Plan Protect Preserve

Wiles Law Firm, LLC, located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, is a well-established estate planning practice. We provide comprehensive legal services tailored to meet both your present needs and your future goals. Our attorneys are experienced in every aspect of estate planning, including wills and trusts, asset protection, and probate and trust administration. We are committed to working with you as a team, keeping you informed every step of the way and making sure that every decision about your assets and their distribution is made personally by you. We are happy to provide you with excellent legal counsel. 

How Our Estate Planning Attorneys Can Help Families In Charleston, South Carolina

Estate Planning

Intent on helping you plan, protect, and preserve your financial well-being, we are also focused on saving you every possible legal fee, court cost, and tax dollar possible. Depending on your particular situation, we will design a will that is legally sound and/or trusts that meet your specific needs as we put together an estate plan that will serve you well. There are some significant differences in estate planning among the various states, so our in-depth familiarity with South Carolina law will be invaluable. Aware that, as you move through various life stages, your needs will change, we pride ourselves on providing you with ongoing care.

Wills

Wills and trusts serve many purposes. While a will can name a guardian to care for young children as well as a personal representative and trustee to manage your affairs after you pass away, it will also prevent the complicated, time-consuming, and often costly proceedings that result from dying intestate (without a will).

Trusts

There are more types of trusts than most people realize, each created with an eye toward addressing a particular situation, but all designed to protect your assets and your loved ones. The two basic types of trusts are: Revocable and Irrevocable. As their names indicate, the first type can be altered or even eliminated during your lifetime, while the second, once in place, cannot be changed absent court approval.

Trusts are created for many reasons, including:

• Protecting your privacy
• Keeping your assets out of probate
• Protecting your funds from unnecessary taxation
• Controlling distributions to minors, spendthrifts, or incompetent beneficiaries
• Preserving disability benefits of a beneficiary

Types of trusts Wiles Law Firm, LLC routinely creates include:

• Revocable living trusts
• Irrevocable trusts
• Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
• Gift trusts
• Inheritor trusts
• Stand-alone retirement trusts
• Community property trusts

Just as each type of trust has its own purpose, each has its own benefits and potential drawbacks. This is why it is essential to work with an experienced attorney when deciding which type is appropriate for you.

Asset Protection

When you team up with Wiles Law Firm, LLC protecting your assets becomes our priority. We know precisely which steps to take to defend your accumulated wealth from both external and internal attacks. Having assisted many other clients in their plan to protect their wealth, we are confident in our ability to assist you as well. We are fully prepared to set up trusts to keep your assets safe from lawsuits, creditors, excessive taxation, business disputes and from those who would contest your will or use your money to support addictions or extravagant habits. We can also help you in establishing an LLC to protect your personal finances from your business debts and liabilities.

Planning for Incapacity

Any well-constructed estate plan has to address the discomforting issue of future incapacity. While most of us would prefer to live to a ripe old age and die peacefully in our own beds, the reality is that most of us will suffer a period of incapacity in our later years.

Probate and Trust Administration

Probate is the legal process through which an estate is settled. While it is possible for a well-conceived estate plan to make probate in South Carolina totally unnecessary, in cases in which probate is required the process can take from 8 months to well over a year for estates that are larger and more complex. If the deceased died intestate, a family member can petition the court to appoint a personal representative to make sure state laws are followed. If the deceased person did leave a will, a personal representative may have already been named to handle such matters.

If you are the party named or chosen as personal representative of the deceased, you will want to have a reliable, well-informed attorney at your side as you maneuver through the complicated pathways of probate and trust administration that will include some or all of the following:

• Applying to the probate court for appointment as Personal Representative
• Taking inventory of assets
• Having appraisals of valuable items
• Making legal notifications to creditors, insurance companies, and government agencies
• Distributing to beneficiaries and paying taxes and debts
• Preparing an accounting for the court of all sales, debt payments, income, etc.

As a personal representative you will have serious responsibilities and having the assistance of a knowledgeable professional will help shield you from making any costly legal or financial errors.

Stand-alone Retirement Trusts

The attorneys at Wiles Law Firm, LLC can establish a Stand-alone Retirement Trust, which is a particular variety of revocable trust to hold your retirement assets. This will let your beneficiaries enjoy the benefit of retaining the assets in a tax-deferred environment for a longer period of time. We can even assist you in creating subtrusts within the trust for a number of different beneficiaries. If one of your beneficiaries is a charitable institution, this method can still work so that your generous gift is not diminished through taxation. A competent attorney will make sure your trust is established correctly so that a sizable portion of your retirement account will not be lost to the government.

Community Property Trusts

In South Carolina, as in most states, both spouses have a right to all marital property; if the couple divorces, such property is typically divided equitably between the two individuals. The Community Property Trust is a type of joint revocable trust designed for couples with low-basis assets -- assets that have increased substantially in value since they were purchased. It is advantageous in a variety of circumstances. For one thing, it puts all jointly titled assets in the name of the trust, a move that is of great financial benefit to the surviving spouse in the event of their spouse’s death. For another, using the “double step-up,” it allows many surviving spouses the opportunity to save substantial amounts in capital gains taxes.

Even though Community Property Trusts can only be established in Tennessee and Alaska, our office can assist a resident of South Carolina in creating one. The process enables our clients to “borrow” the Tennessee Community Property Trust law to avoid capital gains tax on property that has increased in value by the time of the first spouse’s death.

At Wiles Law Firm, LLC, we are ready to meet all of your estate planning needs with agility and integrity. Once you connect with our capable attorneys, you can trust that you, your estate, and your loved ones will be well cared for. Our goal is to help you feel financially comfortable in the present and fiscally prepared for the future.