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Estate Planning

A service of Silverman, Smith & Rice, P.C.

The Estate Planning Information Center (EPIC) is a service of Silverman Smith & Rice, P.C., Attorneys, designed to focus on and address your estate planning needs promptly, professionally, and affordably. We have advised thousands of clients regarding the tools necessary to help them conserve their assets, minimize taxes, and avoid probate.

Through EPIC, we can explain the benefits of preparing an appropriate will, living revocable trust, patient advocate designation, power of attorney, and we can implement an estate plan crafted specifically for you. We also advise clients in probate, estate, and trust administration as well as litigating probate disputes.

The following are just a few of the services offered by the Estate Planning Information Center. If you would like to learn more about how to put these services to work for you, contact us today.

• Wills
  A will directs the transfer of your assets on your death. In most instances, a simple will is neither an appropriate nor a complete estate plan. Use of a will alone, without a trust, will generally require that your estate be probated, leading to unnecessary attorney fees and may result in substantially higher federal and state estate taxes than would have been assessed if a trust had been used.



• Living Revocable Trusts
  A Living Revocable Trust is the keystone to an estate plan designed to eliminate the time, publicity and expense of probate court proceedings, minimize estate taxes, and permit you to have complete control over your assets — both during your lifetime and upon your death. A Living Revocable Trust allows for the implementation of your written instructions without going through probate. Living Revocable Trusts provide the greatest benefits and flexibility for you and your loved ones. You retain the right to change any portion or all of your Living Revocable Trust. Most important, you remain in complete control of your assets. Correctly planned and implemented, a Living Revocable Trust can protect millions of dollars of assets from all federal and state estate tax.



• Tax Savings Trusts
  These trusts, like Living Revocable Trusts, are designed to assist you in distributing your hard earned assets in a way that will provide you with the greatest tax benefits and relieve your loved ones of substantial tax consequences that may occur at death. The Estate Planning Information Center's® tax-saving trusts can take full advantage of the latest tax and Medicaid laws, assist in your lifetime and post-death charitable planning, and maximize the benefits your assets can provide.



• Patient Advocate Designation
  What happens if you become too ill to make decisions concerning your health care and treatment? What if you do not want to accept certain care or treatment? A Patient Advocate Designation permits you to identify whether you want to be kept alive by mechanical means if you are critically ill, and allows you to appoint someone you trust to make medical related decisions if you are incapacitated.



• Powers of Attorney
  If you become disabled a Durable Power of Attorney assures that someone you chose in advance and trust is authorized to act on your behalf. A Durable Power of Attorney can be as broad, or as narrow as you specify, and can be modified or revoked by you at any time.



• Probate and Trust Administration
  Navigating the probate process
  Probate and trust administration is the process for distributing a person’s property in accordance with their will or trust. We assist individual and institutional trustees and personal representatives in anticipating and navigating the complexity of the probate court process, efficiently and effectively.



• Probate Litigation
  Leveraging experience in estate planning and litigation
  Sometimes, probate matters give rise to claims that must be litigated. Silverman, Smith & Rice has the experience in estate planning, probate and trust administration, and litigation to represent claimants, personal representatives, and trustees in probate litigation.

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