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Olsen Skoubye & Nielson, LLC
999 Murray Holladay Road, Suite 200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84117
(801) 365-1030 (phone)
(801) 365-1031 (Fax)
info@osnlaw.com
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Estate Planning
What is "Estate Planning"
Definition of Estate Planning: One of the basic conceptual problems people have with estate planning is not understanding what it does. Usually estate planning is seen only as drafting a will to say who you want to be the Personal Representative (what used to be called an executor). But estate planning is much more than this. The following statement, taught at a seminar I once attended, more comprehensively and accurately describes the purposes of estate planning from the viewpoint of the client:
I want to control my property while I am alive and well;
Plan for me and my loved ones if I become disabled;
And after I die, I want to give what I have to:
Whom I want
When I want
The way I want
All at the lowest possible cost to me and those I love.
This is a comprehensive definition of estate planning that I try to live up to for my clients. Estate planning encompasses control, disability, distribution, probate, and tax planning. All of these aspects are of critical importance. These goals are accomplished through the use of the appropriate combination of Wills, Trusts, Powers of attorney, and Medical Directives, carefully tailored to the wishes and needs of the client.