out of the trust assets.

A special needs trust or supplemental needs trust can be set up to provide benefits to a disabled person. It may be possible for them to receive trust benefits without being disqualified from receiving government benefits such as Social Security and Medicaid. The trust must contain language making clear that trust distributions are to supplement, not replace, any basic support benefits otherwise available to the disabled person.

Probate

Probate is the public process of:

• Filing and validating a will in court
• Paying the debts and taxes of the deceased person
• Dividing up the assets according to the will or Utah law

The probate process generally begins when a family member or personal representative hires a Utah probate attorney to file for probate with Utah district court in the county where the deceased person lived or owned property

Contact Us Today!
Salt Lake Estate Planning Attorney

Paul J. Barton
345 East 400 South
Suite #201
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Phone: (801) 322-2300

Website: Salt Lake Probate Attorney
Salt Lake Trust Attorneys
Connect: Lawyerfind Network

About Paul J. Barton
Estate Planning Attorney

Practice Areas:

• Probate
• Wills
• Trusts
• Estates
• Elder Law
• Insurance
• Real Estate

The office of Paul J. Barton practices law in Salt Lake City, Utah and Salt Lake Co.

Please contact our Salt Lake City law firm with questions about your legal issue. Provide as much information as possible regarding your inquiry. While this contact does not serve to establish an attorney/client relationship, it will allow our legal team to begin an assessment of your case.