Falls Church, VA Estate Planning Lawyers

Trusted Estate Planning Attorneys for Wills, Trusts, and Advance Directives in Falls Church, Virginia

Estate planning is a sensitive, often emotional subject, but if you take the steps to manage your estate, you can take comfort in knowing everything is accounted for. An estate planning attorney can work with you to sort out your needs, ensuring that you and your beneficiaries are protected. At Fox & Moghul, our estate planning lawyers will provide you with personalized service, and we will work to handle your affairs as delicately as possible. Driven by a philosophy of repetitive excellence, our Falls Church, VA attorneys will represent your best interests to the fullest extent of the law.

Advance Directives

An advance directive or healthcare directive is a document that dictates how certain issues will be handled when you can no longer advocate for yourself due to a severe illness or injury. Generally, an advance directive in Virginia has two components:

• Living Will: This is a document that instructs medical professionals about your preferences for different procedures after you become incapacitated and are terminally ill. If you wish not to receive life-prolonging treatments, or if you want all reasonable measures to be taken to keep you alive, you can outline your preferences in a living will. Additionally, you can also opt into donating your organs through this document.
• Medical Power of Attorney: To address situations where you may no longer be able to communicate for yourself, you can appoint a trusted third party who will have power of attorney to make important medical decisions on your behalf in accordance with your wishes.

Our estate planning attorneys can assist with drafting advance directives, making sure documents are legally valid and address all of your requested preferences for care. We can also help create financial powers of attorney to make sure you will have someone to manage your money and property if you become incapacitated.

Wills and Trusts

You can make decisions about how your property will be distributed to your loved ones upon your death. A will is a practical way of allocating specific items to different beneficiaries, including personal belongings, money you have saved, and real estate. A will might also include directions for the care of your children, naming a guardian who will look after them if you die before they reach adulthood. For a will to be considered valid in Virginia, you must be over the age of 18 and of sound mind, and the will itself must be signed in the presence of two witnesses.

A trust is similar to a will in that it is a way of passing down assets to beneficiaries. However, a trust can provide additional advantages, including avoiding the process of probate, the lengthy and expensive courtroom procedures that will be used when carrying out the terms of your will. Different types of trusts will let you set the terms for the distribution of assets, such as when the beneficiary reaches a certain age. You might consider a revocable living trust that allows you to maintain control over your assets or an irrevocable trust that can be used for asset protection purposes.

An estate planning attorney can provide you with valuable counsel, helping you determine what terms to include in your will and helping you establish and fund different types of trusts that will meet your specific needs. We will help you make decisions that will make your preferences clear while safeguarding your wealth for future generations.

Meet With a Falls Church Estate Planning Attorney Today

Making preparations for your passing can give you peace of mind knowing that everything will be taken care of when you are no longer present in your loved ones' lives. An estate plan can also help ensure that you are prepared for success throughout the rest of your life. The estate planning lawyers at Fox & Moghul can break down the complex legal workings of your estate plan. With our dedication to the law and our comprehensive knowledge, our attorneys have become leading educators in the state, teaching other legal professionals through prominent publications and seminars. If you have any questions or concerns about your estate plan, reach out to our office at 703-652-5506 for a consultation.