James Gillis, Estate Planning Attorney in Arlington

Our comprehensive estate planning services cover all contingencies so you, your family, and your assets are covered in the event of incapacity or death. We create custom structures so your spouse, children, and other beneficiaries receive maximum benefit from the assets and property you choose to leave for them. Some clients need to create structures that match provisions in a marital agreement or need estate tax planning. Sometimes simplicity is the prime goal, and the plan is to distribute all assets to children and other beneficiaries right away, outright and free of trust. In other cases, the assets are held and gradually released to children, so they have an opportunity to learn and grow. Some clients like to create continuing trusts for their beneficiaries, so the assets are protected against claims of creditors and predators. If there is a child or beneficiary with a disability, we can create a special trust so the child receives supplemental distributions without jeopardizing his or her rights to means-tested government benefits. Whatever the situation, we work to make sure your needs and intentions are carried out.

We regularly advise Executors and Trustees as counsel. We also directly administer estates and trusts as fiduciary, which relieves the beneficiaries from having to do the work themselves.