Estate Planning Attorneys Serving Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Fredericksburg
Estate planning is how you decide in advance who takes care of your family and your money if you cannot, and who speaks for you about your medical care. Rinehart Bryant helps families and business owners across Stafford County, Spotsylvania, and Fredericksburg put those decisions in writing, from a simple will through a revocable living trust and the powers of attorney that go with it.
Rinehart Bryant, PLLC is a Virginia family law firm a short drive from Fredericksburg. Our estate planning services cover wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and probate, and the attorneys build each plan around your property and the people who depend on you.
Four common Virginia estate planning documents
Last Will and Testament
Your will is your final set of instructions. It can say how your property is divided, name a guardian for your minor children, leave instructions for your funeral, and appoint the person who will administer your estate. Virginia requires a will to be in writing and signed, and unless the document is entirely in your own handwriting, two competent witnesses have to sign it in your presence (Va. Code § 64.2-403).
Revocable Living Trust
A revocable living trust, also called an inter vivos trust, lets you keep control of your assets during your lifetime and change the terms whenever you want. In the trust you also name the person who manages your property if you become unable to, and assets held in the trust pass to the people you name outside of the probate process.
Advance Medical Directive
An advance medical directive records the health care you want and do not want, and names the person who makes medical decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. The directive keeps that decision with the person you chose, so your family is not left to work it out under pressure.
Durable Financial Power of Attorney
A durable financial power of attorney authorizes someone you trust to manage your financial and legal affairs if you become unable to handle them. The person you name can pay your mortgage, file your taxes, deal with your bank, and sign for you at a closing.
We quote your estate plan as a flat rate before we begin
The proposal covers only the goals or documents your family needs, whether that is a single will or a full plan with a trust, and the number is settled before any drafting starts.
A Virginia divorce changes your estate plan, and not all of it changes automatically
Once a divorce is final, Virginia revokes any gift in your will to your former spouse, along with their appointment as your executor, trustee, or guardian, and revokes matching provisions in a revocable trust the same way (Va. Code § 64.2-412). A second statute revokes a former spouse’s designation as beneficiary on life insurance, annuities, and retirement accounts (Va. Code § 20-111.1).
That second statute does not apply where federal law overrides it, which covers many employer retirement plans. An insurance company that pays a death benefit before it receives written notice of the divorce is not liable for paying the wrong person. So the beneficiary form in your employer’s file still controls who gets paid, and you have to change it yourself.
If you are working through a divorce in Virginia or a military divorce, we can rewrite your will, your directive, and your powers of attorney as part of the same relationship, and review your beneficiary designations while the case is still open. Many people sign a marital settlement agreement and never go back to the documents that still name their spouse.
Contact Rinehart Bryant to talk through what your family needs.
We review and update estate plans that already exist
If you already have a will or a trust, we review it and tell you what still works and what does not. For existing clients we hold estate planning maintenance meetings, and we update the documents after a marriage, a new child, a property purchase, or a move out of state. We also handle will revocations, codicil drafting, and HIPAA release authorizations that let the people you choose get medical information about you when they need it.
If you need something you do not see here, call us and ask.
Common questions about estate planning in Virginia
Do I need a will if I do not have much?
A will is where you name a guardian for your minor children and the person who settles your affairs, and both matter regardless of what the estate is worth. Without a will, Virginia law decides who inherits from you.
What is the difference between a will and a revocable living trust?
A will takes effect when you die, and the estate is settled through probate. A revocable living trust holds property during your lifetime, covers what happens if you become incapacitated, and passes what it holds outside of probate. Plenty of plans use both.
Does a Virginia will have to be notarized?
No. A will is valid when it meets the signing and witness requirements, and notarization is not one of them. Adding a notarized self-proving affidavit is still worth doing, because the court accepts the witnesses’ affidavits as though the witnesses had testified in person, which spares your family from tracking them down years later (Va. Code § 64.2-452).
Can I write my own will by hand?
Virginia recognizes a will written entirely in your own handwriting and signed by you, with no witnesses required at signing (Va. Code § 64.2-403). Proving it later takes two disinterested witnesses who can confirm the handwriting is yours, which is harder than it sounds once decades have passed.
Do I need a new estate plan after a divorce?
Yes. Virginia law revokes the parts of a will and a revocable trust that favor a former spouse, but it does not reach everything, and your documents still name a person who is no longer your spouse.
Do you handle probate?
Yes. Our attorneys draft wills and trusts, and we also guide the executor or trustee through estate administration after the loss of a loved one, including the distribution of what the estate holds.
Many estate planning clients come to us from a family law case
A divorce, an adoption, or a new custody order changes who should inherit from you and who should speak for you. Our other practice areas include child custody, child support, adoptions, and protective orders, so you can update your estate documents with the same firm that handled your case.
Talk with our Trusts and Estates practice
The first conversation covers what you own and who depends on you, and it ends with a recommended set of documents and a flat-rate quote. An estate planning attorney handles the drafting from there.
We serve families from our Stafford law office and our Spotsylvania law office, along with Fredericksburg and the surrounding areas.
Contact Rinehart Bryant to get started on your estate plan.