Tyler Allen Law Firm takes great care to understand the unique circumstances of each client to design an estate plan that ensures maximum benefit to the individual and his or her intended beneficiaries. Whether you need to create a simple will or a detailed trust, proper estate planning can help alleviatefuture problems and conflicts in deciding what to do with your assets after you pass.
Contact us today to discuss your estate planning options. We can also review your current estate plan to ensure it is valid and appropriate.
Attorney Tyler K. Allen provides the following estate planning services:
- Drafting and review of wills
- Living Wills
- Establishing Trusts
- Healthcare Power of Attorney
- Power of Attorney
Domestic Partnerships
Arizona does not currently recognize same-sex marriages. This creates many obstacles for same-sex couples and non-married couples seeking the same rights and protections as married couples. One way couples can ensure certain rights are protected is through careful drafting of legal documents.
Domestic Partnership Agreements
A Domestic Partnership Agreement is a document that explains the contractual legal rights and responsibilities of each partner when a couple decides to form a long-term committed relationship. It is similar to a prenuptial agreement as it clarifies property ownership, provides guidance for property distribution in the event of a death or separation, and specify a dispute resolution mechanism such as arbitration.
Parenting Agreements
One of the most difficult things a parent can face is the possibility of losing custody of a child. But for gay and lesbian parents in Arizona, custody disputes can be an especially great concern because Arizona law recognizes only one parent - the biological or adoptive one - as a legal parent. As a result, judges may grant custody or visitation solely to the legal parent in the event of a separation, no matter how close and committed both individuals'' relationship to the child may be. In Arizona, Arizona Revised Statute § 25-415 allows a child custody proceeding to be filed by someone other than a legal parent through in loco parentis rights. "In loco parentis" means a person who has been treated as a parent by the child and who has formed a meaningful parental relationship with the child for a substantial period of time. The court may grant reasonable visitation rights to the child on a finding that the visitation is in the child's best interests and other requirements are met.
Co-parenting agreements are a way to planahead for your child's future. These agreements usually state that while only one of you is considered the legal parent, both of you consider yourselves equal co-parents with shared rights and responsibilities to care for your child. Such agreements also typically spell out how these joint rights and responsibilities will be carried out around the child's medical care, financial support, education, and legal inheritance. They also specify how the couple will share custody in the event of a separation and how disputes would be managed.
Advance Healthcare Directive/Durable Healthcare Power of Attorney
Advance healthcare directives are a tool for a competent individual to control the course of their medical care in all circumstances. The directive also provides a way for an individual to exercise their right to designate another person to make these choices in the event of the individual’s mental incapacity.
Durable Financial Power of Attorney
This document designates an agent, whether it is your partner or an adviser to make financial decisions if you are incapacitated.