Estate Planning
Customized Estate Planning documents are one of the most needed and requested services we provide to our clients. The Law Offices of Nancy A. Cogar has created three bundle specials to address most of the common needs.
Attorney Nancy Cogar is committed to providing comprehensive legal services in the areas of Elder Law, Estate Planning, Long term care planning, Trusts and Probate Administration. All members of our staff strive to offer professional and compassionate support to our valued clients. On this page you will find some of the most routine services provided by our firm.
Although some of the services we offer may address issues common to aging, the circumstances of each individual and their family dynamics may vary greatly. Ideally, families would make estate plans far in advance of a crisis so that all their legal planning needs are in place. Sometimes, in spite of the best laid plans, life happens and you and your family are suddenly faced with critical decisions and the need for legal advice to make informed choices. For most of us, our needs change as we age. Therefore, it is important to have a relationship with an attorney that can guide you through the different phases of life
Another common but costly and incorrect assumption is that estate planning documents such as a Last Will and Testament, General Durable Power of Attorney (GDPOA) and Durable Health Care Power of Attorney are generic do-it-yourself documents.
Estate documents designed by the Law Offices of Nancy Cogar will be created specific to your needs and preferences. These are NOT generic forms. We take the time to educate our clients so that they understand the powers that each of these important documents provide to the person acting on their behalf. A Last Will and Testament, General Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Power of Attorney are personalized instruments designed according to your specifications. See the description below for more information on the purpose of each of these important legal documents.
Red Flag Consultation
We invite new prospective clients to schedule a Red Flag Consultation. This meeting will provide one hour with the attorney for the special price of $300.00. The fee can be credited toward any legal service you retain with our firm. Sometimes one hour with the attorney can answer your critical questions and no action is required. If after meeting with Attorney Cogar you see the need for legal representation, the attorney will outline a plan of action for your matter.
Estate Planning
Some people devote more time to planning a vacation, deciding which car to buy, or even researching the reviews to choose a restaurant to eat dinner than they do to estate planning – deciding who will inherit their assets after they’re gone. Without estate planning, you can’t choose who gets everything that you worked so hard for.
Estate planning isn’t only for the rich. Without a plan in place, settling your affairs after you go could have a long-lasting – and costly – impact on your loved ones, even if you don’t have a pricey home, large IRA, or valuable art to pass on. If you die without a will, which is a vital part of an estate plan, the courts will decide who gets your assets.
There are four key reasons why you should have a plan in order to avoid potentially negative consequences for your heirs.
• Estate Planning allows you to choose who gets what
• Estate planning afford you the chance to name your children’s guardian in the event of your early death
• Estate planning reduces taxes on what you leave behind
• Estate planning minimizes the chances of family strife and ugly legal battles
Estate Planning Packages
Basic Estate Planning Package
- The “Basic Estate Planning” package memorializes your instructions with a “Legacy Action Plan” and protects your basic long term needs so that any individual(s) you designate to take action if/when you become critically ill or disabled and need assistance managing your finances (Personalized Advanced Health Care Power of Attorney and General Durable Power of Attorney).
- Also includes your specific directions as to how your estate will be handled when you pass away with a personalized Last Will and Testament
- Expert legal counsel as to critical drafting requirements in the State of Tennessee, so that Tennessee’s strict formality requirements are satisfied, and your Will is valid and enforceable.
- Also includes personalized legal counsel as to asset planning which can avoid probate and save your heirs time and money in probate.
- Services also include quarterly “Tennessee Elder Law” updates including awareness/education about important issues facing the aging population and changes in the law that may affect you and your estate plan.
- DOES NOT INCLUDE COURT FILING FEES
Protective Estate Planning
- Includes everything in the “Basic Estate Planning” package including the “Legacy Action Plan” and goes even further by offering strategies to protect retirement moneys and other assets, in the potential case of divorce, bankruptcy or other financial troubles more complex in nature.
- The “Protective Estate Planning” package is particularly good for blending families, i.e. second/third marriages with children from different marriages or heirs with circumstances that may indicate that they need additional support with management of any future inheritance.
- Expert legal advocacy to avoid pitfalls when seeking to protect bequests to a second spouse or children from a prior marriage.
- Also includes personalized legal counsel to analyze your personal assets and determine the best protections in advance of potential future long-term health care needs that may require asset spend-down or future Medicaid eligibility.
- Contingent/Testamentary Trust provisions for minor children or individuals with special needs circumstances. Avoid estate planning pitfalls that may otherwise make your disabled loved ones’ suddenly ineligible for continued government assistance.
- DOES NOT INCLUDE COURT FILING FEES
Premium Estate Planning Package
The Premium Estate Planning package is for the client seeking a comprehensive estate plan including Trust provisions. This plan is founded both on wealth protection efforts to avoid probate and strategies to plan appropriately for the cost of long-term health care needs or crisis planning for you and/or the special needs of your loved ones.
- Last Will and Testament with Trust Provisions
- Trust drafting – i.e. special needs trust, Miller Trust/QIT, supplemental needs trust, third party trust, spendthrift trust, etc.
- Long term and crisis health care planning
- Medicaid and TennCare eligibility/planning issues
- Drafting personalized Power of Attorneys to address long term care or special needs
- DOES NOT INCLUDE COURT FILING FEES
Serving the needs of the aging population and their families.
2288 Gunbarrel Road Ste. 154 PMB 226; Chattanooga, TN 37421
[email protected]
(423) 892-2006 (p) | (423) 892-1919 (f)
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