Estate Planning & Probate

Estate planning is a broad term used to describe the process of anticipating and arranging for your death or disability. More to the point, it is the process of taking care of yourself and the people you care about when you are unable to do it yourself. Estate planning can be quite complicated and most choose to get personalized advice from an expert. It’s possible that one day you will acquire money where you are concerned about the federal estate tax. It’s also possible that you might own a business in North Dakota and have questions about passing it along to someone else. Maybe you have questions about leaving money to a charity, creating a living will, or even naming beneficiaries for an insurance policy or retirement account. Either way, you’ll want to speak with a lawyer. At SW&L, we use a variety of instruments to carry out the client’s wishes, including simple wills, pour-over wills, revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILIT), incentive or discretionary trusts, special needs trusts, pet trusts, durable power of attorney for financial matters, durable power of attorney for health care decisions, living wills, beneficiary designations, life estate deeds, transfer on death deeds, and joint tenant with right of survivorship deeds. Estate planning may also include efforts to decrease tax liability, transfer farms and other businesses, and avoid probate altogether. The estate planning department takes into account each client’s individual circumstances and drafts a comprehensive estate plan. If you need help planning your estate anywhere in North Dakota or Minnesota, call or email SW&L today.