Improving A Loved One’s Quality of Life While Protecting Need-Based Benefits

A special needs trust — sometimes called a supplemental needs trust — is most often set up to provide money over an extended period to a family member with a disability. It may provide income to the person in need on an established schedule, allowing the heir to have a higher quality of life while protecting his or her right and ability to receive government benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid or certain veteran’s benefits.

Applying personal attention and careful analysis to each situation, we provide comprehensive estate planning to match your unique goals. Depending on circumstances, your plan may include:

• Establishment of an irrevocable special needs trust that allows members of your extended family to contribute over time

• Specific language written into a will or other type of trust that helps maximize someone’s total income and assets if you become incapacitated or pass away

• Other forms of long term care planning for other family members as well as yourself

 

You Need an Estate Planning Attorney Who Stays Current on the Law

It would be hard to overstate how much potential legal changes could impact your estate in the next few years. Your overall estate planning needs could change dramatically, and our firm will be here to help you adjust. As it stands today we have strengths in:

• Building in flexibility through the language we include in your will and trust

• Counseling you on your choice of a financial power of attorney you trust

• Accounting diligently for complexities including your family business and succession plan

• Guiding you through decisions on long term care and Medicaid planning

• Making certain that, if you become incapacitated, your wishes are documented in a legally sound fashion that will hold up in court

 

At both the Oregon state and federal level, estate and inheritance tax laws are ever-evolving. Currently, you need to be concerned with tax planning if your estate approaches or surpasses one million dollars in value, but that could change in the next legislative session. Federal estate tax laws are even more subject to change than state laws: the potential inheritance tax on your estate is utterly dependent on how laws change — or stay the same — in 2010 and 2011.

If you have any questions or doubts about taxation and your estate, please contact us today. At The Hingson Law Firm PC in Portland, we engage in solid, accomplished tax planning work for those who need it. Attorney Phil Hingson leverages his many years of experience and immersion in current tax law to sort out what is right for you and your family.

 

Business Succession Planning May Be a Critical Component in Your Estate Plan

If you have put your heart, soul and sweat into building a family business, our firm is an outstanding resource for you as you determine the next steps. Mr. Hingson will be understanding of your personal considerations and offer you insightful counsel for constructing your will, trust, and other estate planning documents in a manner that ensures your wishes prevail.

Not every lawyer who advertises estate planning services has a background that equips him or her well to deal with business succession planning. From our initial discussion — in which Phil will discuss your business succession planning goals in terms of overall estate planning, administration, and the future of your business — to finalizing the paperwork and plans, you will know that we have your best interests at heart.

Savvy Estate Planning for Business Owners in Oregon

Is business succession planning a concern for you? Do you feel you need a savvy estate planning attorney who will relate to those concerns with perspective from having dealt with may other business owners? Please contact us today at The Hingson Law Firm in Portland.

If you operate a family business or a small business with several employees, your estate plan must have nuances and special language to account for that. Should the business survive you, or be liquidated if you pass on? Who is best qualified to take responsibility for its operations? Are there special family considerations we need to take into account?

Consulting with attorney Phil Hingson of The Hingson Law Firm can bring clarity to these issues and your legal options. You may have more control than you think over what happens when you pass on or become incapacitated, and our goal is to maximize your peace of mind about the future.

Phil Hingson is a well-schooled, veteran lawyer with knowledge of:

• How to structure clear, legally sound succession plans for businesses

• Buy/sell agreements

• Taxation issues that may apply directly or peripherally to any business transfer

You Need an Estate Planning Attorney Who Stays Current on the Law

It would be hard to overstate how much potential legal changes could impact your estate in the next few years. Your overall estate planning needs could change dramatically, and our firm will be here to help you adjust. As it stands today we have strengths in:

• Building in flexibility through the language we include in your will and trust

• Counseling you on your choice of a financial power of attorney you trust

• Accounting diligently for complexities including your family business and succession plan

• Guiding you through decisions on long term care and Medicaid planning

• Making certain that, if you become incapacitated, your wishes are documented in a legally sound fashion that will hold up in court

Estate Law and Tax Planning Lawyer in Portland, Oregon

At both the Oregon state and federal level, estate and inheritance tax laws are ever-evolving. Currently, you need to be concerned with tax planning if your estate approaches or surpasses one million dollars in value, but that could change in the next legislative session. Federal estate tax laws are even more subject to change than state laws: the potential inheritance tax on your estate is utterly dependent on how laws change — or stay the same — in 2010 and 2011.

If you have any questions or doubts about taxation and your estate, please contact us today. At The Hingson Law Firm PC in Portland, we engage in solid, accomplished tax planning work for those who need it. Attorney Phil Hingson leverages his many years of experience and immersion in current tax law to sort out what is right for you and your family.

Real-World, Practical Counsel on Powers of Attorney

Attorney Phil Hingson is the lawyer for you if you have these concerns about powers of attorney and related matters. In every situation, Phil emphasizes that:

• Your general durable financial power of attorney is a critical document, giving someone you trust the power to pay your bills, but also to deal with your assets as they see fit

• Your advance directive — referred to in the past as a living will or medical power of attorney is as personal and consequential as estate planning documents get, determining who makes decisions for you about life support and other critical matters

It would be hard to overemphasize the importance of working with a lawyer you trust on these critical documents. Poorly drafted Powers of Attorney (POAs) may be challenged or unaccepted, out of hand, by banks or title companies. We want the best for you and your family, and encourage you to contact us about maximum protection of not only your assets, but also your well-being and peace of mind.

A Portland Estate Lawyer Who Will Make Sure You’re Covered

When you consult with Portland, Oregon-based attorney Phil Hingson, you may come away with several impressions. Almost certainly, you will sense that Phil “knows his stuff.” Just as importantly you will come away knowing that you can trust The Hingson Law Firm PC to guard and value your personal interests. Contact us to gain that confidence and feel good about your estate plan.

We know that there are forms out there for you to draft your durable financial attorney, as well as your medical directive or living will, as these important directives used to be called. The key questions are:

• What do you need now, in view of current law and requirements?

• How do you make sure what happens after your death or incapacity isn’t the source of controversy for people you care about?

• What is the best way for you to make sure your heirs receive as much as possible, while avoiding probate costs, excessive estate taxes and the time required to get through that process?

Prompt, Dedicated Attention, Whatever the Size or Makeup of the Estate

Phil Hingson has the knowledge and experience to help you navigate the trust administration process, no matter how complex the issues. If necessary, he will work side-by-side with accountants and other experts.

Our Portland, Oregon, legal team handles probate and trust administration matters for people from the St. Helens-Hillsboro area to Gresham and Lake Oswego, and southward to Canby and Woodburn. We deal with both taxable and non-taxable estates by seeking the most sound and cost-effective solutions.

Your legal options may depend on how soon you seek qualified legal counsel. Anytime you have questions about estate planning or what must be done after the tragic loss or incapacitation of a loved one, please contact us today.