Estate Planning and Estate and Trust Administration

At Hirst Applegate, we recognize that for most clients estate planning is an intensely personal experience. For that reason, we have developed a client-centered approach to estate planning. We endeavor to assure that each of our clients develops a high comfort level to make sure that all important issues relevant to creating the right estate plan for the client are discussed and considered. We stay on top of cutting-edge techniques to assist our clients in preserving their assets and ensuring that their assets are distributed according to their wishes while reducing taxes and administration charges to the greatest extent possible.

We assist our clients in creating both will-centered and trust-centered estate plans to avoid probate, plan for disability, maintain maximum privacy, and reduce taxes and administration charges. Given our emphasis on trust-centered estate planning, most of our practice in this area focuses on post-mortem trust administration, whether in representing the successor trustee or a trust beneficiary.  We also represent and advise executors, administrators, and personal representatives in opening probates and assisting them in navigating the probate process in situations where the deceased’s assets are subject to probate or other estate administration processes.

We are committed to providing quality, caring, and timely service to our clients and are committed to remaining current on emerging estate planning concepts and techniques to better serve our clients.

Attorneys Practicing in This Area

• John J. Metzke

• Shaina A. Case

• John P. Fritz

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