Huntsville Estate Planning Attorney
Wills, trusts and powers of attorney in North Alabama.
Work directly with attorney Sarah S. Shepard.
Estate Planning Lawyer for Huntsville and North Alabama Families
Sparkman, Shepard & Shepard, LLC is a law firm in Huntsville, Alabama. Attorney Sarah S. Shepard handles our estate planning. She prepares wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney and advance directives for clients in Huntsville, Madison, Athens, Decatur and across North Alabama.
We help families with planning that goes beyond a basic will:
Blended families. Provide for your spouse and for children from an earlier marriage.
Parents. Nominate guardians for minor children and decide who manages what they inherit, and for how long.
A beneficiary who needs protection. Use a trust to manage an inheritance for someone who should not receive it outright.
Business owners. Plan for a closely held business interest as part of your estate.
Real estate and retirement accounts. Coordinate deeds and beneficiary designations with your will or trust.
An outdated plan. Update an existing will or trust after a marriage, divorce, move, new child or death in the family.
Wills and Trusts in Alabama: Which Do You Need?
Many plans use both. Sarah helps you decide how they should work together.
Last Will and Testament
A will names who receives your property and who serves as your executor, and it nominates a guardian for your minor children. Property that passes under a will goes through probate.
Revocable Living Trust
A trust holds property during your life and after your death. Property titled in the trust can pass to your beneficiaries without probate, and a successor trustee can manage it if you become unable to. Learn how Sarah prepares a revocable living trust.
Pour-Over Will
A trust-based plan still includes a short will that sends anything left in your name alone, with no named beneficiary, into the trust. That property goes through probate first, so funding the trust matters.
The right choice depends on how your property is owned, who would manage an inheritance and what your family would face after a death.
What Is Included in an Estate Plan?
An estate plan is the set of documents that says who receives your property after your death and who makes decisions for you if you become unable to. Our estate planning services include:
Will drafting. Wills and pour-over wills that say who receives your property and nominate guardians for minor children.
Revocable living trusts. Create a new trust or amend a revocable trust you already have.
Durable powers of attorney. Name someone to manage your finances, with authority that continues if you become unable to act.
Advance directive for health care. Record your living will and name a health care proxy under Alabama law.
Trusts for retirement accounts. When a beneficiary needs protection, Sarah drafts a trust to receive your IRA or 401(k) at your death and coordinates your beneficiary forms with it. Under the SECURE Act, an adult child who inherits the account generally must empty it within about 10 years.
The documents you need depend on the plan you choose. Sarah also works through each role with you, because the person you trust with money may not be the one you want making health care decisions.
Beneficiary Designations and Real Estate
A will or trust controls only part of what you own. We review your plan alongside how your property is titled and who is named on your accounts.
Retirement accounts and life insurance. These usually pass by beneficiary designation, not by your will. Sarah helps you choose beneficiaries that fit your plan, with the SECURE Act's 10-year rule for inherited retirement accounts in mind.
Your home and other real estate. We review title and ordinarily prepare and record a deed to fund the trust. We do this only as part of an estate plan, when your engagement includes that work.
Business interests. A closely held business needs a plan for who will own and manage it after your death.
Sarah S. Shepard, Huntsville Estate Planning Attorney
Sarah S. Shepard is the estate planning attorney at Sparkman, Shepard & Shepard, LLC. You work with her from your first consultation through the signing of your documents.
Sarah was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 2012. She works with families, professionals and business owners on wills and trusts, including business-succession planning as part of an estate plan.
Planning informed by probate. Ty Shepard handles the firm's probate and trust administration. That work shapes the questions Sarah asks:
Can the person you chose carry out your instructions?
Do your documents and accounts fit together?
What will your family need to do after a death?
How Estate Planning Works
1. Phone Consultation
Our office arranges a phone call of about 20 to 30 minutes with Sarah. Tell her about your family, your property and what you want your plan to do, and keep any existing will or trust on hand.
2. Scope and Fee
We agree on the work and the fee before you engage the firm. You then receive an engagement agreement, an invoice and a request for intake information.
3. Drafts and Review
Sarah prepares your documents and reviews them with you, including the people you are appointing and what you are asking them to do.
4. Signing
You usually sign your final documents at our Huntsville office. We provide the witnesses and notary your documents require.
5. Funding Your Plan
Sarah explains the steps your plan still needs, such as a new deed, retitled accounts or updated beneficiary designations. Your engagement states which of them the firm handles.
Most of the planning can happen by phone, email or video.
Common Estate Planning Questions
Does a will avoid probate in Alabama?
No. A will must be admitted to probate before it can pass property. Property held in a funded revocable living trust, property owned jointly with a right of survivorship and accounts with a named beneficiary usually pass outside probate.
Do I need a lawyer to make a will in Alabama?
No. Alabama does not require a lawyer. Under Alabama's ordinary execution rules, a will must be in writing and signed by you (or by someone signing your name in your presence at your direction) and by two witnesses. A lawyer helps the will meet those rules, work with your trust, accounts and beneficiary designations, and say what you intend.
How much does an estate plan cost?
We charge flat fees for estate planning, based on the documents and planning your family needs, and we agree on the fee before you engage the firm. Your first consultation is a free phone call of about 20 to 30 minutes, and our office arranges the time with you.
Can you update my existing will or trust?
Yes, for a will or a revocable trust. Sarah S. Shepard can review your documents and recommend whether to amend or replace them, so keep them on hand for the call. An irrevocable trust follows different rules.
What should I have ready for the consultation?
A general picture of your assets, the people you want to provide for and any concerns. You do not need to choose between a will and a trust before you call.
Do you work with clients outside Huntsville?
Yes. We work with families across North Alabama, including Madison, Limestone, Morgan, Marshall and Jackson counties. Most of the planning can happen by phone, email or video, and you usually sign your final documents at our Huntsville office.
Someone in my family has died. Can you help?
Yes, if a will names you as executor or a trust names you as successor trustee. Talk with Ty Shepard, our Huntsville probate attorney, who also handles our trust administration work.
Talk With Sarah About Your Estate Plan
Your first consultation is a phone call of about 20 to 30 minutes, and you don't need to know yet whether you need a will or a trust.
Sarah S. Shepard, Attorney at Law
Sparkman, Shepard & Shepard, LLC
303 Williams Avenue SW, Suite 1411
Huntsville, AL 35801
256-512-6019