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Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation
Estate Planning Law Services in Honolulu, HI
You're in relatively good health and financially secure right now, but that can all change in the blink of an eye. Who will make decisions about your health care, distribution of your property, and control of your business should you become incapacitated? Don't leave all that to chance. At the Law Offices of Reuben S. F. Wong, we can help you create an estate plan that will protect your personal and business investments, outline your financial and medical decisions, and preserve your wealth for future generations.
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Take control before you lose control
Without a plan in place to protect your assets, your loved ones will be left in limbo. Decisions such as medical care, distribution of assets, and who will take over running your business can lead to disputes and acrimony even in the closest of families.
At the Law Offices of Reuben S. F. Wong, we will take the time to explore your rights and options to create a personalized estate plan that works for you and your family, including:
- Wills and trusts: We are experienced in all aspects of estate planning, including the creation of simple wills and trusts, estate administration, trust administration, and probate. At every stage, we provide you and your family with the compassionate guidance and experience you can rely on.
- Powers of attorney: A power of attorney allows another person to make important decisions regarding your legal and financial interests should you become unable to do so due to illness or injury. Our estate planning attorneys will help you fully explore and understand your options.
- Wealth preservation: Your money can continue to grow and benefit others, even after you're gone. The Law Office of Reuben S. F. Wong can help you achieve this through the creation of trusts, strategic tax planning, and preserving assets through private foundations and family limited partnerships.
- Advanced health care directives: This is an important part of estate planning that spells out your specific wishes for medical care for family, doctors, or hospitals should you become incapacitated.
Exit strategies for business owners
Many business owners in Hawaii have not developed a plan for business succession, but they should. In the event of retirement or death, it is important to have a strategy in place to protect your interests and those of your family.
Whether you want to transfer ownership of your business to a family member, sell it to the highest bidder, or close its doors, the business succession attorneys at the Law Offices of Reuben S. F. Wong can assist in coordinating and implementing all of the moving parts of a successful exit strategy, including:
- Business valuation
- Tax planning
- Selecting an appropriate retirement plan
- Options for disability and life insurance
- Safeguarding intellectual property
- Choosing a successor
- Transfer of ownership
- Sale of assets
- Transferring ownership
There are multiple options for transferring ownership of a business to another person or entity. Depending on your goals, the type of business you have, and the tax implications, your options may include:
- Selling the business outright: This will result in the immediate transfer of ownership, and you will receive payment for assets immediately.
- Gradually selling the business: This can allow you to step away from the business while still receiving monthly income from the sale.
- Transferring rights to the business through a lease agreement: This involves creating a contract that temporarily transfers ownership to another party. The contract should also detail the payments you will receive for transferring temporary rights to the business. Additionally, all gift and estate tax implications should be considered before transferring ownership to a family member.
Legal guidance for estate executors
It has been said that the tasks of estate administration and probate amount to a job in itself. Estate executors and administrators undertaking fiduciary duties they are not familiar with, can become overwhelmed, and unwittingly make errors in the process that could drain estate assets, as well as cause dispute among family members.
Let the experienced estate planning attorneys at the Law Offices of Reuben S. F. Wong make the process as easy on you as possible by providing compassionate counsel and representation in:
- Determining whether probate is necessary (use of trusts can sometimes allow estates to avoid probate)
- Obtaining a copy of the will and filing it with the probate court
- Notifying government agencies, banks, and credit card companies of the decedent's death
- Creating and filing a detailed inventory of estate assets
- Setting up a bank account for any incoming funds
- Payment of any outstanding bills
- Payment of estate taxes and debts
- Distribution of assets to heirs and beneficiaries
- Representing executors and administrators in probate court
If you have been asked to be the executor or administrator of an estate, call our team for a free consultation to discuss your goals and concerns. Estate administrators and executors in Honolulu, HI, have trusted our lawyers for skilled and knowledgeable guidance in the Hawaii probate process since 1964.
Assigning financial and medical powers of attorney
In the event that you become unable to make decisions regarding your finances or your medical treatment, who will speak for you? Assigning power of attorney gives a trusted person the authority to be your voice, and to make potentially sensitive decisions on your behalf.
Assigning medical power of attorney is something many people put off doing until it's too late. This leaves family members in the terrible position of having to making difficult medical decisions for incapacitated loved ones, with little to no guidance as to what they'd want. Similarly, not assigning financial power of attorney can leave family members with no authority to make financial decisions, such as bill payments, should a loved one become physically or mentally unable to handle these tasks.
By creating powers of attorney, you can clarify your wishes, alleviate your loved ones' burdens, and prevent family disputes. If you wish, you can select one person to make financial decisions and another to make medical decisions on your behalf.
When assigning powers of attorney, the person you choose could be a family member, a lawyer, or a friend you trust and respect. In any case, the person you select should be someone who will honor your wishes and protect your interests and those of your family.
If you have questions about these matters, please call the Law Offices of Reuben S. F. Wong. Our attorneys can provide you with the information you need, and help you draft these important documents.
Trust creation for Hawaii families
Whether you want to preserve your assets for future generations, support your favorite charitable organization, minimize estate taxes, or avoid probate, a trust can help your family accomplish all that and more.
Most people associate trusts with very large estates. However, trusts can also be effective tools for people of more modest means. At the Law Offices of Reuben S. F. Wong, our attorneys will take the time to get to know your specific situation, and help you draft a trust for achieving your specific goals. Depending on the circumstances, your trust options may include:
- Special Needs Trust, which can benefit a loved one with special needs while allowing him or her to retain eligibility for government benefits.
- Charitable Trust,which can benefit a charity of your choice or the public in general. A charitable trust can also help minimize estate and gift taxes, as well as provide the trustmaker with valuable benefits during his or her lifetime.
- Spendthrift Trust,which protects the assets from the beneficiary's creditors until the property is distributed. With this type of trust, you can determine how and when the assets will be distributed.
- Tax Bypass Trust,which allows one spouse to leave money to the other and at the same time limit the amount of federal estate tax payable upon the death of the second spouse. Depending on the value of the estate, this type of trust could save a decedent's children hundreds of thousands of dollars in estate taxes.
For many years, founding attorney Reuben S. F. Wong served as Harry Weinberg's personal attorney and estate planner. Mr. Weinberg was one of the leading individual philanthropists in Hawaii, and he donated the bulk of his assets to a philanthropic foundation, which he created with the help of the Law Offices of Reuben S. F. Wong. This extensive experience with charitable organizations makes Mr. Wong a leader in estate planning in Honolulu, HI, and a graduate of what our firm has called the "School of Weinberg."
Get an experienced estate planning attorney in your corner
The Law Offices of Reuben S. F. Wong understands that the prospect of estate planning can be intimidating and overwhelming. You'll be glad to know that our estate planning attorneys have decades of experience in breaking the process down into more manageable terms, and creating effective, affordable estate planning vehicles for individuals and families in Honolulu, HI, and across the Island of O'ahu.
1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1006
Honolulu, HI 96813
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