Attorney Joel Smith will take the mystery out of estate planning.

Do you want to leave a legacy, or chaos?
Estate planning is one the most important things you can do while you are in your hay-day!

Attorney Joel Smith knows first hand how important estate planning can be for your family. You see, Joel had witnessed the complete disintegration of his family after the death of his grandmother due to the bickering and infighting between those she left behind. Just a few years later, he watched helplessly as his mother mourned the death of his brother, enduring a long and tedious probate process while struggling with the courts, state agencies, and creditors.

In law school, Joel apprenticed with a local estate planner. It didn’t take long for him to realize that both of these tragedies were completely preventable. In both cases, there had been documents – grandma had a will and his brother had appointed his mother power of attorney. In neither case, however, was the voice of the deceased a part of those documents. Joel had found his purpose: to ensure that the client’s voice lives on through a carefully considered and thoughtfully designed estate plan.

Joel graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law in 2015 with certificates in estate planning and tax law, committed to changing that dynamic for his clients. He is a member of the Oregon State Bar Association, the Lane County Bar Association, and WealthCounsel – a national organization dedicated to providing advanced estate planning techniques. His firm, Cascadia Estate Planning, provides personalized estate planning as well as assistance with estate administration and probate cases.