Estate planning is about making your wishes clear and helping protect the people and things that matter most to you.

At Setter Financial, I help individuals and families explore their estate-planning options, including wills, trusts, and Powers of Attorney. I’ll walk you through the information-gathering process, help you understand which options may fit your situation, and coordinate the preparation and review of your legal documents through qualified estate-planning professionals.

Whether you’re concerned about protecting your home, providing for children or grandchildren, choosing who will manage your affairs, or making sure someone you trust can make financial and healthcare decisions if you’re unable to, I’ll help make the process easier to understand.

Setter Financial works with attorneys who prepare estate-planning documents and offers estate-planning services in 49 states.

Consultations are free, and Powers of Attorney are provided at no cost.

Education first. No pressure. Just options.

A revocable living trust is a legal arrangement that allows you to place assets into a trust while still maintaining control over them during your lifetime.

As the person creating the trust, you can usually serve as your own trustee, manage the assets, change the terms, add or remove property, or revoke the trust entirely as long as you are living and competent.

A revocable trust can help:

• Avoid probate for assets properly titled in the trust
• Provide instructions for how assets should be distributed after your death
• Allow someone you choose to manage trust assets if you become incapacitated
• Control when and how beneficiaries receive their inheritance
• Provide added structure for children, grandchildren, or other beneficiaries
• Keep more of your estate administration private than the probate process

A trust only works as intended if it is properly funded. That means appropriate assets, such as real estate or certain financial accounts, may need to be retitled into the name of the trust.

A revocable trust does not generally provide asset protection from your own creditors during your lifetime, and because you keep control of the assets, they are usually still considered part of your estate.

A will is a legal document that explains how you want certain property and assets handled after your death.

A will can help you:

• Name the people or organizations you want to receive your probate assets
• Choose a personal representative to handle your estate
• Nominate a guardian for minor children
• Provide instructions for certain personal property
• Express funeral or burial wishes
• Reduce uncertainty for your family

A will generally only controls assets that pass through probate. Assets with named beneficiaries, such as life insurance, retirement accounts, payable-on-death accounts, or jointly owned property with rights of survivorship, usually pass according to those designations instead of the will.

A will does not usually avoid probate, but it gives the probate court written instructions about your wishes.