This Article Written for Willhoite Law, PLLC
Most of the people think that estate planning is something done only by the wealthy or by the elderly. The point is this could not be further from the reality. Whether you are young or old, it is vital to meet with estate planning lawyers so you can have your affairs in order in case something goes wrong.
Estate planning is one of the most crucial decisions you can make to transfer your property in the safe hands. It involves planning in advance who will be the legal heir of your assets after death. Your assets may consist of cash, houses, land, investment and other savings that you have earned during the lifetime.
Estate planning usually may have several objectives; however, the ultimate goal is to transfer the whole estate to the legal beneficiary. Other purposes include paying the least amount of taxes on your property and assigning guardians for minor children if any. Moreover, it’s intended to, maximize the value of the property, eliminate uncertainties over the administration of a probate and reduce taxes. It can be as simple or complex as the client’s needs dictate.
Many people create a trust for various reasons. One particular reason why many people create trust is to prevent certain assets or capital from going to the probate court when you die. A way to do this is by creating a trust in favor of an heir who at the time of the formation of the trust is incapable of managing the property that is designed for him or her, either because he or she is a minor.
The important advantage of using a trust and the reason most people prefer a trust is that it can make it so your property does not have to go through a probate procedure. The trust creating process for your estate can be a challenging and serious experience. However, this process is something that you should go through together with a good trust lawyer in order to create a good plan to prepare you for the possibility of incapacitation and death and that all your wishes are carried out the right way.
Estate planning lawyers at Willhoite Law, PLLC can advise comprehensive strategies to help you to protect your assets and your wealth not only from being subject to high estate taxes but also from being lost if you become ill or incapacitated. Estate planning lawyers can do this by helping you to create trusts to protect your assets, or by helping you to make appropriate plans for long-term care insurance.
It is very difficult for a common man to handle the intimidating task of drafting a will or creating trust. It is because minor mistakes can damage the entire draft and its purpose. Trust law is continually evolving and without the expertise of a qualified trust lawyer, you surely won’t be able to take full advantage of it. It is a lawyer, who can come out with his best knowledge to help create different trusts for your family in a professional manner and avoid probate.
Whether you are drafting your trust or will for the first time or revising an existing one, make a consultation with a reputed trust lawyer to easily transfer assets to the trust and gain control over your trust for a lifetime. Again with the professional advice of estate planning lawyers in Willhoite Law, PLLC, you can not only avoid making basic mistakes but also prevent them from growing into more complicated matters in the future.
If you have determined to put your concerns in order and finally accept the fact that estate planning is something most of us would be better off having than not, the following thing you might be questioning about is how to choose an estate planning lawyer. The initial thing to learn is that your lawyer is a person with whom you will share a great deal of personal information. The main thing to be consider is whoever you pick, you should feel comfortable talking to him/her about your requirements and concerns and if you don’t he/she is not the right lawyer for you.
Your lawyer is your legal adviser and is duty-bound to take your confidence with them beyond their estate plan, which is shorthand for they must take your secrets to the grave with them. But it doesn’t mean what their duty is if you don’t feel comfortable telling them what you want in the first place. If you start to feel uncomfortable talking to your would-be estate planning expert, you should start to shop elsewhere.
The next thing to consider is that not all lawyers are created equal concerning their ability in trust planning. A good initial step in finding a lawyer who will be a good fit for you is to ask people who you already know and trust. Ask your friends and colleague if they have needed to use an estate planner and ask what they think of that person. If you get a recommendation, don’t stop there. Look your would-be trust lawyer candidates upon good law firm sites on the internet to find out how long they have practiced and what fields of law they specialize in. Of course, these answers don’t tell you everything you want to know about your potential adviser, but having some information is better than flying blind into the world of lawyers. If the lawyer who was recommended does not specialize in estate planning, then it may be that you don’t want that lawyer to create a financial plan for you and your family. A trust lawyer remains careful in preparing the trust agreement according to your wish and the way it should be divided amongst the nominees.
However, the best tip that anyone can give is to find someone who you relate well to and who you feel comfortable sharing personal information with. Understand that your trust lawyer is someone whose decision you need to be capable to rely on; they are someone that will present and recommend legal opportunities to accomplish goals that you set out for them and they need to be the sort of person who can ask you the right kinds of questions to get the job done and the kind of person you will feel happy answering. If you don’t feel right about them, even if you just don’t seem to associate well to them in some small way, it is probably best to look elsewhere for your planning needs.