Estate Planning
Estate planning is not just for the wealthy—it’s for anyone who wants to protect their loved ones and assets. Without a proper plan in place, your estate may be subject to lengthy legal proceedings, high taxes, and disputes among family members.
Estate planning is the thoughtful process of organizing your personal, financial, and legal affairs to ensure your wishes are honored both during your lifetime and after your passing. It goes well beyond drafting a will—it’s about making intentional choices to safeguard your assets, support your loved ones, and prepare for the unexpected.
A well-rounded estate plan typically includes a combination of documents such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives—each tailored to your unique needs and goals. Whether your priorities include avoiding probate, reducing taxes, naming guardians for minor children, ensuring business continuity, or simply simplifying things for your family, estate planning gives you control and lasting peace of mind.
At Dixon Law, we offer personalized estate planning services designed to help you secure your financial future and protect what matters most. Whether you’re starting from scratch or updating an existing plan, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.
The Importance of Trust Funding
Once your estate plan is in place, an essential next step is trust funding—the process of transferring ownership of your assets into your trust. Creating a trust is only the beginning; funding it is what activates its benefits.
Trust funding typically involves retitling assets such as real estate, bank accounts, investments, and business interests so that they are legally held in the name of your trust. For example, your home would be re-titled from your personal name to the name of your trust. This step ensures that your assets are properly managed and distributed according to your instructions, while also helping them avoid probate.
Proper funding is critical—without it, your trust may not function as intended. That’s why trust funding is included in every trust package at Dixon Law. And because ongoing funding requires consistent attention and accuracy, we offer guidance and support to help clients keep their trusts properly maintained over time.
Ongoing Support Through Our Client Update Program
To ensure your plan continues to reflect your life and goals, we offer a comprehensive Client Update Program. This program fosters a long-term relationship with our clients, offering invaluable benefits such as continued assistance with trust funding and proactive updates to your estate plan in response to life changes, legal developments, or evolving priorities.
For a low annual enrollment fee, the Update Program provides access to experienced legal support, helping you keep your plan current and effective. Our long-time clients value the peace of mind this program brings, knowing that their estate plan grows with them and continues to provide the protection they need.
Elder Law
As our loved ones age, navigating the complexities of legal and financial matters becomes increasingly important. Elder law encompasses various issues that affect older adults, providing the necessary tools to plan for a secure and dignified future.
Elder law considerations play a critical role in the estate planning process, especially when it comes to anticipating future healthcare needs and preserving assets. As we help clients build their estate plans, we also look ahead to potential long-term care challenges and explore strategies to prepare for them in advance.
Planning with elder law in mind allows us to incorporate preplanning techniques that can protect assets while still qualifying for essential benefits like Medicaid or Veterans Aid & Attendance. Without this foresight, families often face costly and stressful situations—such as being unprepared for nursing home expenses, adversely affecting eligibility for benefits, or needing to spend down assets unnecessarily.
By addressing these issues early, we can help you avoid common pitfalls, such as transferring assets at the wrong time or failing to structure your estate in a way that preserves eligibility for long-term care assistance. A well-integrated estate plan considers not only how your assets will be distributed after death, but also how they can support you during your lifetime if care needs arise.
And if or when those care needs do emerge—whether it’s difficulty accessing or affording care, or navigating the application process for public benefits—you’ll know exactly who to call. Our firm provides trusted guidance and resources to help you or your loved ones secure quality care and financial support, without unnecessary hardship.
Integrating elder law planning into your estate plan gives you peace of mind, knowing you’re protected for both today and tomorrow.
Probate Administration & Trust Settlement
Our Probate Administration and Trust Settlement Services are designed to support families, executors, and trustees through what can often be a confusing and emotionally difficult process. We provide clear, compassionate guidance to help you efficiently and legally settle a loved one’s estate, no matter how complex the circumstances may be.
If your loved one had a trust-based estate plan, their estate may be able to bypass probate entirely. In these cases, the successor trustee takes over the responsibility of managing and distributing the trust’s assets in accordance with the terms of the trust. This process, known as trust settlement, can be intricate—often involving legal compliance, asset valuation, tax considerations, and communication with beneficiaries. Our team is here to ensure that trustees fulfill their duties correctly and with confidence.
If probate is required—either because the individual had a will or passed away without a will—our firm is well-equipped to guide you through every step. Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a will (if one exists), settling debts, and distributing assets. When someone dies intestate (without a will), the court appoints an administrator to distribute assets according to state law. We work closely with personal representatives/executors and family members to simplify and expedite the probate process while ensuring full compliance with legal obligations.
Whether your loved one left behind a will, a trust, or no estate plan at all, we offer the professional experience and personal support needed to help you navigate probate court proceedings and trust administration with clarity and care. Our goal is to minimize stress, avoid unnecessary delays, and make sure the estate is handled properly—so you can focus on what matters most.