Home / Practice Areas / Estate Planning

Experienced Newnan Estate Planning Lawyer Creates Customized Plans for Clients

Knowledgeable Georgia attorney helps protect your assets and loved ones

Preparing a thorough estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure that your assets are preserved for the next generation, your healthcare wishes are followed, and your loved ones are cared for once you’ve passed. Failure to properly plan can result not only in your wishes not being carried out but also in your heirs facing costly legal proceedings. At the Law Office of Patrick W. McKee, LLC, we have spent more than three decades in Newnan creating customized estate plans for Georgians. We don’t simply create an estate plan: we create your estate plan — one designed by Patrick McKee to meet your unique needs. We will take the time to learn about you, your family, your goals, and your assets so that we can create a plan that expresses your final wishes and provides you and your loved ones peace of mind.

Benefits of careful estate planning

Regardless of your age or the size of your estate, it’s important to plan for the future by creating an estate plan that details your wishes. Well-drafted estate planning instruments offer many benefits, including these:

  • Ensure your property and accounts go to your designated beneficiaries in a timely manner
  • Provide financially for your immediate family
  • Designate who will care for your minor children
  • Minimize the estate expenses and taxes
  • Protect your family from having to make difficult healthcare and financial decisions
  • Set forth your wishes for end-of-life healthcare if you are incapacitated

Attorney Patrick McKee has been handling wills, trusts and estates in Georgia for many years. He understands how the laws impact a plan and the best means for helping you achieve workable documents.

Assistance with a full range of estate planning tools

Our firm takes the time to understand your goals so that we can help you decide which of these estate planning tools will accomplish them:

  • Wills — A will lets you designate an executor who will carry out your instructions after your death. You may disperse your physical and financial assets to specific people or organizations, specify who will care for your children and pets, and direct how taxes and debts will be paid.
  • Living trusts — Similar to a will, a living trust designates how your assets and debts will be handled upon your death. The difference is that your assets are placed in a trust while you are still alive. At your passing, your trustee can execute your instructions without going through probate court. A living will is often used for estates with complex finances, substantial assets, business interests or tangled family situations.
  • Guardianships — If you die, guardianship of your children automatically passes to the other parent. But if both parents die, a guardianship provision in your will allows you to name a trusted person to care for your minor children. You may provide financially for your children through a separate document, such as a trust. A court will decide who will care for your children if you fail to assign guardianship. Additionally, you may designate a person or entity to act as your guardian to handle your affairs if you become incapacitated.
  • Powers of attorney — You may identify a family member or friend to act legally on your behalf for financial, medical, or personal reasons.
  • Advance directives for healthcare — You can name someone to make healthcare decisions for you in the event you become unable to do so. You also can specify your preferences for treatment to be provided in certain medical situations.

Patrick McKee also provides guidance in probate matters, including estate disputes.

Contact our estate planning attorney serving Newnan, and surrounding areas of Georgia

Learn how Patrick McKee’s personal attention and years of experience can help you achieve a customized estate plan that fulfills your goals. Call the Law Office of Patrick W. McKee, LLC at 470-400-1562 or contact us online to schedule an appointment in Newnan with our estate planning attorney.