Estate Planning
Maine is the oldest state in the country and much of its elderly population is based in the southern and Midcoast regions in Brunswick and the greater Portland area. Regardless of your age or how much money you have, you can benefit from having a proper estate plan in place. Effective estate planning requires an understanding of current legal, tax and political developments as well as experience dealing with the many concerns – both financial and practical – that confront individuals as they plan for retirement, the potential for disability/incapacity, and ultimately the disposition of their estate upon death. At Smith Law, P.A., we work closely with our clients and their families to eliminate uncertainties and achieve positive outcomes. We provide estate planning services for clients at every stage of life. Our mantra is KIS, “keep it simple” (we kept off the last “S”). We believe clients should understand their estate plans, and client education is a necessary precursor to that objective. Smith Law, P.A. employs many tools for educating clients, including the materials on this website, memoranda and visuals graphs and schematics. We make sure to listen carefully to our clients. We believe this is crucial to assuring that our clients’ objectives are both understood and achieved to the best of our ability.
Our representation in the area of estate planning includes:
- Preparation of wills and trusts (both revocable and irrevocable)
- Financial powers of attorney
- Medical powers of attorney and advance health-care directives
- Disability / special needs planning (e.g. special needs trusts)
- Sophisticated income and estate tax planning
- Elder care and MaineCare/long term care planning (addressed in more detail on the “Elder Law” page)
- Charitable planning
- Business succession planning including sales and gifts of business interests to family members and third parties
- Succession planning for family camps/cottages including crafting and implementing LLCs, trusts and other real estate management vehicles