Estate Planning
Estate planning should not begin with documents. It should begin with understanding your family, your property, your business interests, your concerns, and what you want to happen if you become incapacitated or die.
At Golden Heart Law, LLC, we use a guided planning process so you can make well-informed decisions. We help you understand what would happen under Alaska law today, identify the gaps, and design a plan that fits your family, your assets, your goals, and your budget.
Our Estate Planning Process
1. Get Organized Before We Draft
Before your planning session, we ask you to gather information about your family, assets, existing planning documents, real estate, businesses, beneficiary designations, and other important information. This allows the planning meeting to focus on decisions rather than paperwork.
2. A Working Planning Session
Your planning session is an educational working meeting. We review your family and assets, explain what would happen if you became incapacitated or died with your current plan, and discuss the options available to accomplish your goals.
3. Choose the Right Level of Planning
We offer flat-fee planning options. You know the fee before drafting begins, and you can choose the level of planning that best fits your needs and goals.
4. We Design and Prepare the Plan
Once you decide how you want your plan structured, we prepare the documents and coordinate the pieces so they work together. Depending on the plan, that may include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health-care directives, guardian nominations, business succession provisions, deeds, and other planning documents.
5. Signing Is Not the End
A trust only works as intended when assets are properly coordinated with it. We provide guidance for trust funding, beneficiary designations, real estate, and other implementation steps so the plan is more than a signed set of documents. You can also hire us to complete the funding for you.
6. We Stay Connected
Families, assets, laws, and goals change. We offer a complimentary three-year estate-plan review so you can revisit the plan and determine whether updates are needed. Our goal is to be a legal resource your family can return to over time.
Who We Focus On
Business formation, LLC planning, contracts, ongoing advice, and coordination of business succession with personal estate planning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you charge by the hour for estate planning?
Our estate-planning packages use flat fees that are discussed and agreed upon before drafting begins, so you know the cost of the plan you choose.
What is the complimentary three-year review?
We offer clients a no-fee estate-plan review approximately every three years, on request, to identify changes in family circumstances, assets, ownership, goals, or law that may justify an update.
Do you help fund the trust?
Yes. We provide guidance for coordinating assets with the trust and explain the funding steps that need to be completed. Clients complete many of the funding actions themselves with our guidance. Clients can also hire us to complete the funding for them.
Do parents with minor children need more than a will?
Often, yes. Parents need to think about both immediate and long-term guardianship, access to emergency information, management of money for children, and who can act if the parents are temporarily unavailable or incapacitated.
Can you coordinate my business with my estate plan?
Yes. For business owners, we look at ownership, succession, management, transfer restrictions, who will step in if you can’t manage the business, and how the business fits into the overall estate plan.
When should I update my estate plan?
Review the plan after major changes such as marriage, divorce, births, deaths, significant asset changes, purchase or sale of real estate, business changes, or a move to another state. We also recommend a periodic review even when no major event has occurred.
Can my estate plan protect my children’s inheritance from divorce or creditors?
Yes. Instead of requiring an inheritance to be distributed outright, a properly designed continuing trust can allow the assets to remain in trust for a child or other beneficiary. Depending on the trust terms, applicable law, and the beneficiary’s circumstances, this structure can provide meaningful protection if the beneficiary later divorces, is sued, has a judgment entered against them, or files bankruptcy. The protection is strongest when it is intentionally built into the plan, and the trust is properly administered. Start with a guided planning process designed to protect the people you love and the assets you have built.
