ESTATE PLANNING

Kitto Law, PC, provides legal counsel at reasonable rates to individuals who need asset protection and estate planning counsel.  This can include counsel regarding wills, powers of attorney, directives, various types of trusts and related real estate issues.  We counsel individuals on trust issues relating to special needs minors and adults, life insurance trusts, supplemental needs trusts, and trusts that assist in asset protection in the elder law context.  We believe in treatment of the elderly with respect and dignity, and counsel many seniors.
We work with numerous business owners, families and individuals in their asset protection and estate planning requirements.  The office also assists our clients who find themselves appointed as a personal representative or trustee of an estate.
Estate planning is the process whereby an individual develops a plan that ensures that the assets they have worked so hard to accumulate during their lifetime are protected at their death and distributed as they choose. Estate planning in today’s world also involves specifying your wishes as to who makes decisions for you if you are incapacitated, and who makes health care decisions for you in powers of attorney.
Without proper planning, taxes or the cost of probate may erode the value of your estate, your estate may be distributed in a way contrary to your wishes or decisions may be made about your future health care that are contrary to your intentions.  Having an estate plan is important for everyone, but is especially important for:
high net worth individuals
parties who have business succession issues,
parties who have minor children,
parties with special needs children
second marriage or second relationship parties,
high net worth individuals who need to minimize estate taxes,
individuals who have life partners to whom they are not married,
individuals with charitable goals for their estate or
self-employed individuals.
For business owners, having an estate plan that includes an orderly transfer for ownership for their closely-held or family business is essential.  Kitto Law. PC is experienced in representing business owners and entrepreneurs to ensure that their business agreements are consistent with the estate plans of an individual. If you do not want to do business with the heirs of your business partner should something happen to one of your business partners, such estate planning is a priority.
Additionally, it is more important than ever to specify your own wishes about what you would like done in the event you are disabled, terminally ill, unconscious or incapacitated in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to communicate your health care decisions.
Probate is the process in Colorado whereby one’s will is lodged, and a personal representative (a/k/a executor) is appointed to administer a deceased person’s estate.  It can be formal or informal, supervised or not, and can be very simple or more complex.  The firm regularly advises parties such as trustees, personal representatives, powers of attorney and other fiduciaries in such roles.
Kitto Law PC, offers counsel on your individual goals, and can assist you in drafting documents to accomplish these ends, or working through the probate process.