Representing Families in Virginia
Basic estate planning is important for every family. As you get older and accumulate assets, it is important to review your estate plan and determine if it provides your beneficiaries with the protection you want them to have.
At the law firm of Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Swain, Haddad & Morecock, P.C. in Virginia Beach, Virginia, our estate planning attorneys offer the information and advice you need to create an estate plan for every stage of your life. The typical documents in a Virginia estate plan include:
- A last will and testament that determines who will receive your property after you die and names a guardian for minor children
- A durable power of attorney, which allows you to name a trusted person to make decisions for you, manage your property and pay your bills if you are incapacitated
- An advance medical directive, which allows you to tell loved ones and health care providers whether you want artificial life support such as feeding tubes if you are in a vegetative state with no hope of recovery and allows you to appoint an agent to make health care decisions for you if you are incapacitated.
If you have significant assets, our estate planning lawyers also draft revocable and irrevocable trusts to help you meet your goals. Here are some reasons why you may want to create a trust:
- To avoid the publicity of the Virginia probate process
- To eliminate or minimize estate taxes
- To provide benefits to a person who is elderly or incapacitated without jeopardizing their eligibility for U.S. government programs such as Medicaid
Our attorneys also guide executors and administrators through the Virginia probate process and handle probate litigation such as will contests and inheritance disputes.
Contact Us
To discuss your estate planning or probate needs with a lawyer at Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Swain, Haddad & Morecock, P.C., call 757-671-6000 or fill out the contact form on this Web site.
