Frequently Asked Questions

If you have people, pets, property, accounts, healthcare preferences, or opinions about what should happen later, an estate plan can help.

You do not need to own a mansion, have children, or be close to retirement. Many of our Atlanta clients begin planning after buying a home near the BeltLine, moving in with a partner, getting married, having a child, starting a business, adopting a pet, or helping care for aging parents.

A typical estate plan may include a will, power of attorney, advance directive, and, when appropriate, a revocable trust. Your plan may also include guardianship nominations for minor children, pet trust provisions, a transfer-on-death deed, or documents for a college student or young adult.

The right combination depends on your life. We help Atlanta estate planning clients decide what belongs in their plan and what does not.

If you die without a valid will in Georgia, state law decides who inherits your property. This is called intestate succession.

Those rules may work for some families, but they may not reflect your relationships, priorities, or wishes. A will lets you name who should receive your property, who should handle your estate, and who you would want to serve as guardian for minor children.

It depends.

A will may be enough for some people. A trust may make more sense if you want to avoid probate for certain assets, plan for real estate, provide more privacy, structure inheritances over time, or make things easier for the person who will handle your affairs later.

During your consultation with an Atlanta estate planning lawyer, we can talk through what you own, who you want to protect, and whether a will-based or trust-based plan fits best.

A revocable living trust is a legal tool that can hold certain assets during your lifetime and explain how those assets should be managed or distributed if you become incapacitated or pass away.

You can usually change or revoke the trust while you are alive. Many people use trusts to help avoid probate, keep certain matters private, and give a successor trustee clear authority to act when needed.

Usually, no. Many trust-based plans still include a pour-over will.

The trust may handle assets placed into it, while the pour-over will can help address assets that were not transferred into the trust before death. The documents are designed to work together.

A power of attorney lets you name someone to handle financial or legal matters for you if you cannot handle them yourself.

That person may be able to pay bills, manage accounts, sign documents, or take care of practical responsibilities on your behalf. Choosing the right person matters because this role involves trust and judgment.

An advance directive lets you name someone to make healthcare decisions for you if you cannot speak for yourself. It can also include instructions about the kind of medical care you would or would not want in certain situations.

This document can give your loved ones a clearer path during a stressful moment.

Start with trust, reliability, and communication.

The person you choose should be able to follow your wishes, handle responsibility, communicate with others, and make decisions under pressure. Sometimes that is a spouse, parent, sibling, adult child, close friend, or chosen family member. Sometimes it is not the person everyone expects.

We can help you think through the role before you decide.

Yes. If you have minor children, your estate plan can include guardianship nominations.

This lets you state who you would want to care for your children if both parents were unable to do so. You can also create structure for how money or property should be managed for your children until they are old enough to receive it.

Yes, and it can be especially important.

If you are not married, Georgia’s default rules may not give your partner the authority or inheritance rights you would want them to have. Estate planning can help you name your partner in your will or trust, authorize them to make healthcare decisions, give them financial authority if needed, and make your wishes clear.

Yes. Estate planning gives you a way to legally recognize the people who matter most to you.

If the person you trust most is a friend, partner, sibling, cousin, neighbor, or someone outside your legal family structure, the right documents can help make that clear.

Absolutely.

You can name a caregiver, leave instructions, and in some cases create a pet trust to provide money for your pet’s care. For clients in Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park, Reynoldstown, and other Atlanta neighborhoods, pet planning can be part of a larger estate plan that reflects how your life actually works.

Often, yes.

Once someone turns 18, parents may no longer have automatic access to medical information or authority to make decisions. A student planning package can help young adults name trusted people to assist with healthcare or financial matters if something happens.

This can be helpful for college students, young adults moving out, or families who want essential documents in place.

You should consider updating your estate plan after a major life change.

That may include marriage, divorce, a new child, a new home, a move to Atlanta or elsewhere in Georgia, a death in the family, a change in assets, a new business, a change in relationships, or simply realizing that your old documents no longer reflect your life.

A good rule of thumb is to review your estate plan every few years or after any major life event.

You may not need changes every time, but a review can help confirm whether your documents, decision-makers, beneficiaries, and instructions still make sense.

Yes. We use flat-fee pricing for estate planning so you know what your plan will cost before we begin.

Our estate planning pricing includes will-based planning, trust-based planning, document execution options, transfer-on-death deeds, pet trusts, student packages, and one-day concierge planning.

Estate planning happens during life. Probate happens after death.

Estate planning is how you create documents, name trusted people, and make decisions ahead of time. Probate is the court process that may be needed to handle someone’s estate after they pass away.

Sometimes.

Certain tools, such as revocable trusts, beneficiary designations, joint ownership, and transfer-on-death deeds, may help some assets pass outside probate. The right approach depends on what you own and how it is titled.