Estate Planning

Estate Planning services we provide to clients include:

• Wills
• Revocable Living Trusts
• Irrevocable Trusts
• Family Trusts
• Special Needs Trusts
• Durable Powers of Attorney
• Advance Health Care Directives

Our approach to estate planning is to learn what is of concern and importance to our clients, educate our clients about estate planning issues, explore options and tailor a plan to each client’s individual needs. Part of the process includes tax planning and exploring opportunities to minimize income, gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Having a well crafted estate plan in place also can be a means to avoid probate and other formal court proceedings following death, and eliminate or reduce the cost of court proceedings.

Many individuals think of estate planning solely in terms of what happens to their estate following their death, but estate planning also involves planning for your personal care, health care and the management of your assets during your lifetime if subsequently you should become disabled or incapacitated. We emphasize planning for your possible incapacity and your protection during your lifetime, as well as the transfer of assets following death. A well crafted estate plan can be also be a means to avoid the need for a Conservatorship of the Person and/or Estate or other court proceedings during your lifetime if you lose capacity to manage your affairs, if you lose the capacity to provide for your personal needs or if you otherwise need assistance or protection during your lifetime.

Please call (310) 392-9677 or e-mail the Law Offices of Karen Knutson for a consultation with one of our experienced estate planning lawyers regarding your estate planning needs.