Estate Planning

We offer a wide range of estate planning services, from basic to complex.  Estate planning is personal, and so we take a personal approach.  We get to know you and your issues so we can develop a plan tailored for just you.  We are not a document assembly service or trust mill.  We are available to answer your questions and guide you through the process.

We understand that engaging in estate planning can be challenging for some people, so we try to make the process as simple as possible.  For example, we like to start with a meeting or a phone call to get to know you and your situation rather than asking you to complete a lengthy questionnaire.

Our plans tend to favor simplicity and flexibility.  We don’t want you to have a plan you don’t understand, or a plan that mandates certain actions that you don’t want to take (or are unnecessary) in the future.

You can be assured that our attorneys are capable of helping you with whatever your plan might entail.  We are experienced working with individuals with large or complex estates to plan around gift and estate tax, business succession, and charitable giving.  We are also experienced dealing with complex family matters, and can help with marital agreements, trusts, and related planning.

Some of the services we provide include:

Wills, powers of attorney, health care directives, community property agreements, revocable living trusts, retirement planning, business succession, charitable gifts with cash and noncash assets, charitable trusts, marital agreements (prenuptial and postnuptial), business organizations, strategic gifting, family businesses, long-term care and disability planning, life insurance trusts, irrevocable trusts, and special needs trusts.

ELM lawyers who practice estate planning law:

Thomas J. Rodda
Nicholas R. Glancy
Alexis J. Laginess