The legacy that you leave behind can change your family’s life and even change the world. Whether you have substantial funds or simply want to make sure your family assets are kept safe and passed on to the next generation, you owe it to yourself and to those you love to make a plan for after your death. A Cincinnati legacy planning lawyer at Zimmer Law Firm is here to help.
Zimmer Law Firm provides assistance to clients at all phases of wealth building and legacy planning. We want to help you grow your assets, protect what you’ve earned, and make a comprehensive plan for what will happen to your property after you are gone. Give us a call now to find out how our Cincinnati legacy planning lawyers can assist you and to get answers to questions including:
- What is legacy wealth planning?
- What should be involved in my plan?
- How can a Cincinnati legacy planning lawyer help?
What is Legacy Wealth Planning?
Legacy wealth planning involves three primary tasks:
- Creating a plan to build wealth.
- Creating a plan to protect your assets.
- Creating a plan for what happens to your money and property after you pass away
Zimmer Law Firm offers assistance with all three of these key areas. When it comes to building wealth, a Cincinnati legacy planning lawyer can help you set financial goals and take advantage of tax benefits that make it easier for you to save. We know the rules for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) as well as other types of financial accounts that allow you to invest with pre-tax dollars or permit you to take money out tax-free. We offer guidance to people at all income levels and all phases of life regarding savings and smart investments so you can build the type of nest egg you need to leave a legacy.
Once you have begun to grow your wealth, you need to protect it. You want to keep your money and property safe from creditors, avoid having business losses affect personal finances, and ensure that you don’t lose your assets if you need to go into a nursing home. You also need a plan to ensure that your money and property are managed in the event of incapacity. Living trusts, irrevocable trusts, and the creation of a power of attorney can all be useful in protecting your assets.
The assets you have acquired and kept safe will become your legacy, but you also need a plan to make sure that the property can transfer quickly to new owners after your death, without losses due to estate taxes. You may also wish to find ways to maximize the benefits of charitable gifts, like the use of a charitable remainder trust, or to ensure that your heirs don’t squander or lose the legacy you have given to them.
What Should Your Legacy Plan Include?
Your legacy plan needs to be tailored to your specific goals to build, protect, and distribute your wealth. Zimmer Law Firm will assist you with:
- Determining how much money to save over the course of your working life to accomplish specific financial goals.
- Making use of Individual Retirement Accounts including traditional IRAs, Roth-IRAs, Simple IRAs, and other appropriate tax-advantaged accounts.
- Creating irrevocable and/or revocable trusts to protect assets in case of incapacity and to facilitate the transfer of assets outside of probate.
- Creating a Medicaid plan so you do not need to spend down assets in the event that you require nursing home care.
- Creating a charitable remainder trust, making inter vivos gifts to charities, or creating a charitable foundation.
- Establishing a special needs trust, spendthrift trust, or other type of trust dedicated to ensuring that your heirs benefit from the gifts you have given and do not lose the money or lose access to government benefits.
- Establishing a comprehensive estate plan so assets and property are distributed according to your wishes.
Everyone’s situation is different, and it is up to you to decide what you want your legacy to be. We will help you with the logistics and legal processes involved in achieving your dreams, whatever your goals are.
How Can a Cincinnati Legacy Planning Lawyer Help?
At Zimmer Law Firm, we know Ohio laws on legacy planning and wealth building and we understand the processes involved in amassing wealth and passing it on to causes you believe in and people you care about. We are here to help you ensure you can change the future for the next generation and leave the world a better place. Give us a call today to learn more about how a Cincinnati legacy planning lawyer at our firm can offer you the legal advice you need to secure your legacy.