Estate Planning is for Everyone
“I don’t need to do estate planning, I don’t have millions of dollars!” “I’ll get to it when I’m older or if I get ill, I’m healthy and don’t need to think about it now.” “My family gets along. If something happens to me, they won’t fight and end up in court.”
These are some examples of common ideas about estate planning for younger or healthy families. Unfortunately, since this is one of the areas in which we specialize, we see the other side of things and how families and finances can go sideways after death or incapacity. Planning for the future responsibly is not tied to having a certain value of assets or impending illness. Making plans for the “God-Forbids” is the most loving thing you can do for those close to you. It involves some difficult decisions, particularly when it comes to the well-being of minor children, but it’s one of the only ways you can take unnecessary suffering from your loved ones if you’re not around anymore. With our clients, we always stress that one of the most crucial steps you can take as a parent is to designate guardianship for your children in the event that you are no longer able to care for them. This blog post will explore the importance of both permanent and temporary guardianship and highlight the need for a comprehensive estate plan to ensure your children’s needs are met immediately and efficiently.
Read More
3 Must-Dos to Protect Your Rights After an Accident
If you’ve just been in a car accident caused by someone else driving negligently, the moments afterward can feel chaotic and overwhelming. Your medical and financial wellbeing can feel at risk and knowing where to turn can be challenging, but at Wakefield Law, when we work with clients on their personal injury cases, we always say what you do right after the accident (or as close after as possible) can make all the difference—not just for your health, but for your ability to recover damages for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Read More
Why Do We Put Homes Into a Trust?
For many families, the home is more than just an asset—it’s a place of memories, stability, and holds significant emotional value. But when a homeowner passes away, that same home can become a source of stress, delay, and even conflict if it’s not properly protected with proper estate documents. At Wakefield Law, we talk with our clients every day about how trusts can be used to hold real estate and ensure safe and efficient transfer of one of the most valuable assets to loved ones. One of the most effective ways to safeguard your home and ease the burden on your loved ones is by placing it into a trust.
Read More
Personal Guarantees in Contracts: 101
At Wakefield Law, we have many clients who run businesses. Those businesses often sell their goods or services to other businesses. We also have clients who own commercial properties and rent those properties to businesses. When a business contracts with another business for goods, services, or leases commercial space to another company, a well-drafted contract is your first line of defense in the event that a dispute arises. But what happens when the business itself can't—or won’t—pay? That’s where a personal guarantee shows its value.
Read More
What to Expect in a Personal Injury Consultation
At Wakefield Law, we’ve been helping clients with their personal injury cases since 1995. We believe every personal injury client deserves expert legal insight without unnecessary pressure. We, like most honest and experienced firms, offer free consultations for personal injury cases—with no obligation to hire us. Whether you’ve been injured in a car accident or another incident caused by negligence, this first meeting is a vital step toward protecting your rights and understanding your path forward.
Read More
Why Naming All Your Children as Co-Executors or Co-Trustees Might Invite Conflict ...and How Smart Estate Planning Can Keep the Peace
We deal with this subject all the time with our clients - It’s a common impulse: “I love all my children equally—so I’ll name them all as my Agents.” The goal to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings with estate planning documents is noble, but the practical consequences of appointing multiple children as co-Executors or co-Trustees can be anything but peaceful.
Read More
How Can Hiring Wakefield Law for Business Collections Help Your Business?
Running a business is a hard job – often, as a business owner or executive with a business, you wear many hats. You can be the payroll department, IT department, and business growth manager (and that’s just what you have to do on Monday!) When it comes to getting paid for the services you render or goods you deliver, there’s nothing more important to the success of your venture. When unpaid invoices pile up, they don’t just disrupt your cash flow—they rob your business of the momentum you’ve worked so hard to build. At our firm, we believe your time and resources should be spent growing your business, not chasing down debts. Sure, you might be able to chase down a customer and finally get some payments, but how much time have you wasted? At Wakefield Law, we offer a smarter, more aligned way to handle business debt collection:
Read More
Why You Need an Advance Medical Directive Before Vacation
As the summer season rolls in and many of our clients turn our attention to long-awaited vacations, beach escapes, and bucket-list adventures, we’ve been asked again and again what documents are the ones that are absolutely critical before hopping on the plane or boarding the cruise ship. While we always recommend comprehensive estate planning for clients who need the full package of documents, this blog will focus on the critical Advance Medical Directive with a Living Will and HIPAA Waiver.
Read More
Estate Planning for Young Adults – Keeping Parents in the Loop
Very often, we are working with clients whose children have just reached adulthood. Whether your child has just hit eighteen years old or their into their college years, it’s common that a child that is a new adult is still reliant on their parents for help in all sorts of ways. While a young adult may not have the most urgent need for a Will or Trust, this blog will go into the three documents that are absolutely crucial to have in place if a college aged person wants their parents involved in decision-making during a catastrophe.
Read More
Don’t Wait: Quick Action After an Accident Can Make or Break a Personal Injury Case
When you're in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, it’s likely that you’re not thinking about a personal injury case and protecting your rights. When these things happen to us, we’re thinking about injuries and recovery, the damage to our vehicle, and how these few horrible seconds will affect the next weeks, months, or even years of our lives. It can be completely overwhelming to have to consider speaking with the other drivers, witnesses, the police, medical personnel, and insurance companies. As you go forward, medical appointments, missed work, car repairs, and trying to return to normal can completely dominate your life and attention. It’s easy to delay reaching out to a lawyer as you’re going through this, but the purpose of this blog is explain why it’s so important to speak with trustworthy counsel quickly after you’ve been in an accident.
Read More
Trusts: What Do They Actually Do?
When it comes to estate planning, everything can feel overwhelming. We see clients stuck and unable to see a path forward for all kinds of reasons. Whether it’s the discomfort of thinking about your mortality and how things will go for your family if you weren’t around, or the fact that the internet is throwing information out that can seem contradictory or just like it’s too much, we help navigate through all of that to make sure you and your family have the plan needed. At Wakefield Law, we specialize in estate planning for families and individuals all over Virginia. We prioritize protecting your family, avoiding probate, and planning for future generations – often, a trust is the perfect tool to exercise that control and give that elusive peace of mind about a troubling subject.
Read More
Estate Planning Updates – What’s Happening in Virginia?
At Wakefield Law, we help clients every day with their estate plans. Something that we tell every client is that the estate planning landscape is always updating and changing. In Virginia, across the country, and in our Northern Virginia community, recent legal updates and client trends have introduced important new facets that are relevant in estate planning – here are three major subjects that we are talking to clients about in our meetings:
Read More
Guardianship for Minor Children: Permanent and Temporary Guardianship
At Wakefield Law, we work with parents of minor children every day. Making sure there is a safe place for minor children to go in the event of a catastrophe is one of the most important parts of the estate planning process. Making plans for the “God-Forbids” is the most loving thing you can do for those close to you. It involves some difficult decisions, particularly when it comes to the well-being of minor children, but it’s one of the only ways you can take unnecessary suffering from your loved ones if you’re not around anymore. This blog post will explore the importance of both permanent and temporary guardianship and highlight the need for a comprehensive estate plan to ensure your children’s needs are met immediately and efficiently.
Read More
The Final Disposition: Why It’s Important to Include Your Burial and Cremation Wishes in Your Estate Plan
When most people think of estate planning, their minds immediately go to wills, trusts, and dividing up assets. These are critical parts of the estate planning process, but one of the most overlooked—yet deeply personal—aspects of estate planning is outlining your wishes for burial, cremation, or other funerary arrangements. This part of your plan may not affect your financial legacy, but it can have a profound emotional impact on your loved ones.
Read More
Estate Planning for Emergencies
Emergencies don’t wait until we’re ready. They can strike at any age and stage of life, and at Wakefield Law, we work with clients to make sure that if something unexpected occurs, the right people step up at the most critical time. This post will focus on two critical documents, the Power of Attorney and an Advance Medical Directive. These are not just for the elderly or wealthy. They are essential tools for everyone.
Read More
Should Your Business Have a Formal Contract Drafted?
No one likes to sign (or even read) a long contract. There can be a strong feeling that when doing business, it’s the honorable or trusting thing to do to just have a “handshake” deal. It might feel like it’s avoiding a bunch of headache, but the truth of the matter is that it can often lead to the exact opposite. When deals are agreed to orally, or if they are made up of emails and texts, the parties can often fail to see eye to eye. Even worse, if one party does their end of the bargain, but the other party doesn’t, it can leave the party who did what they were supposed to do with little to no recourse in protecting their rights and interests.
Read More
Why a Will in Virginia is Your Ticket to Probate — And How Trusts Can Help
If you’re considering your estate planning options, you might think that having a will is all you need to ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes. While a will is an essential legal document, in Virginia, it doesn’t do what many people think it does: avoid probate and guarantee fast transfer of assets to beneficiaries. In fact, a will is essentially your ticket to probate, and that process can be time-consuming, stressful, expensive, and public.
Read More
Why Reviewing Your Estate Plan is Essential: Keeping Your Wishes and Documents Up to Date
With our clients at Wakefield Law, we always explain that estate planning is not a one-and-done process. It’s a dynamic process that should evolve with your life circumstances, changes in the law, and your personal wishes. Wills, Powers of Attorney, Advance Medical Directives, Trusts, and other estate planning documents require regular reviews to ensure your documents reflect your current intentions and comply with the latest legal requirements.
Read More
How Wakefield Law Can Help Your Business Collect Unpaid Invoices
Every business owner knows the frustration of unpaid invoices. The job is completed, your employees and company costs are all paid, but the customer has failed to pay the bill. When accounts receivable start piling up, it can create serious cash flow problems, hinder growth, and even threaten the stability of your company. While many businesses attempt to handle collections internally, partnering with an experienced attorney can be a game-changer in recovering outstanding debts efficiently and professionally.
Read More
Understanding Probate in Virginia: How to Avoid This Costly and Time-Consuming Process
At Wakefield Law, we speak with clients daily about what probate is. When a loved one passes away, their estate often must go through a legal process known as probate. In Virginia, probate is the court-supervised procedure that ensures a deceased person's assets are distributed according to their will or state law if no will exists. This part is important – even if there is a well-written will, assets subject to the will must go through the full probate process before disposition to beneficiaries. While probate serves an essential function, it is often an unpleasant, time-consuming, and expensive process. The good news is that careful estate planning can help you minimize or even avoid probate altogether by utilizing non-probate assets.
Read More
