Life’s Big Moments

Each of life’s big moments is a reason to reflect on your planning. Whether it is the birth of a child, the death of a family member, a move across the globe, or watching your child cross the stage in a cap and gown, these momentous times lead use to think on where we are and where we are going. Landry Law is there to help, whether you are a member of the Landry Law Continued Planning Program checking in on a regular call, someone who planned with Lisa Ann years ago and wants to make some changes (or just see how things are), or someone who hasn’t worked with Lisa Ann previously who wants to start planning, I look forward to discussing this with you.

For some of life’s more celebrated moments, there may be a particular suggested set of documents that we find commonly helpful for people celebrating the same milestone. We’ve included some of these below, but in all cases, we will discuss your particular situation and goals with you before making our recommendations. Seemingly small details can entirely changes our recommendations, so it is important that we review the particulars before providing legal advice.

Since we strongly recommend that adults have planning in place, with particular recommendations tied to milestones, we strive to make doing so accessible. We therefore work to offer special pricing tied to some of life’s milestones. If you have recently achieved a milestone or expect to in the near future, please let us know! We would love to celebrate with you and discuss some options that you may wish to consider.

Here is a list of life’s milestones that we would love to celebrate with you – but please contact us with updates even if yours isn’t on this list! While there are not always special planning tools to go with each of these, they do at the very least offer a good moment to reflect on your existing plans or needs for planning.

  • Graduation from technical school, college, graduate school, or professional school

  • Passing your boards, the bar, or otherwise achieving the final licensing for your career

  • Moving a long distance, including across states, countries, and continents

  • Becoming emancipated

  • Retiring

  • Bringing a pet into your family

  • Divorce

  • Coming out (in whatever way this means to you)

  • Welcoming a new member of the family

  • Buying your first house

  • Starting a new business

  • Paying off your final student loans

  • Marriage

  • Changing to a new career

There are also somber moments in life which are milestones but not joyous. Whether these include the death of a loved one, receiving a poor medical diagnosis (including but not limited to chronic illness and terminal illness), finding that a loved one is special needs, obtaining a settlement following an injury, or finding that life is leading you a different way than you’d hoped, we are prepared to help you adjust your planning accordingly in these moments as well.

The below are some of our common recommendations around celebratory milestones with discounted rates, though our advice as to the appropriate documents for clients often changes based upon specific facts or goals.

For anticipating and new parents, we typically suggest among three options for you. First, we have a set of guardianship and conservatorship documents that it is important you have so that the people you want to will be the ones caring for your child and your child’s assets if anything should happen to you. Second, we combine the guardianship and conservatorship documents with a basic Last Will and Testament, Health Care Proxy, and Durable Power of Attorney. These documents help keep you and your child protected in the event something, whether temporary or permanent, should happen to you. Finally, we combine the aforementioned documents with a basic revocable trust to provide greater protection and ongoing access to assets should anything happen to you. Which of the three we recommend for you will depend upon your goals and situation, and you certainly are under no obligations to follow our recommendation. We offer all three at discounted rates for anticipating and new first time parents, which we define as anyone who expects to welcome your first child within the next six months or has welcomed their first child in the preceding nine months, including both biological and adopted (up to the age of eighteen years) children. If you are fostering children or are in the process of adopted children you fostered, please let us know this as well.

For grandparents welcoming their first grandchild into the family, we offer a discounted rate on irrevocable gifting trusts. We find that many grandparents look to add irrevocable gifting trusts for the benefit of their grandchildren, including trusts holding 529 Plans. If you are interested in this, other gifting options, or other planning options, please let us know!

For those who are starting a new business and have no planning or outdated planning, we typically recommend a combination of LLC or Corporation formation along with a revocable trust, Last Will and Testament, Durable Power of Attorney, and Health Care Proxy. This protects your business and personal, preserving your assets for your future and your loved ones.

For the first-time homebuyer, we often discuss revocable trusts. Even a basic revocable trust as we prepare them, if appropriately funded, will assist you by allowing your selected fiduciary to take care of your home and other assets in the event you become incapacitated as well as to avoid probate and have the assets more readily available following your death.

For newlyweds, we will often discuss planning that will allow your estates to save on estate taxes as well as caring for each other and your families, all depending upon your wishes. If you are planning to get married within the next year or had your wedding within the preceding six months, please let us know.

Both when people marry and when they divorce, we recommend swift changes to their estate and tax planning. Depending upon the circumstances, these changes may or may not affect any existing planning or, if no planning, the applicable intestacy laws. Therefore, it is very important to review and possibly update your planning surrounding these events.

For those recently emancipated, we find that the intestacy laws (legal defaults for what happens if you die without a Last Will and Testament) often do not reflect your wishes. Further, and possibly even more important to you, you should name the individuals you want to take care of your affairs should you become incapacitated – people to make your health care decisions if you are unable to do so, sign your name, and access your accounts. Therefore, we recommend that you establish an estate plan quickly, even if it is limited to your incapacity documents.

People who have recently obtained permanent residency (“green card”) status in the US or US citizenship also have specific planning needs. It is important that you consider your worldwide assets in creating a holistic plan – with consideration of all applicable taxes. There are many specific requirements depending upon where your assets, fiduciaries, and beneficiaries are located, so it is important to discuss your planning before any recommendations are made.

Similarly, US citizens and permanent residents moving abroad should consider and adapt their estate plans accordingly. The US taxes permanent residents and citizens on their worldwide assets, but your new country of domicile or the country where the assets are located may also assess tax. The US and certain countries have income and/or estate tax treaties that may also affect your particular circumstances.