Lemieux Law Offices
Indianapolis • Bloomington
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Estate Planning

 
The Law Offices of Sean C. Lemieux provides personalized estate planning services to all clients, whether your estate is large or small, whether you are single, married or an unmarried couple. With particular experience in planning for the unique needs of lesbian, gay and nontraditional/unmarried couples, Sean Lemieux can help you protect your loved ones and provide you with the security that comes with knowing your wishes will be fulfilled.
 
 
 
Estate Planning FAQs
 
 


Q: What is Estate Planning?
 
A: Estate planning is about being in control. It’s about making decisions today concerning your healthcare, your financial affairs and your assets that other people will follow in the future. Proper estate planning will:
 
• Assess your personal, family and financial situation;

• Take into consideration your goals and desires for managing your future financial affairs, your future health care needs and for transferring your assets after death in a way that meets your goals in the most efficient and least expensive manner;

• Result in estate planning documents tailored to your specific needs that will provide you and your loved ones with security for the future.
 
Q: Do I need estate planning if I do not have a lot of assets?
 
A: Estate planning is for everyone, whether you are in your 20s or a senior citizen, married, unmarried, wealthy or not wealthy. Estate planning is especially important for GLBT adults of all ages. For most people the process can be uncomplicated. If you don’t take the time to do estate planning, the state will do it for you with its default rules. If you do not plan ahead, the state decides who makes health care decisions for you when you can’t, who manages your financial affairs when you can’t, and who gets your assets after your death. When the state’s default rules must be applied, they provide no protection for GLBT or non-traditional families. It’s up to you to protect your future.
 
Q: Do I need a lawyer or can I do my estate planning myself?
 
A: Do-it-yourself estate planning is like do-it-yourself surgery – you might be able to find enough information on the internet to get the job done, but the end result probably will not be exactly what you wanted.  An experienced estate planning attorney – especially one experienced in meeting the needs of your particular family situation – can ensure that your requirements and goals are met. Consider some potential pitfalls of internet downloads and fill-in-the-blank estate planning:

• Laws governing estate planning change often and, even more frequently, courts decide cases which guide the planning, drafting, execution and interpretation of estate planning documents. An experienced estate planning attorney is responsible for keeping track of developments in the law. The book you get from the library or the form you download from the internet is not.

• Some words used in estate planning documents are legal terms of art that may have legal meanings different from what you intend.

• Inadvertently being unclear or imprecise in drafting your own documents can lead to fights over what you meant. You know what you mean but will someone reading the document years from now understand what you intended? Taking the risk now might lead to a fight later over interpretation that could cost your estate significant money and might result in your wishes not being fulfilled. An experienced attorney knows the language to use to make sure your intentions are communicated clearly in a way that will accomplish your goals and minimize the potential for future challenges to your estate plan.

• In legal documents making a simple mistake with a single word can sometimes change the entire meaning of a sentence or clause. This could result in your wishes not being followed.