Wills Trusts and Estate Planning

Every adult should have an estate plan in place, whether your needs are simple or sophisticated. Your estate plan starts with a Will and/or Trust that will ensure that your assets transfer at your death in an efficient manner to the persons you want to benefit, and not to others. Richard Hennig and Janet Hennig have decades of experience in drafting Wills and trust agreements and can assist you in achieving your estate planning goals.

Probate

Richard and Janet have decades of experience in handling the administration of estates, trusts and guardianships. They assist fiduciaries in the payment of a decedent’s debts and estate expenses, prepare the necessary federal estate and/or federal and state fiduciary income tax returns, and assist in the distribution of assets from the estate to the designated beneficiaries. They have served as guardians of individuals who are no longer capable of handling their financial matters, so they are very familiar with the issues faced by their clients who are serving as guardians.

Over the years, Richard has successfully represented individuals in Will contests and Trust contests and has recently won in excess of a million dollars for his clients. Most recently, he successfully defended a lawsuit filed in an attempt to take an almost seven figure bank account away from an estate and its rightful beneficiaries. The beneficiaries received their money despite the case being twice taken to the Eighth District Court of Appeals; Richard won both appeals.

Trusts

Janet has extensive experience in dealing with trust issues and in resolving those issues without litigation. However, if litigation is needed to resolve the issue, Richard has successfully represented many individuals in trust matters, including constructive trusts and trust contests.

Elder Law

Richard has assisted individuals in applying for and qualifying for Medicaid. Janet has drafted trust agreements to assist individuals in transferring assets in trust with the goal of eventually qualifying for Medicaid. Richard and Janet have the experience and knowledge to go to court to have a trust that was unskillfully prepared by another attorney “repaired” by a court order so that Medicaid rights are not lost.

Your Protection from Personal Liability

You may ask why you need an attorney if you become an executor, trustee, guardian or administrator. The answer is easy. If you make a mistake, and if your mistake causes a loss to the estate or trust, the funds needed to fix the mistake will come out of your pocket. No insurance policy will cover the losses you might cause, and there are plenty of ways to get things wrong. The mistakes that are made can easily cost thousands of dollars or more to fix. If you are entrusted with the handling of assets as a fiduciary, you should have a professional help you. Just one example: are you going to prepare the 1041 and IT 1041 estate/trust income tax returns that are still required by law? If the returns are audited, who will pay for the legal representation you need, and the claimed tax liability? You will already have distributed all of the money and most beneficiaries are very unlikely to want to return any of it. They may feel that you should pay to fix your mistake, even if it means they received more money than they should have. Or, they may simply have already spent the money they received. Why put your own financial safety at risk if you are not experienced in fulfilling fiduciary responsibilities?

For more information, please contact rhennig@hsklawyers.com or jhennig@hsklawyers.com