Estate Planning

The Law Offices of Christopher L. Moore, LLC’s estate planning practice provides personal, in-depth counseling to individuals and families. Our goal is to provide you with individualized planning based upon your personal situation, your goals, and your desires. We customize estate plans to minimize taxes, maximize wealth transfers, and ensure that the final distribution of your assets is in accordance with your wishes. We understand the importance of family and your desire to protect them after you are gone. Estate planning is not just for the wealthy. It is important to plan for the future no matter how large or small your estate.

If there is one word that best describes the legal term “estate planning,” that word is CONTROL. During our lives, we are in control of our finances and medical decisions. The primary goal of estate planning is to put the proper structure in place that allows you to ensure that what you want to happen following your death or incapacity is in fact what will happen. If there is a second word that best describes the legal term “estate planning,” that word is PROTECTION. Proper estate planning can protect your beneficiaries from themselves (i.e. spendthrifts) as well as their creditors (voluntary or involuntary) and can even provide a means for incentivizing future conduct that you wish to promote or encourage.

Without proper estate planning, certain “default” rules created by the state legislature will control. For instance, if you die intestate (i.e. without a valid Will) in Georgia, certain laws enacted by the state legislature determine what happens to your property and other assets. Sometimes, these default rules are consistent with your estate planning objectives; oftentimes, they are not. We understand that every client is unique. We invest the necessary time to know you and your personal desires, goals and objectives and we will formulate a strategy and plan designed to desires, goals and objectives in an effective and efficient manner.

Our pledge to you is that we will guide you through the entire process and explain the available options. We will provide you with confidence and peace of mind.

We use a variety of estate planning tools to empower you and protect your loved ones, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Complex and simple Wills
• Testamentary trusts (contained in your Will), including bypass and marital trusts
• Intervivos trusts (i.e. established while you are alive), revocable and irrevocable
• Life insurance trusts (commonly referred to as an “ILIT”)
• Generation skipping trusts, children’s’ trusts, and educational trusts
• Family limited partnerships and family limited liability companies
• Estate planning for owners of closely held businesses and professionals as well as business succession planning

Any comprehensive estate planning takes into consideration the possibility of your subsequent incapacity. Trusts, Durable Powers of Attorney, and Healthcare Powers of Attorney (sometimes referred to as Advanced Medical Directives) serve to protect you against subsequent incapacity and can help to avoid the potential conflict and time, expense and delay associated with filing for the appointment of a conservator or guardian.

We routinely provide guidance in these areas and we have extensive experience in assisting the family members of persons who have failed to adequately plan for subsequent incapacity in obtaining letters of guardianship and/or conservatorship.

Throughout the entire estate planning process, we focus on providing you with what you need in terms of security, flexibility and predictability.

If you have any estate planning related question or issue, you may contact us at (678) 679-6717 and we will be happy to discuss your situation with you.