Estate planning legal services help protect your wishes for your family, finances and healthcare, both during your lifetime and after your death.
From wills and trusts to powers of attorney, the right documents give your loved ones clearer direction when it matters.
Foster + Bloom helps you understand your options and create a plan that reflects your family and priorities.
Our Estate Planning Legal Services
An estate plan may include several documents that work together to protect your wishes and the people who depend on you.
- Wills: Direct how your property should be distributed, name an executor and allow you to nominate guardians for minor children.
- Trusts: Establish how assets are managed and distributed to beneficiaries, including children or loved ones who may need ongoing support.
- Powers of Attorney: Authorize someone you trust to make specified financial or legal decisions on your behalf, including during incapacity when properly structured.
- Healthcare Directives: Document your medical preferences and designate someone to make healthcare decisions if you’re unable to do so.
- Additional Planning Documents: Beneficiary designations, trust funding documents and other tools may help coordinate your estate plan.
Our Trust and Wills Attorneys
Do You Need a Will, a Trust or Both?
A will directs how property in your estate should pass after death and allows you to nominate guardians for minor children. A trust can provide greater control over how and when assets are managed or distributed.
- A will may be sufficient for relatively straightforward inheritance and guardianship wishes.
- A trust may be beneficial for managing children’s inheritances, addressing complex family needs or avoiding probate for properly funded assets.
- Both may be appropriate when a trust handles certain assets and a will addresses remaining estate matters and guardianship nominations.
The right approach depends on your family, assets and goals. A wills and trust attorney can help you avoid unnecessary complexity while addressing important protections.
Estate Planning for Your Family and the People Who Depend on You
Every family has different relationships and responsibilities. Your estate plan should reflect yours.
- Parents with minor children: Nominate guardians and establish how inherited assets should be managed for your children.
- Blended families: Clarify inheritance wishes for spouses, partners, children and stepchildren while accounting for applicable inheritance rights.
- LGBTQ+ families and unmarried partners: Document beneficiaries and trusted decision-makers, particularly where default legal rules may not reflect your relationships.
- Families with ongoing support needs: Explore trusts or other arrangements for loved ones who need continued financial care.
Foster + Bloom understands modern family structures and the importance of planning around your actual relationships, not a standard template.
When Should You Create or Update Your Estate Plan?
Consider creating or reviewing your estate plan when you:
- Get married, divorced or enter a new partnership.
- Welcome a child through birth, adoption or assisted reproduction.
- Buy a home or acquire significant assets.
- Experience changes in family relationships or caregiving responsibilities.
- Need to change beneficiaries, guardians or trusted decision-makers.
- Realize your existing documents no longer reflect your wishes.
Even without a major change, periodic reviews can help keep your plan current.
What Happens if You Don’t Have an Estate Plan?
Without appropriate estate planning documents, state law and court procedures may determine matters you could otherwise have addressed yourself.
Depending on your circumstances:
- Inheritance: State intestacy laws may determine who receives assets in your probate estate.
- Guardianship: A court may need to appoint a guardian for minor children when no legally authorized parent or guardian is available.
- Financial decisions: Loved ones may need court authority to manage your finances if you become incapacitated.
- Healthcare decisions: State law may determine who can make medical decisions on your behalf.
Some assets pass separately through beneficiary designations or ownership arrangements. An attorney can help you understand how these rules apply to your situation.
What Our Clients Say
We understand the trust families place in us to protect their most precious legacy. Our approach ensures every document reflects your family’s unique story and values.
What Makes Foster + Bloom’s Estate Planning Services Different?
At Foster + Bloom, we bring a family-focused perspective to estate planning that sets us apart from traditional estate planning firms. Here’s what makes our approach unique:
- We understand your family’s unique journey. Estate planning secures your family’s future. We bring genuine care and personal understanding to trusts, wills, powers of attorney, health care directives, and more — ensuring your documents reflect your family’s unique story and protect what matters most.
- We champion every family structure. We create estate plans that celebrate and protect every type of modern family. Your documents will reflect your family as it truly is, not as outdated legal templates assume it should be.
- We’re your trusted partner through every life stage. We are your family’s legal allies through every milestone. When life changes, we’re here to update your plans and ensure your family’s protection evolves with you.
Whether you’re just starting to think about estate planning or ready to update existing documents, Foster + Bloom can help you create a comprehensive plan that reflects your family’s unique needs. Let us help you build the legal foundation your family deserves.