Arlington Estate Planning Attorney
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and advance medical directives for federal employees, contractors, and families in Rosslyn, Clarendon, and Ballston.
Estate Planning Services in Arlington
Virginia law sets the rules for wills, trusts, probate, and the authority one person holds to act on another’s behalf. Our estate planning practice covers the decisions that take effect after death and the ones that matter well before it. Some clients come to us for a first will. Others arrive with documents that no longer match their circumstances after a marriage, a divorce, a move, retirement, or a child.
Estate Planning Solutions in Arlington
Most Arlington plans are built from three documents, each doing a different job.
Wills & Revocable Trusts
Wills and revocable trusts direct how assets are handled and distributed under Virginia law. Both allow a parent to name a guardian for minor children and to identify beneficiaries, and a revocable trust adds management of assets during the grantor’s lifetime. We draft to Virginia’s execution requirements so the documents hold up when the clerk reviews them.
Powers of Attorney
A power of attorney authorizes another person to manage financial and legal matters when the principal cannot. Incapacity is the case people expect. In Arlington the more frequent use is a deployment, an overseas contract assignment, or a long stretch of travel that leaves a closing, a refinance, a rental property, bank paperwork, or a tax filing waiting on a signature nobody else can provide.
Advance Medical Directives
An advance medical directive names a medical agent and records instructions for medical care and end of life treatment. It gives providers such as Virginia Hospital Center a document to follow, and it gives the named agent guidance rather than a guess about what the patient would have wanted.
What Your Will Controls, & What It Does Not
What surprises most Arlington clients is how much of an estate those rules never touch. A Thrift Savings Plan account, FEGLI coverage, an IRA, and life insurance pass to whoever is named on the designation form rather than to whoever is named in the will. Those forms are often decades old, completed during onboarding and never revisited. A will that reflects current wishes exactly and a beneficiary form from 2009 produce two different outcomes, and the form wins.
A plan is more than the documents. It means confirming that the beneficiary designations, the titling, and the documents themselves all point in the same direction.
Local Expertise:
What Your Executor Will Face in Arlington
Wills are probated before the Clerk of the Arlington County Circuit Court at 1425 N. Courthouse Road, a short walk from the Court House Metro station. The executor makes an appointment, qualifies, and then carries inventory and accounting obligations to the Commissioner of Accounts for as long as the estate stays open.
Because the local Clerk of the Circuit Court has specific rules and procedures for probate, we draft documents with these standards in mind. Our goal is to provide work that aligns with Virginia requirements to assist in the eventual transition of an estate.
Why Arlington Residents Work With Eris Law Group
Our estate planning rates are published on the site, so the cost of a will or a full plan is available before anyone calls.
Amanda Plant leads the firm’s estate planning practice and works exclusively in estate matters.
Most of our Arlington clients come from the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, through Rosslyn, Court House, Clarendon, Virginia Square, and Ballston. Our office is in Alexandria, a short trip down I-395 or a single Metro connection. Consultations can be virtual and drafts reviewed electronically, though signing requires witnesses and a notary in person, so we schedule a signing appointment at the office. Clients whose planning overlaps a divorce or custody matter also work with our Arlington family law attorneys.
Arlington Legal Frequently Asked Questions
Probably. Virginia requires a will to be in writing, signed by the testator, and attested by two competent witnesses, and most out-of-state wills already meet that standard. What they often lack are Virginia specific provisions, such as a self-proving affidavit or an express power for the executor to sell real estate, which can slow probate down. Your power of attorney and advance medical directive are the bigger concern, since Virginia has its own statutory forms and out-of-state versions sometimes get questioned by banks and hospital staff.
Under Virginia’s intestacy statutes, an unmarried partner inherits nothing, regardless of how long you have been together or who paid the mortgage. How the deed is titled controls what happens to the property itself, and joint tenancy with right of survivorship produces a very different result than tenants in common. We look at the deed first, then build the will, trust, and beneficiary designations around it.
Real estate is generally probated where it sits, so your family could face a second proceeding in the other state on top of the Arlington County process. That second case, called ancillary probate, adds cost and delay when your executor is already stretched thin. A revocable trust holding both properties is one option we discuss with clients who own a rental, an inherited family home, or a place outside Virginia.
Military wills and powers of attorney are valid, and federal law requires states to recognize a military power of attorney regardless of local formalities. JAG-prepared wills are often intentionally simple, though, and trust planning, real estate titling, and coordination of SGLI and Survivor Benefit Plan elections usually fall outside what legal assistance offices provide. We work with service members to fill those gaps.
Military wills and powers of attorney are valid, and federal law requires states to recognize a military Power of Attorney regardless of local formalities. That said, JAG-prepared wills are often intentionally simple, and trust planning, real estate titling, and coordination of SGLI and Survivor Benefit Plan elections usually fall outside what legal assistance offices provide. We work with service members to fill those gaps without duplicating what you already have.
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Schedule Your Consultation in Arlington
Most people put this off assuming it will be complicated. Usually it is not. Contact Eris Law Group and we will walk through what a client owns, what is already covered by a designation or a deed, and what is actually missing, so the plan reflects current wishes and spares the family avoidable work later.