Peterson Spuller, PLLC

We thoroughly and thoughtfully analyze your needs and goals and provide expert advice about the estate planning tools that will best help you.  These may include:

• Wills
• Testamentary and Revocable or Irrevocable Living Trusts
• Special Needs Trusts
• Pre and Post Marital Agreements
• Powers of Attorney
• Healthcare Directives.  

We will draft an estate plan tailored to your unique situation that will advance your goals and maximize the protection of your loved ones while adhering to your values.  The plan we create will seek to transfer your assets efficiently, minimize estate taxes and, where necessary, preserve a loved one's eligibility for benefits. 

We have represented individuals involved in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings in various roles on hundreds of occasions and can help you determine whether a guardianship or conservatorship is the best option or if there are less restrictive alternatives available that will still protect your loved one.  We can:

• Help you seek appointment as guardian and/or conservator
• Seek the appointment of a professional guardian or other fiduciary
• Pursue Vulnerable Adult Protection Orders to keep your loved one safe from abuse or exploitation
• Take the necessary steps to put a viable alternative in place, including supported decision making and protective arrangements.  

We also represent numerous families and professionals who have already been appointed guardian or conservator, and assist them when unusual circumstances arise as well as with their ongoing reporting obligations to the Court.

We help families navigate the probate process to ensure it goes as smoothly and quickly as possible, even if your loved one passed away without a will or other estate planning document in place.  We will open the probate with the Court, have the Personal Representative (sometimes called the Executor) appointed, and make sure all the necessary notices are given and documents filed, then provide expert advice as you go through the process of paying the decedent's final debts and distributing their assets.  We can also tell you whether a probate is even necessary and help you take the required steps to conclude their affairs without a probate where possible.  We also represent Trustees, including professional fiduciaries, as they collect, manage, invest and distribute assets held in Trust.  When a loved one passes away with assets held in Trust, the Trustee's job is not unlike the Personal Representative's role.  We can guide you as you take on this responsibility and help you avoid any costly missteps.

Elder law is an umbrella term that simply means applying a variety of legal expertise toward the same goal: helping seniors successfully navigate the issues unique to them and their stage of life.  We provide seniors and their families with compassionate, sound advice regarding planning for incapacity, maximizing their retained assets, affording long term care, safely retaining as much independence as possible for as long as possible, and protection from elder abuse.  While many firms provide estate planning and probate services, not all of them do so with a solid knowledge of how these practice areas intersect with the needs of the elder population.  We do.