WE PLAN WITH YOU.

Protect What You’ve Built. Protect Who You Love. Plan for What Comes Next.

You worked hard to build your life. Your estate plan should help you protect it.

At the Law Office of Cherise L. Williams LLC, we help individuals, couples, families, professionals, business owners, and property owners create thoughtful estate plans designed around what matters most to them: their families, property, finances, future, and legacy.

Our estate planning services are now available more broadly to clients seeking experienced, personalized legal guidance for wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, wealth protection, legacy planning, property planning, powers of attorney, advance medical directives, and estate and tax planning.

Whether you are creating your first estate plan, protecting significant assets, updating an existing plan, preparing for retirement, planning after divorce, or thinking about what you want to leave to the next generation.

We Plan With You.

Estate Planning Is About More Than a Will

A Will is important. But estate planning goes much further.

A comprehensive estate plan can help you address questions such as:

• Who should inherit what you have built?

• Who will manage your affairs if you become unable to do so?

• Who do you trust to make important health-care decisions?

• How should your home and other property be handled?

• How can you protect assets for children or future generations?

• Would a trust provide more control over how assets are managed or distributed?

• Are there estate or tax issues that should be considered now?

• How do you preserve wealth instead of leaving your family unnecessary complications?

• What happens if your family structure changes?

• How do you create a lasting legacy?

The goal is not simply to sign documents.

The goal is to have a plan.

Our Estate Planning Services

Wills & Comprehensive Estate Planning

A Will allows you to put important decisions in writing and create instructions for how you want your estate handled.

Our estate planning packages can combine your Will with other essential planning documents, including:

• Last Will and Testament

• Durable Financial Power of Attorney

• Advance Medical Directive

• HIPAA Authorization

We offer comprehensive Will packages for individuals and married couples.

Revocable Living Trusts

A Revocable Living Trust can provide another level of planning, flexibility, and control over your assets.

Depending upon your circumstances, a trust may be part of a strategy for managing property during your lifetime, providing instructions for future distributions, planning for incapacity, protecting privacy, and creating a smoother transition of assets.

Our Revocable Trust planning can include:

• Revocable Living Trust

• Pour-Over Will

• Durable Financial Power of Attorney

• Advance Medical Directive

• HIPAA Authorization

• Trust funding guidance

We provide Revocable Trust planning for both individuals and married couples.

Not everyone needs the same type of trust. We help you determine what fits your goals.

Irrevocable Trusts & Advanced Trust Planning



For clients with more complex planning needs, we also provide Irrevocable Trust planning and advanced trust strategies.

Irrevocable trusts may be considered as part of planning involving:

• Wealth preservation

• Asset protection

• Legacy planning

• Property preservation

• Estate tax planning

• Multigenerational planning

• Inheritance planning

• Providing for children or other beneficiaries

• Long-term family wealth goals

These matters require individualized planning. Fees for irrevocable trusts and advanced planning are determined based upon the complexity and scope of the matter.

Your wealth took time to build. Protecting it deserves thoughtful planning.

Wealth Protection & Legacy Planning

What Do You Want Your Life’s Work to Do Next?

Estate planning is not only about transferring assets.

It is about deciding what you want those assets to accomplish.

Maybe you want to protect what you have accumulated.

Provide for your children.

Leave property to the next generation.

Create safeguards around an inheritance.

Preserve family wealth.

Support someone you love.

Plan for grandchildren.

Protect a family home.

Or simply make sure your family has clear instructions instead of unanswered questions.

We help clients think beyond “Who gets what?”

We help you consider:

What do you want your legacy to accomplish?

Property & Real Estate Estate Planning

For many families, their home or other real estate is one of their most valuable assets.

Estate planning should consider how that property fits into your overall plan.

We assist clients in considering estate-planning strategies involving:

• Primary residences

• Investment property

• Family property

• Multiple properties

• Property intended for children or other beneficiaries

• Property held or transferred through trusts

• Planning for the future management or transfer of real estate

Your property is part of the wealth you have created. Your estate plan should address what happens to it.

Estate & Tax Planning

Taxes can be an important part of estate and wealth planning, particularly as assets and estates grow.

Our planning process can include consideration of potential estate, gift, inheritance, property-transfer, and other tax consequences that may affect your estate-planning strategy.

Where appropriate, sophisticated planning may involve trusts and other strategies designed to preserve wealth and transfer assets efficiently.

We can also coordinate planning with your financial, accounting, tax, or other professional advisors when appropriate.

Good estate planning looks at the whole picture, not just the documents.

Powers of Attorney & Incapacity Planning

Estate Planning Protects You While You Are Living, Too.

What happens if an accident, illness, or unexpected event leaves you unable to handle your own affairs?

Who can access important information?

Who can manage financial matters?

Who understands your medical wishes?

Waiting until there is an emergency can leave families trying to answer difficult questions at the worst possible time.

We prepare:

• Durable Financial Powers of Attorney

• Advance Medical Directives

• HIPAA Authorizations

You decide who you trust.

Your estate plan puts those decisions in writing.

Already Have an Estate Plan?

Your Old Plan May Not Fit Your Life Today.

Having estate-planning documents does not necessarily mean your planning is finished forever.

Consider reviewing your plan after:

• Marriage

• Divorce

• Remarriage

• Birth or adoption of a child

• Birth of grandchildren

• Death of a spouse or beneficiary

• Purchase or sale of significant property

• Major increase in assets

• Retirement

• Starting or selling a business

• Changes in family relationships

• Changes in whom you trust

• Moving to another state

• Significant tax or financial changes

We offer an Estate Plan Audit & Second Opinion to review existing estate-planning documents and identify issues that may need attention.

We also assist with:

• Estate plan amendments

• Beneficiary changes

• Executor changes

• Trustee changes

• Trust amendments

• Trust restatements

• Updated estate-planning documents

Your life changes. Your plan should keep up.

Estate Planning After Divorce

A divorce may end one legal chapter, but it can also make estate planning especially important.

Your Will, trust, beneficiaries, powers of attorney, health-care documents, property, retirement assets, and other planning decisions may need another look after a major family transition.

Because our practice understands both family law and estate planning, we can help clients think beyond the divorce itself and plan for the life and legacy they are building afterward.

Our estate-planning services, however, are not limited to our divorce or custody clients.

We now welcome individuals and families seeking estate-planning services whether or not they have previously worked with our firm.

Which Estate Plan Is Right for You?

There is no single estate plan that is right for everyone.

You may need a Will.

You may need a Revocable Trust.

You may benefit from an Irrevocable Trust.

You may need incapacity planning.

You may need to update an existing plan.

Or your property, wealth, family structure, or tax considerations may require more advanced planning.

That is why our approach starts with you, not a template.

Your Family.

Your Property.

Your Wealth.

Your Wishes.

Your Legacy.

WE PLAN WITH YOU.

Don't wait for a crisis to decide what matters.

Contact us today to schedule an estate planning consultation.