Estate Planning Attorneys in Stockton, CA

At Hakeem, Ellis, Marengo & Ramirez A Professional Corporation, in Stockton, California, we want to assist you in passing on your legacy to your loved ones through thoughtful, values-based planning. We are acutely aware of the reasons most people tend to wait for an emergency to settle their affairs. Our estate planning attorneys are dedicated to taking the complexities and uncertainties out of the life-planning equation so that our clients can get on with their lives with peace of mind about their futures. We can create an estate plan for you that includes all of the following elements:

• Powers of Attorney: Our attorneys can help you to appoint a friend, relative or professional to make important financial decisions for you through a durable power of attorney if you are no longer able to make those decisions.
  
  
• Advance Health Care Directives: Our attorneys can help you draft a document that specifies the conditions for your medical care if you are incapacitated or near death, including which treatments you want to receive and which you don’t. For instance, if you do not want extraordinary measures to be taken if you become terminally ill, you can specify this in an advance health care directive, sometimes referred to as a “living will.” Further, we can draft durable health care powers of attorney according to your wishes so you can appoint a trusted person to make your health care decisions.
  
  
• Wills: Wills are valuable tools that allow you to control how your assets will be distributed after your death. Our attorneys can both draft wills and represent the executor in probate actions.
  
  
• Trusts: Created during your lifetime, a trust is a versatile legal document that can be used for purposes after your death, ranging from direct distribution of your assets to your beneficiaries, educational support of a child, or providing care to a disabled parent or child. It can also be used during your life, for your care if you are incapacitated to the degree that you can no longer manage your finances. Our attorneys can assist you in establishing an irrevocable or revocable trust that meets your personal needs. A trust can help your estate avoid probate, reduce estate taxes, and resolve issues related to the long-term management of your property. Trusts can be used for various purposes, and various types of trust exist, including life insurance trusts, spendthrift trusts, special needs trusts, and charitable remainder trusts, for example, each of which can be drafted to meet your specific needs.
  
  
• Protecting Assets: In addition to protecting your assets using a wide variety of trusts, we can tailor your estate plan to include other asset protection mechanisms, including family limited partnerships (FLPs) and limited liability companies (LLCs).
  
  
• Trust administration: Upon the death of the creator of the trust, it becomes necessary for the trustee to carry out the terms of the trust. Our attorneys can assist with the proper administration of the trust, including providing an accounting to the beneficiaries, when required.