Arizona Estate Planning Laws

Guardianship in Scottsdale, Arizona

I want to speak to you today regarding what a guardianship is with respect to estate planning in the state of Arizona. A guardianship consists of a court appointment of a person or entity to care for or make personal decisions for a child who is younger than 18 years of age, or an adult who is incapacitated, or otherwise unable to care for themselves, due to a mental or physical disability.

The Ward & Guardian

The person for whom a guardian is appointed is referred to as the ward. Any person, subject to court approval, may be appointed by the court to accept the responsibility of being a guardian for a ward. With respect to minor children, the court’s decision regarding who to appoint as a child’s guardian will be based upon what the court finds to be in the best interest of that child.

Any individual seeking to be appointed a guardian of a ward must disclose background information, including prior criminal convictions, as well as other information the court may request before appointing that guardian. Please feel free to contact the attorneys at Hildebrand Law if you have any questions regarding the appointment of a guardian in your case.

By: Chris Hildebrand

A basic estate plan is going to include a last will and testament, financial power of attorney, medical power of attorney with mental health powers and living will, and a personal property list if the individual chooses to create one. These are documents that every estate plan will have. From there, people have choices. For example, if you have minor children and want money paid to them over time, many couples will elect to create a revocable living trust. A trust will allow for the passing of someone’s estate without going through probate, keeping your financial information private, and allowing for money and assets to be given out over time, rather than one lump some, which is what happens in a probate situation. There are additional estate-planning documents that can be drafted if you want to avoid probate and you do not have a trust. For example, a beneficiary deed will allow you to select who will receive your house and other real estate immediately upon your death without ever having to go through the probate process. And, the Motor Vehicle Department now allows us to prepare a beneficiary designation, so that you can select who will receive your vehicle upon your death. There are many tools that an estate planner can provide to help you with setting things up to care for you and your loved ones. If you would like to create, revise, or update your estate plan, please call Owens & Perkins at (480) 994-8824.

If you would like to review estate planning documents with an attorney, visit this profile and submit a contact form.

By: Attorney Michelle Perkins

A living trust is a popular tool used to avoid a probate proceeding, provide creditor protection to a surviving spouse, keep your financial information private, and allow you to avoid a conservatorship and direct who will handle your finances if you are unable to do so yourself. It allows you to give your wealth to who you want, when you want, and how you want all at the lowest possible cost including taxes, expenses, and professional fees. I’m Mark Bregman. Contact me at (480) 945-9131 to find out more about creating your own affordable estate plan.

By: Attorney Mark Bregman

If you are interested in avoiding probate and having your estate administered privately, meeting not in the public record, there are several ways to accomplish that. First, we can setup a trust. A trust will hold your assets during your lifetime, you will manage everything virtually the same way you did before, and upon your disability or death, the trust spells out who is going to take over and who gets what and when. A trust is a great instrument for payment of money over time. So, if you have minor children, a trust could be the solution for you. Another way to avoid probate is to make sure you have beneficiary designations on all of your assets. For example, on your house or real estate, you can sign a beneficiary deed that states who gets your house or real property upon your passing, and all the person has to do to receive that property is to record a death certificate with the Maricopa County recorder’s office. With your vehicles, the Motor Vehicle Department now allows you to sign a beneficiary designation form that will allow for easy transfer of title upon your death. And, with financial accounts and life insurance, you can nominate the person or persons who will receive those assets all without ever having to go through probate. If you would like to setup an estate plan to avoid the probate process, please give us a call at Owens & Perkins at (480) 994-8824.

By: Attorney Michelle Perkins

Hello, I’m Mark Bregman, an Arizona estate planning and probate attorney since 1979. Clients hire me because I provide them with a high degree of comfort by explaining the different ways they can plan an estate, and then following through by creating a comprehensive plan using documents that help them avoid a guardianship, conservatorship, and probate, and the advice appropriate to help them and their loved ones achieve their expectations. I stay in contact with my clients and make sure their plans will be effective when most needed. This is the most popular reason clients hire me. What differentiates me from other attorneys is that I have spent many years developing and updating the provisions I use in creating trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and living wills designed to provide maximum protection for my clients, their families, and their hard earned wealth. I listen to my clients and convey difficult, non-intuitive concepts in a way that is easily understood. I begin by collecting information that induces prospective clients to think about what is important to them so that when we meet, I can listen to them tell me about themselves, their values, their families, and their intentions. I recognize that their wealth is also important to clients with little money. Every family has issues that should be discussed so that the client can choose his or her own way of dealing with their own family dynamics I can provide inexpensive and easy solutions using beneficiary deeds, POD accounts, and beneficiary designations to pass assets without using a trust or a probate, if it’s not necessary. Most of my clients are referred by financial advisors and satisfied clients who already trust me. I asked my clients to put aside their pre-conceived ideas of what they want and instead, focus on whether they like me. Not all lawyers are for all clients. I can’t write poetry or solve quadratic equations and I certainly can’t do the work most of my clients do, but I can create great estate plans. If you would like to work with me and my team, please give me a call at (480) 945-9131.

By: Attorney Mark Bregman

My name is Michelle Perkins and I am the managing partner of Owens & Perkins in Scottsdale, Arizona. Owens & Perkins is a general practice law firm providing legal representation for family law matters, criminal matters, estate planning, probate, trust administration, and trust litigation. The firm has been serving the valley of the sun since 1967 and that’s a pretty long time. I am partners with my grandfather, C.D. Owens. He is on my mothers’ side. People always ask if either of my parents are lawyers and the answer is no. For some reason, the lawyer gene skipped a generation. C.D. and I became partners in 1996 and as they say, the rest is history. One of the frequent compliments we get from clients of the firm is that they feel like they’re treated like family. We take pride in our work and we take our obligations to the community very seriously. When C.D. first started practicing in Scottsdale in 1967, he was one of a handful of lawyers. Now, we have thousands. C.D. represented people back in the day and they fell in love with him. From there, they had children and we represented them. Now, they have had children and we represent them too. We literally have generations representing generations. We know that legal battles can be frightening. We have been there for our clients since 1967 and we treat people fairly and honestly. If you want a law firm that you can count on, that treats you like part of the family, please call us at Owens & Perkins at (480) 994-8824.

By: Attorney Michelle Perkins

Estate planning is when a client comes in to work with a lawyer to create and develop a plan for the distribution of their assets upon their passing. It also includes planning for assistance from others during the persons’ lifetime as they get older. If you don’t create your own estate plan, the state of Arizona has already decided who will get your assets. At Owens & Perkins, we understand that creating an estate plan can sometimes be daunting or uncomfortable. That’s why we’ve created a system to make it as easy as 1-2-3. First, contact our office and we will send you an estate-planning questionnaire that will walk you through each decision you have to make. Second, bring your completed estate-planning questionnaire in for a consultation with one of our highly trained lawyers. We handle all of the drafting, send the documents to you for review, and all you have to do is come in to sign. It’s that easy. And, when it’s done, people say they feel so much better knowing that they have a plan in place. It brings them comfort and peace of mind. If you would like to create, revise, or update your estate plan, please call us at Owens & Perkins at (480) 994-8824.

By: Attorney Michelle Perkins

A living will is a declaration that you do not want to be kept alive if you are in a persistent vegetative state, an irreversible coma, or have an incurable illness or progressive disease and you will die naturally unless heroic or artificial measures, such as a feeding tube, or a breathing apparatus are used. A living will can declare that if you are in a persistent vegetative state, irreversible coma, or dying from an incurable disease or illness, you want as much pain medication as you need to be kept comfortable, even if hastens the moment of your death, or exceeds routine guidelines. A living will is different than a health care power of attorney, which gives authority to your agent to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to make them yourself. Today, most clients also want a mental health care power of attorney, which declares that if you are unable to give informed consent to your placement in a facility or other recommended treatment, your agent has the authority to agree to the placement or treatment without first obtaining a court order. I’m Mark Bregman. Contact me at (480) 945-9131 to find out how I can use my knowledge and experience to help you and your family from suffering during an end of life experience.

By: Attorney Mark Bregman

How to Avoid Probate in Scottsdale

I want to speak to you today regarding how you may avoid probate in the state of Arizona. Since probate is a legal proceeding, lawyers may be retained to represent heirs of the person appointed to manage the person’s estate. Avoiding probate therefore, will likely save the estate and parties the attorneys fees and other costs incurred in a probate case.

Estate Planning

A properly executed estate plan, including a properly executed trust, funded with all of your property and appointing an executor to manage your estate will in most cases avoid the need for your heirs to be involved in a probate action in Arizona. Please feel free to contact the attorneys at Hildebrand Law, if you have any other questions on ways to avoid a probate in Arizona.

By: Chris Hildebrand