By Jeffrey D. Moss, Esq.

While it is hard to believe, in 2008, Congress passed a resolution that designated the third week of October as National Estate Planning Awareness Week.  At Dawda Mann, our group of estate planning and tax attorneys dedicate nearly every week to estate planning, and we were overjoyed to learn that Congress designated this particular week to emphasize how important planning for future transfers of wealth can be.

We have always thought our role in the estate planning process was to meet with our clients, listen to their particular situation, and draft comprehensive and holistic documents to take into account the goals and objectives of our clients.  A good estate plan should be durable, flexible, and work across a broad spectrum of circumstances.  We also believe that an estate plan should be tax efficient, avoid the probate court, and we emphasize advising and assisting our clients in funding their trusts and making proper beneficiary designation to integrate all the different items.

Good candidates for estate planning are families with young children, blended families, and families with significant assets to manage.  This is a great time to dust off your old estate plan and review it to make sure all the pieces still work, or it is a great time to establish a relationship with one of our estate planning attorneys to create your estate plan.  Please do not hesitate to contact me or your Dawda Mann attorney for more information.