Skilled Indiana Estate Planning and Probate Lawyers
We do much more than basic estate planning.
The accomplished estate planners at Kirtley, Taylor, Sims, Chadd & Minnette are available to help with all aspects of wealth transfer and succession planning, including:
- Estate planning
- Estate administration
- Guardianships
- Probate (administration and litigation)
- Will contests
Of course, we are practiced at minimizing our clients' exposure to estate and gift tax, but that is just the beginning. While we routinely draft wills, trusts, (including special needs trusts), durable powers of attorney, living wills (end-of-life health care directives), appointments of health care representatives, and so on, we never forget that these documents -however important- remain only tools for achieving particular purposes. Too often, lawyers and financial professionals can let their tools, rather than a client's life vision and ultimate goals, drive the estate planning process.
We see things differently...
For us, estate planning is not just an end in itself. Rather, it is often an opportunity to clarify and energize the planning for the rest of one's life.
In our experience, the lens of end-of-life issues frequently helps our clients focus upon, and articulate, their bedrock values - and verify what really matters to them. Often, regardless of age, we find that by asking our clients certain 'estate planning' and 'end-of-life' questions, the planning for other aspects of their lives takes on increased meaning and simplicity.
There may be no "right answers" - but the questions are worth asking.
Were I to leave this world today, what legacy of values - and what means to perpetuate them - would I want to leave behind?
If a loved one were to become incapacitated in my absence, what type of care would I want provided them; who would provide the care and what resources would I want to provide the caregivers?
What does the business I built mean to my family? What succession plan have I structured so that it can continue to fulfill its purpose when I am gone?
If you want help thinking about wealth distribution, in a manner that goes beyond mere tax efficiency, please contact one of the estate planning attorneys at Kirtley, Taylor, Sims, Chadd & Minnette for an appointment, at 765-483-8549 in Lebanon, or 765-361-9680 in Crawfordsville.
Kirtley, Taylor, Sims, Chadd & Minnette
117 W Main Street
Lebanon, IN 46052-2571
Phone: 765-483-8549
Fax: 765-483-9521
e-mail
105 N. Washington
Crawfordsville IN, 47933
Ph: 765-361-9680
Fax: 765-361-9690
e-mail