Our Practice Areas
Estate Planning
At Ser & Associates, we provide a wide range of estate planning and asset protection services to individuals, families, and businesses to leverage the most appropriate vehicles for preserving family wealth and protecting your prestigious business legacy.
We can provide everything from estate planning and asset protection, to trust and probate administration.
We understand that entrepreneurs have specific estate planning needs, and this is why we are dedicated to tailoring a plan that fits your unique needs.
In addition to thinking about the future of your own assets, it’s equally important to consider the future of your business, too.
At Ser & Associates, we help you plan for the future by walking you through various scenarios that raise important legal questions.
Estate Plan Updates
If you need to amend your estate plans, Ser & associates will help you with any periodic updates you may need or want to provide.
Wills, trusts, and other estate plans should be checked periodically to ensure they are up-to-date, especially in light of major life events such as a marriage, divorce, or the birth of a child or grandchild.
Frequently monitoring your trust and keeping it up to date with your family needs and dynamic guarantees that the right beneficiaries collect the assets that you intended bequeath or devise.
Will Preparation
As an individual, Ser & Associates can assist you in the preparation of your will.
If you pass away without a will, your estate is divided and distributed according to the laws of the state (e.g., intestate succession). That means the assets granted to your spouse, children, and other relatives are left to a court’s discretion.
Instead of allowing the court to decide, Ser & Associates can prepare wills catered to its clients, so you—and you alone—determine how your estate is divided.
Trusts
For those planning for their family’s future, Ser & Associates can assist clients with establishing trusts.
A trust is often the cornerstone of our client’s estate plan. Without a trust, following your death, any possessions you own will go through probate, which can be a costly and time-consuming ordeal.
However, you can bypass probate if you transfer ownership of your possessions to a trust. A trust can help when you don’t want your minor children to inherit your property directly, you want to prevent your property from going to your adult child’s ex-spouse, or you simply want to make the process easier for your heirs.
Depending on your unique goals, there are numerous succession plans that can be put into place to phase you out of the business while you still retain a desired level of income or control. One strategy is to create a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT), which is a type of trust that will allow you to transfer your business assets to your children while also keeping your own source of income. Transferring your estate assets in this manner can minimize your tax liability and help to retain your assets within the family.
Succession Planning
As a business, Ser & Associates will prepare buy-sell agreements.
A buy-sell agreement establishes a mechanism for redistributing ownership in the event of death, or disability, and is vital for businesses with more than one owner.
There are different types of buy-sell agreements (including cross-purchase and stock-redemption), but each will allow the remaining owners to redeem the stake of the departing owner.
This agreement will also specify how the value of the business will be determined. Such an agreement is also helpful in the event an owner declares bankruptcy or is going through a court proceeding (such as a divorce).
Advance Directives
Aside from trust and wills, Ser & Associates can also assist clients with advance directives.
Advance directives include a living will, durable power of attorney, and health care surrogate. These documents designate the person(s) who will make decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated.
While the future remains uncertain, planning for various scenarios by using a will or trust is a clever way to retain your family’s wealth and business interests.
