Your estate plan is your opportunity to protect and provide for your loved ones as well as ensure that your own wishes are honored as you age. With that in mind, the estate planning attorneys at Parman & Easterday strive to create lifelong relationships with their Norman, Oklahoma, clients so that each client feels comfortable discussing the sensitive financial, legal, and personal information that is often relevant to estate planning.
Norman, Oklahoma
Located about 20 miles south of downtown Oklahoma City and serving as the county seat of Cleveland County, the City of Norman, Oklahoma, covers almost 190 square miles and had an estimated population of 120,284 as of 2015.
The state now known as Oklahoma was originally part of the Louisiana Purchase, which occurred in 1803. During the first half of the 19th century, the United States government began relocating the “Five Civilized Tribes” to Oklahoma, with the area known today as Norman being “assigned” to the Creek Nation. The Creeks, however, were accused of aiding the Confederacy during the Civil War and, therefore, were required to cede the region back to the U.S.
When the United States Land Office contracted with a professional engineer to survey much of Oklahoma territory in 1870, a young surveyor by the name of Abner E. Norman was given the role of supervisor. Older members of the surveyor’s crew burned the words “NORMAN’S CAMP” into an elm tree near a watering hole to taunt their much younger boss. Several years later when settlers arrived in the heart of Oklahoma, they kept the name “Norman” for the town that grew up near the watering hole.
On the night of April 22, 1889, at least 150 residents spent the night in makeshift campsites as part of the Land Run that basically created the town of Norman overnight. By the next morning a downtown was already being constructed. The following year the University of Oklahoma was established in Norman, almost two decades before Oklahoma became a state. The City of Norman was formally incorporated on May 13, 1891. Norman saw steady growth through the first half of the 20th century; however, it was the completion of Interstate 35 in 1959 that solidified Norman’s role as a bedroom community to the rapidly growing Oklahoma City. Norman’s population grew from 33,412 in 1960 to 52,117 by the end of the decade.
Today, the City of Norman continues to be known for the University of Oklahoma, the largest university in the state with approximately 30,000 students enrolled. In addition, the National Weather Center is located in Norman. The city lies within Tornado Alley, a geographic region where tornadic activity is particularly frequent and intense. In fact, the Oklahoma City metropolitan area (which includes Norman) is the most tornado-prone area in the entire world.
Parman & Easterday in the Norman, Oklahoma, Community
Given the importance of the finished product, care should be taken throughout every step of the estate planning process, starting with your choice of an estate planning attorney to work with you on your plan. The experienced estate planning attorneys at Parman & Easterday dedicated their practice to helping people just like you with their estate planning needs. We would be honored to sit down with you and help with the creation of your Norman, Oklahoma, estate planning needs both now and in the future.
The estate plan you create today will not be the estate plan you need in ten years because you won’t be the same person in ten years. The changes that occur in your life will precipitate corresponding changes to your estate plan to ensure that your estate plan remains relevant. Initially, a simple Last Will and Testament may suffice to ensure that you don’t leave behind an intestate estate in the event of your sudden death. That simple Will, however, will begin to seem inadequate if you get married and/or become a parent. The same applies as your estate assets grow over the years. The more you have to protect, the more complex your estate plan will need to become. Marriage may cause you to want to make changes to your beneficiary designations within your plan, especially if you become a parent. You may also want your new spouse to take over fiduciary roles within your plan, such as Executor, Agent, or Trustee. The desire to provide for a minor child may prompt the addition of a trust to your plan because your child cannot inherit directly from your estate. Incapacity planning will also become important once you have a child to consider. With the growth, both in size and value, of your estate you may need to consider the addition of asset protection tools and strategies to your overall plan.
As retirement looms on the horizon, long-term care and Medicaid planning should be incorporated into your estate plan unless you can afford the high cost of long-term care out of pocket. If you have strong beliefs about the manner in which your body is handled after you are gone and/or about end-of-life medical decisions, you will want to include advance directives and funeral planning into your comprehensive estate plan to ensure that those wishes are honored.
The estate planning attorneys at Parman & Easterday would be honored to help you create an estate plan that protects everything dear to you, both now and in the future.
Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns regarding your estate plan, or wish to make an appointment to get started on an estate plan, contact the experienced Norman, Oklahoma, estate planning attorneys at Parman & Easterday by calling 405-843-6100 to schedule your appointment today.
