Robin (Rob) K. Kutz

Virginia Estate Planning Legal Advice in Hampton, Williamsburg, Newport News, Gloucester County, Yorktown & Poquoson

The foundations of every successful estate plan are a will or a living trust. These documents ensure that your assets, no matter how large or small, go where you want them to go when you pass on.

The estate planning attorneys of Miller, Walsh & Kutz will help you tailor an estate plan fit for your family, your assets, and your goals. Please call our law office at 757-595-0123. You may also contact our law firm online any time, day or night, and someone will be in touch with you soon.

 Our lawyers provide a wide range of estate planning services to clients who want to protect their families when they no longer can:

• Wills

• Living Trusts

• Living Wills/Advance Medical Directives
  

• Powers of Attorney

Our experienced lawyers will make sure you consider all the possible challenges that may arise during times of sickness or death, offering our counsel and making sure everything meets your wishes.

Let us help you during this stressful and time-consuming process. Call the law firm of Miller, Walsh & Kutz now for a free consultation with an attorney.

WILLS

A will is a document in which you set out in writing how you wish all your personal assets and real estate (your “estate”) to be divided and who you wish to give those assets to after your death.

If you die without having written a valid will (known as “dying intestate”), Virginia law determines who inherits your estate. For this reason, it is always better to lay out your own desires in a will.

Don’t leave your estate at risk. Have your will professionally prepared by an attorney from Miller, Walsh & Kutz. Call our firm now at 757-595-0123 for a free consultation or click here to contact us about your will.

LIVING WILLS

A living will is more properly known as a Natural Death Act Declaration and in Virginia it is a portion of  a document called an Advance Medical Directive.  It states your preference with respect to end-of-life decision making, declaring whether you would want your life to be prolonged artificially if you were in a terminal condition or vegetative state.

Don’t leave your family guessing about your desires during a stressful time. Call the law form of Miller, Walsh & Kutz at 757-595-0123 or click here to contact us about creating an Advance Medical Directive.

MEDICAL POWER OF ATTORNEY

The living will is most often combined with a medical power of attorney—together known as an Advance Medical Directive—in which you name the person(s) you wish to be able to make medical decisions for you whenever you are unable to do so for yourself (not just in end-of-life circumstances).

At Miller, Walsh & Kutz, we firmly believe everyone over the age of eighteen ought to have an Advance Medical Directive. Call us at 757-595-0123 or click here to contact us about creating an Advance Medical Directive.

TRUSTS

Revocable living trusts (generally referred to simply as “Living Trusts”) are often used as an alternative to the traditional will for documenting a person’s wishes for the distribution of their wealth and estate at the time of death. A trust-based estate plan is recommended especially for those who have children from a prior marriage, own real estate in multiple states or who have large estates ($1 million or more).

When the person who created the trust (the “grantor” or "trustmaker") dies, the applicable assets are distributed according to the provisions of the Trust agreement, rather than the provisions of a will. As a result, the probate process may be avoided completely.

All of the assets owned by the grantor are transferred into a trust when one is created. This includes real estate and personal property assets, like bank accounts, insurance policies, stocks, household goods,etc.

In order for this to happen, new deeds must be prepared and issued, bank accounts must be re-styled and accounts must be re-titled. Any assets not held in the trust at the time of death will be included in the probate estate, and will pass into the trust using the provisions of the deceased's will, or as directed by beneficiary designation or joint ownership.

The process of creating a trust and transferring assets is complicated and time consuming. If you would like to make a trust, let the experienced lawyers of Miller, Walsh & Kutz help you. We’ll ask the necessary questions, create all the necessary documents and help you move the appropriate assets into your trust.  Call the law office of Miller Walsh & Kutz now at 757-595-0123 or click here to contact us about creating a trust-based estate plan.