Bartlesville Estate Planning and Probate Attorney
If you need assistance in planning your estate, going to probate court, or dealing with an inheritance, the Persaud Law Office can help. Probate law and estate planning are confusing processes for many people. We’re here to help with the difficult legal technicalities involved in estate planning and probate law and to ensure that gifts and property end up in the hands of the right people, and that heirs and loved ones are properly taken care of.
Estate Planning
When you plan your estate, you decide what will happen to your property after you die. Estate planning options include:
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Wills
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Trusts
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Joint tenancies (to find out more about joint tenancies, click here)
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Transfer on death deeds (to find out more about transfer on death deeds, click here)
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Contractual arrangements, and more...
To find out what is the best estate plan for you, you should consult a qualified estate planning attorney, who can apply the law to your specific situation, and help you select the plan that is right for you. Click here for a brief overview of several estate planning options.
Wills
Even if you have very little property, you should plan your estate, and you should have a will. Click here to see why. Don’t try to draft a will yourself, and don’t use the homemade will templates available at the store or on the internet. There are difficult legal technicalities involved in drafting a will, and the homemade will templates are not specific to meet your individual needs. For further reasons why you should hire an experienced will lawyer to draft your will, click here.
End-of-Life Estate Planning
Another area of law, in which an estate planning attorney is highly desirable, is end-of-life estate planning. You specify your wishes in the event that you become incapacitated and unable to care for yourself. Documents used in end-of-life estate planning include:
Advance Directives
An advance directive is a document where you specify whether you want certain life-sustaining treatment if you are incapacitated, and name a health care proxy to make medical decisions for you if you are incapacitated.
Living Wills
A living will is an advance directive in which you state whether you do, or do not, want to be given life-sustaining medical treatment if you are incapacitated.
For more information on advance directives and living wills, click here.
Durable Powers of Attorney
A durable power of attorney is an advance directive in which you name a person who will be able to make legal, and financial decisions for you if you become incapacitated.
For more information on powers of attorney in Oklahoma, click here.
For more information on powers of attorney in other jurisdictions, click here.
Health Care Powers of Attorney
A health care power of attorney is a power of attorney in which you name a person who will be able to make medical decisions for you if you become incapacitated.
For more information about health care powers of attorney, click here.
Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders
A do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order is a document where you state that if your heart stops beating or if you stop breathing, you don't want to be resuscitated. DNR orders affect only situations where your heart stops beating or you stop breathing; DNR orders don't apply to any other situations. The Oklahoma Do-Not-Resuscitate Act governs DNR orders. See the Oklahoma Do-Not-Resuscitate Act here. For more information on DNR orders, read this blog post.
Probate
A probate action is a court case filed after a person dies. In a probate action, the judge decides, among other things, who receives the deceased person’s property. For further information on probate in Oklahoma, click here.
If you have a relative (or anyone else who has left you property) who has passed away, and if there is any property in the decedent’s name, you will need to file a probate action to inherit the property. Because probate can be complicated, you should definitely retain a will and probate lawyer to represent you.
Trust and Guardianship of Minor
If you have a minor child, and would like the child to inherit money or property when you die, a good option is to create a trust.
A trust is a legal entity, in which one person (the trustee) manages property for the benefit of another person (the beneficiary.) If you create a trust for a minor child, the trustee would manage the property for the benefit of the minor child; the minor child would be the beneficiary. For more information on trusts, click here.
You should also nominate a guardian for your minor children, in the event that you die or become incapacitated. The guardian(s) act as if they were the child’s parents. A guardian has the power to enroll the child in school, and obtain medical care for the child. To see how to nominate a guardian for your minor child, click here.
A trust, or guardianship, is also useful if you have an adult child who is disabled, and will not be able to care for himself. See my blog post: Caring for a Disabled Adult Child. A trust also may be useful if you have an adult child who is not disabled, but who is not mature or responsible enough to manage money for himself.
For a step as important as planning for the care of a minor or disabled child, you should definitely consult an experienced trust attorney.
Who Is Kyle Persaud?
Kyle Persaud has practiced estate and probate law in Oklahoma since 2009 and is a life-long resident of Bartlesville. He strives to help the residents of Bartlesville in the will, trust, and estate planning process and ensure that children are left in the care of the best possible guardian.
