In recent years, the use of funded living trusts has eclipsed wills for most individuals seeking to avoid probate of their estates upon death.  A properly drafted living trust avoids probate when an individual retitles his or her assets in the name of the trust before his or her death because the terms of the trust will then typically direct the successor trustee to distribute all trust assets to the beneficiaries named by the individual in the trust.  No supervision by a probate court is required for the successor trustee to complete this task. Another advantage to trusts is that an individual may control distributions to a beneficiary from beyond the grave by placing restrictions on the beneficiary’s access to and use of his or her trust share where the beneficiary is very young or disabled, is in a rocky marital relationship, or handles money poorly.  These “non-tax” reasons for

Greetings from Greenhalgh Legal Services and Happy 4th of July!  We wish you and your family the very best, and hope you are enjoying our summer weather. June 2011 Client Appreciation Event a Big Success! On June 21, 2011, we hosted our first Client Appreciation Event of the summer at the Kalahari.  Over 30 clients enjoyed learning about the new Medicaid rules following enactment of the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act and ways to cope with those rule changes.  Look for an invitation to an

Greetings from Greenhalgh Legal Services and Happy Father’s Day!  We hope you and your family will take time to enjoy the Summer of 2011. Greenhalgh Legal Services Joins WealthCounsel! As of June 1, 2011, Greenhalgh Legal Services has become a member of WealthCounsel, LLC, a network of over 2,300 law firms throughout the United States dedicated to the highest standards of practice in estate planning and administration.  Our resources at WealthCounsel are unmatched by any other estate planning organization, and we are proud to be