DAVID E. SYKES, P.C.
ATTORNEY AT LAW
We offer Legal Services in the areas of…
LEGAL Estate Planning
This law office provides legal estate planning service that includes general planning sessions, education about the estate process and the creation of a person’s Will, Trust, Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney.
Mediation & Dispute resolution
Mediation is a legal process through which opposing parties can resolve conflicts without going to court. It is one method of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) where a neutral person guides opposing parties to a resolution. It is an alternative to resolving a legal dispute through a trial or court case. Mediation is appropriate for resolving a dispute when a relationship is strained but needs to continue. It is most often reserved for civil cases.
General Legal Services & Consulting
Offering general legal services and consulting.
View a short Introductory Lecture (10min) on the importance of Legal Estate Planning, presented by David E. Sykes, interviewed by Lani Aulicino at M.I.U.
View an extended Introductory Lecture (45min) on the importance of Legal Estate Planning, presented by David E. Sykes. In partnership with Fairfield Public Library & Fairfield Media Center.
More on our Legal Estate Services
This area of law includes not only Wills and Trusts but also Living Wills, Powers of Attorney and legal estate planning in conjunction with your accounting, tax or investment planning professional.
In Iowa if a person has a Will or if they do not have a Will then upon their passing their entire estate by law goes into a formal “Probate” proceeding before the Iowa District Court where that person resided. This probate process can be complex, expensive, time consuming and public in most instances requiring the Executor and Beneficiaries of the estate to hire an attorney and pay that attorney statutory probate fees as required by law in order to comply with probate legal requirements. In most cases these process can be avoided and estate funds saved by setting up a Trust during the person’s lifetime.
More specifically, in order to avoid this probate process and reduce costs to the estate it is highly recommended that a Trust be set up during the person’s lifetime that has the impact of avoiding the costs and pitfalls of the probate requirements and gives the person creating the Trust and his or her loved one’s the security that estate matters have been carefully attended to.
One question that comes up frequently is the issue of the Trust being revocable or irrevocable. The Trust is created so it is Revocable during the Trustor’s lifetime allowing for changes to be made by following certain legal protocols and then upon the Trustor’s passing it becomes Irrevocable.
About David E. Sykes
David graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree and from the University of Maryland School of Law with a Juris Doctor of Law degree. Following graduation from law school he became a member of the Maryland Bar Association and The American Bar Association and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City and the Maryland Court of Appeals.
David has lived in Jefferson County, Iowa for many years. He remains committed to his Fairfield community by currently serving as the chairman of the board of the Noah’s Ark Animal Foundation, Inc. which he cofounded and is a retired founding director of the Jefferson County Farmers and Neighbors, Inc. (JFAN).
Previously Admitted to Practice in the following courts:
Iowa District Courts
The Federal District Court for the Southern District of Iowa
The Federal Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa
The Federal Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Iowa
Maryland District & Appellate Courts
Member of the Iowa Bar Association, and previous member of the following organizations: National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA);
Nolo Foundation; American Bar Association; Past member of the Maryland Bar Association
