Best Estate Planning Attorneys in Salem, OR

A trust is a legal entity that can achieve a number of things. It serves as a will substitute, because it will direct who should receive your assets, and how they should receive them, after you die. It will own your assets during your lifetime, thereby avoiding the probate process after you die. Because it owns your assets, it also makes it easier to manage those assets should you ever become incapacitated, avoiding the court-directed conservatorship process. Trusts can be drafted to protect assets, provide management, and save gift and estate taxes.

The Advance Directive for Health Care was drafted by the Oregon legislature to enable Oregonians to have control over their own health care choices. You can name the persons you trust to make decisions for you, should you ever reach the stage where you cannot communicate with your physician. You can also state your own wishes when it comes to the question of taking away tube feeding or life support.

The length of the process always depends on the choices you make. Sometimes it is easy to come to a decision and to implement that choice. Other times, it may take some time to sleep on things, consider the design of your plan, and give your attorney the final approval so that the plan can be implemented. Once your decisions are made, documents can be drafted for review and signature; the time between final decision and review of documents is usually a month or less.