Estate planning is the steps necessary to insure that you and your property are properly cared for during your lifetime and that such property passes to the intended beneficiaries at the time of your death with the minimum amount of tax. The most common legal documents used in estate planning include a Will, Durable General Power of Attorney, Health Care Power of Attorney, Advanced Health Care Directive (Living Will) and, depending on the circumstances, various types of Trusts.

Estate planning encompasses four important strategies:

• Building your net worth and maximizing the value of what you have in order to maintain your lifestyle

• Protecting your wealth by minimizing the effects of taxes, inflation and the costs of potential catastrophic illness or incapacity.

• Planning for the protection of your health care decision making, assets and possessions in the event you become disabled or incapacitated

• Distribution of your assets and possessions so that they go where you want them to go in a reasonable timeframe.

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