Protect Your Property & Your Family with Wills and Trusts in Atlanta, Georgia, Attorney Julie Ernst-Fortin PC

		With a will, you decide who will get your property. Without a
		will, the state decides who gets your property, regardless of your wishes.

		You can choose who will manage and settle your estate.
		Without a will, the court can appoint an administrator and order fees be paid from your assets.

		A will can save money in unnecessary bond premiums
		and court costs. Your will may excuse your executor from posting a bond and allow your executor to sell assets if necessary without having to go to court to get permission from a judge.

		Trusts can be established to make sure assets will be
		used to meet needs of children, or another person.

		Parents can name who they want to be guardian of their
		children.

Providing For Children

In your will, you may name a guardian to care for your children if you
die. The best person to provide love and a good home may not be the
best person to manage and control your children's inheritance. In a
will, you may direct assets be placed into a trust and name a trustee to
manage and control the assets in the trust. Instructions in the will may
limit how assets will be used--for example, to meet medical and
educational needs, and to provide for other necessities.

Updating Your Will

In Georgia, unless the will states otherwise, marriage or birth of a child
revokes a will. If you plan to marry or have a child, special wording can
be included to provide for these events. Divorce does not void a will,
but if you divorce after making a will, your ex-spouse will not be allowed
to receive from your estate. A will cannot be changed by crossing
something out or writing something in after it is signed. State laws
vary, so you should make a new will if you move to a new state.

Living Wills

A living will is a document that instructs physicians when to withhold or
withdraw life support. Many people became concerned about having a
living will when the media publicized a case in Florida about a woman
on life support. With advances in medical technology, it is possible to
keep someone alive for decades even though the quality of life is
minimal and consciousness nonexistent.

A living will allows individuals to make their wishes clear to family and
physicians in advance of becoming incapacitated. You may want your
life extended and kept on life support as long as possible. Or you may
decide that you would not want to continue receiving hydration and
nutrition artificially under certain circumstances, such as being in a
persistent vegetative state with no expectation of recovery. Without a
living will, hospitals may refuse to remove life support, fearing
lawsuits. Staying on life support when there is no hope for recovery
can drain savings, leaving less for the surviving family. Because
inheritances and insurance money are released after a person dies,
remaining on life support also delays a family’s access to money
intended to meet their needs.

The living will, along with a durable power of attorney for health care,
lets you to communicate your wishes to family and physicians now so
that if you are incapacitated, your wishes are followed. They are the
most reliable way to assure your preferences are considered.

Call (770) 613-9524 for more information.



			Wills & Trusts Attorney Julie Ernst-Fortin provides wills and other estate planning documents as a service to her clients. Everyone who owns property or has children needs a will. In fact, when an individual goes through a life changing event such as divorce, marriage, birth or adoption of a child, it is time to make a new will. A will is a legal document that controls what will happen to property upon a person's death. It may name the person a parent wants to care for children and require assets be put in trust and used to meet children's needs. Reasons To Have A Will