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Estate and Health Care
Planning
The estate planning
process develops a plan for each client to use,
conserve, and transfer wealth. We assist clients in
developing estate plans that avoid probate, protect
the client’s estate from unnecessary taxes and
costs, and assure the transfer of wealth according
to the client’s wishes. The estate plan may involve
revocable living trusts, wills, special needs
trusts, or other planning tools. In addition, we
give careful attention to health care planning.
Orren & Orren views estate and health care planning
as an act of caring by our clients for their loved
ones and others they wish to transfer their wealth
to. By making an estate plan and health care
decisions now, clients will spare their families the
difficulties of conservatorship, probate and other
legal processes in the future.
Trust Administration
& Probate
Trust
administration carries out the instructions of a
trust and conducts the business of the trust. This
includes filing tax returns, funding new trusts that
arise upon the death of the trust maker, and
distributing assets. Probate is the
court-supervised administration of a deceased
person’s estate when there is a will, or assets are
outside of a trust, or the decedent died intestate.
We help our clients navigate the complexities of
these procedures.
Elder Law
For senior clients who
need assistance with daily living, either
immediately or in the near future, we work with
social workers and care managers, and, when
necessary, prosecute court actions, to assure access
to reliable high-quality health and nursing care,
while maintaining income, preserving assets,
obtaining government entitlements, settling family
disputes and enabling clients to face the challenges
of aging with dignity and serenity.
Conservatorships,
Guardianships and Adoptions
An accident, stroke, or
other catastrophic illness can render any of us
unable to manage our affairs or even decisions about
our medical treatment. If this happens before a
person has made an estate and health care plan, a
conservatorship may become necessary. This is a
proceeding in which the court appoints a relative,
friend or, if necessary, a professional conservator
to make decisions for the person’s health care and
financial affairs. In addition, when a
developmentally disabled child reaches eighteen
years of age, the child’s parents must be appointed
conservators, in order to retain the legal right to
care for their child. When children’s parents die
or become unable to care for them, one of two things
must happen; either another adult must legally adopt
the child, or a guardian must be appointed to care
for the child. Orren & Orren assists clients in
making all of these arrangements.
Appeals & Writs
After
a judgment is entered in a trial, a party who is
disappointed with it may decide to seek review in an
appellate court. The rules, procedures, and even
some of the substantive standards in the appellate
courts are different from those in the superior
courts, and many trial lawyers prefer to engage an
appellate lawyer when a case moves to the appellate
level. Our firm works with trial lawyers and their
clients in obtaining appellate review, or in
defending favorable judgments. We also work with
trial counsel in preparing pre-trial and mid-trial
motions, in order to preserve issues when appellate
review is anticipated.
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