Sharon Lee Schwartz
Attorney and Mediator
(541) 671-2210
Areas of Practice
Guardianship and Conservatorships. Guardianships and conservatorships protect children and vulnerable adults.
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Guardianships. A guardian is responsible for making health care, housing, and other important decisions.
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Conservatorships. A conservator is responsible for managing income and assets.
Estate Planning and Probate.
Probate. Probate is a court process to distribute property that does not automatically transfer ownership at death. Probate in Oregon is not as complicated or lengthy as many believe.
Wills. A will describes your wishes for property distribution after your death. It allows you to make specific gifts, to control the timing and purpose of property given to minors, to exclude people if you do not want them to receive your property, to donate property to charity, and to make other rules about your property. At your death, the property transferred through your will is distributed through probate.
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Revocable Trusts. When you establish a revocable trust, the trust owns money and property you transfer to the trust and describes rules for the use of the property. Usually, the person establishing the trust controls the property and decides how to spend or use the property. Property in a trust does not need to go through probate after your death.
Advance Directives. An Advance Directive gives instructions for end-of-life care to your family and doctors. In it, you may appoint a Health Care Representative to make medical decisions if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. For example, you can leave instructions not to be put on life support if there is little chance you will live.
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Powers of Attorney. A Power of Attorney appoints an agent of your choice to share authority over your finances, such as bank accounts and investments. It can be limited or give broad authority.
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Transfer on Death Deeds. A Transfer on Death Deed allows you to transfer ownership of your home at your death without going through
Self-Help Support. Self-help services allow you to access legal support if you need to limit costs. A brief meeting or help with forms can make a big difference in your case. Some of our self-help work includes do it yourself family law forms, parenting plans (including plans for parents with addiction or criminal issues), preparation for mediation or trial, and help with the legal process.
Mediation. Instead of waiting for a judge to make decisions for you, with mediation you make your own agreement. There are two main ingredients to a mediated agreement: willingness to build a settlement that is acceptable to both of you, and full disclosure of all information necessary to resolve the disagreement.
Adoption. Our practice includes stepparent and other family member adoptions as well as DHS adoptions.
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Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements. Prenuptial and Post Nuptial agreements are contracts establishing rules about joint and separate property during a marriage and in the event of divorce. They also provide an opportunity to discuss goals for the future and common points of family conflict before they become a problem.
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probate.
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Special Needs Trusts. A special needs trust protects income and assets for the benefit of people receiving government assistance through programs with asset and income restrictions. The trust assets may be used for certain goods and services beyond those covered under the assistance program.