Estate Planning Archives - Siedentopf Law

November 23, 2025

The Estate Planning Mistake Families Don’t See Coming

Many estate plans fail for a surprisingly simple reason: the family can’t actually read them. At minimum, every Georgia family needs a will or trust, power of attorney, healthcare directive, HIPAA release, guardianship designations for minors, and correctly titled assets. But even these essential documents won’t help if your family doesn’t understand how to use them. A good plan needs to do more than take up space on

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November 23, 2025

How to Leave Rental Property to Your Kids in Georgia

Many Georgia rental property owners ask me the same question: “How do I leave my rental properties to my kids without creating a tax burden?” It’s a smart question. Inheriting rental property can create capital gains tax issues, refinancing challenges, probate delays, and tenant complications. Most property owners want to pass the rental down cleanly, with no headaches and no extra work for their kids. But here’s the

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November 19, 2025

5 Estate Planning Mistakes That Leave Families Stuck in Court

Even smart, well-organized families can run into snags when creating their estate plans. Estate planning has a lot of moving parts, and it’s easy to miss details that could turn into long, expensive court processes for the people you love. The good news is that all of these mistakes are preventable and easily fixed when you know what to look for. With a clear plan in place, you

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October 21, 2025

3 Estate Planning Conversations Every Family Should Have

You’ve been meaning to bring it up, but it never feels like the right time. Over dinner. In the car. Just before a vacation. You’ve been trying to find the right moment to say something like, “We should probably discuss what would happen if….” but it always feels too dark. Estate planning is one of those topics that feels too “heavy” for a regular conversation. It can feel

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October 3, 2025

Why Some Estate Plans Fail (and How to Make Sure Yours Doesn’t)

Have you heard? Forbes said that the vast majority of estate plans fail. And while we think their numbers are probably a bit inflated (70%?!), we understand that often estate plans do not do what the people who created them want them to do. This isn’t good for anyone! So today, we’ll take a look at why estate plans fail and how to avoid these failures! Common Estate

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October 3, 2025

Probate in Georgia is Worse Than You Think

So many people think that the probate process is straightforward and relatively simple. They think, “Everything will just pan out as I would want, so why bother with creating a Trust? Let’s save the family some money for their future and skip the expense of creating and maintaining a Trust.” But this idea that probate is easy… it is a myth. Probate is never easy. Even simple estates

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October 1, 2025

How to Name a Guardian for Your Kids in Georgia

The biggest estate planning decisions parents put off (and why you can’t wait) You’re zipping up the last suitcase, juggling boarding passes and carry-ons, when the thought hits you: What if something happens while we’re away? Most parents push that thought aside. After all, planning for a vacation away is stressful enough. But that moment of unease—which usually pops up at the worst possible time—is why timely estate

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October 1, 2025

Estate Planning for Realtors in Georgia: Protect Your Family, Properties, and Business

What Georgia realtors need to know about estate planning: Revocable vs. irrevocable trusts and other myths Realtors spend their careers helping families find homes, close deals, and invest in properties. But if something happened to you, would your family know what to do with the property you own or the business you’ve built? For many Georgia realtors, the answer to these questions is no. Realtors often have a

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August 4, 2025

Back to School Checklist for Estate Planning

I don’t know about you, but back-to-school shopping was so much fun for me as a kid! You would get your teacher’s list and then you’d pick out new pencils and a backpack and notebooks, and clothes! You were entering a new grade with a new teacher, and the whole year was filled with promise and so many things to learn! Estate planning can be a lot like

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August 4, 2025

The Cancer Plan: Estate Planning for the Recently Diagnosed

If you’ve been recently diagnosed with cancer, your life has been turned upside down. You have treatments and medical evaluations and lots of resting to do. There is so much to consume your mind and thoughts. Today we’re here to help you take a giant “what if” off your mind and give you a little peace. Often when a person is diagnosed with cancer, they spiral immediately to

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