Estate Planning Attorney in Georgia and Kentucky
Trust-Based Estate Planning; Special Needs Trusts; Elder Law, Medicaid Trusts & Crisis Planning; Business & Tax Planning
GET TO KNOW NATE
After 25 years of military service, Nate returned to Athens to join Prior Law Firm’s estate planning team. The son of a University of Georgia professor and a clinical psychologist, Nate was raised to value his community. He took after his maternal grandfather, Marion (Vic) Vickers, who valued fitness, good humor, and ingenuity. Vic fought in the Italian Campaign during WWII and served in Korea before retiring from the Army and later earning a second retirement from Burns Brick Company in Macon, Georgia. Nate followed in Vic’s footsteps, joining the Marine Reserves while attending Emory University. After graduating from Emory, Nate accepted a commission as a Marine infantry officer. He was twice decorated for valor in combat during his two tours in Iraq.
Nate later attended the University of Louisville, Brandeis School of Law, in Louisville, Kentucky, where he met his wife, Annie. After graduating, magna cum laude, Nate accepted a commission in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. Nate’s military service took him to Alabama, California, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, as well as Iraq, Morocco, and South Korea. Along the way, he and Annie grew a family of four boys, including one they adopted from South Korea.
Nate is licensed to practice law in Georgia and Kentucky. He has a J.D. from the University of Louisville, a LL.M. in International and Operational Law from the U.S. Army JAG School, and a LL.M. in Wealth Management from Texas A&M University. Nate believes effective estate planning requires insight into an individual’s values and life goals, not just the mechanical distribution of assets after death. He has a mind for numbers and enjoys solving complex business and tax problems. He also has an autistic son, who inspires his passion for special needs trust planning.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
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There is a better way to organize your estate to nurture and support your family after you’re gone. Trust-based estate planning avoids the burden and expense of probate and ensures your assets foster the people you love, according to your core values, throughout your life and after. Probate is designed to benefit creditors over families; your family deserves a trust-based plan.
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As the father of a special needs child, I am passionate about helping other special needs families. Special Needs Trusts (SNT) provide quality of life for your special loved one, while avoiding disruptions to public benefits such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. Long term care for a special needs child or adult can wipe out an inheritance or life insurance benefits in a few short years, leaving your surviving child stranded when the money runs out. By creating a SNT, you ensure lifetime access to public benefits, while preserving private resources to enhance your child's quality of life.
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Dementia or a stroke often forces families to seek long-term care for a parent or spouse. Nursing home costs average more than $8,000/month, which can erode your entire life savings in a matter of months or years. Medicaid covers long-term care, but only after your assets are reduced below $2,000. I help families navigate the complex Medicaid rules to qualify their loved ones for Medicaid while preserving their hard-earned assets.
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Qualified retirement plans (such as IRA’s and 401k’s) pass directly to the individuals you designate as beneficiaries. Alternatively, you can name a retirement plan trust as beneficiary in order to provide trust protections while maximizing the qualified plan’s tax advantages. The IRS imposes strict, and some say confusing, standards for these trusts. Failure to comply results in accelerated mandatory withdrawals, which erode the plan’s tax advantages. I can help establish trust protections for your qualified plans.
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You built your business from the ground up, but what happens to it if something happens to you? Your estate plan specifies who is entitled to your business interests after your death, while your business succession plan focuses on keeping your business running (or preparing your business for sale) in your absence. Business succession planning is often overlooked, but failure to plan can place your business in jeopardy at the very moment your loved ones most need your business to succeed.
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While I advocate trust-based estate planning, many people still use Wills or fail to plan altogether. If a loved one passed with a Will-based plan or no plan, you will need to file an action in the probate court where your loved one resided. Probate actions can be time consuming and frustrating. Let me assist you with your probate action while you focus on your family.
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Estate planning always involves tax planning, in particular the delicate balance between income taxes and estate and gift taxes. Many strategies for minimizing estate and gift taxes create income tax issues. Tax laws change every year, as does the size and composition of your estate. You need an estate planning attorney who understands how these changes affect your plan and can minimize tax burdens while achieving your desired goals.
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Any attorney can draft a Will, but your family deserves a trust-based estate plan that avoids probate and promotes your family values in your absence. Trust planning requires detailed knowledge of tax law, real-property law, elder law, and a host of other special issues. I’ve dedicated my entire practice to estate planning, because your legacy is important to me. If you live in northeast Georgia, let’s meet in person. If you live in Kentucky or the drive is too far, let’s meet on Zoom. Let me customize a trust that reflects your values and puts your family first.
NATE KNOWS
While serving as an Army JAG in Korea, I learned my third son was autistic. A friend suggested I look into getting a special needs trust (SNT). We returned to the U.S. to seek better care for Miles, and I began seeking an estate planning attorney who understood SNTs. Unable to find any local attorneys who could help, I set out to do it myself, ultimately earning a Master of Laws in Wealth Management (Tax Law, Estate Planning, and Investment Advising) from Texas A&M University. During my training, I became fascinated with the many different facets of tax law and estate planning. I realized trust planning is something everyone needs, whether they know it or not.
As my Army career drew to a close, I dreamed of returning to my hometown, Athens, Georgia. I researched estate planning attorneys in the local area, hoping to work with the very best. After searching dozens of websites, I came across priorlaw.com and recognized this firm had the expertise I was looking for. After reading Bob Prior's bio, I knew we had to meet. Like me, Bob was an infantry officer in the Marines before serving as a judge advocate. I wrote to Bob and requested a meeting. Two years later, I was back in Athens and a partner at Prior Law Firm. I'm so happy to be back in the community I love and feel so blessed to work alongside the area's premier estate planning attorney.