When talking about a person’s estate, this term is referring to the net worth of the person either during their lifetime or afterwards. This includes all of their assets from legal rights and interests to property. There are many things that can be included in an estate document.
Do I need an Estate Planning Attorney?
The initial answer to this would be yes, but let me explain in a little more detail why estate lawyers can be helpful to you.
Misspellings
Just one word that is spelled wrong or a signature not in the right place can completely altar the will or the trust. A qualified estate lawyer can not only check your will or trust, but they can draft the estate planning documents for you in accordance with current estate law.
State Laws Rule
Each state has a different and quite specific set of rules and regulations in regards to what is to be included, or not included in a will or trust or power of attorney. There are also specifications as to who is able to serve as the representation or trustee. There are certain formalities to estate law that must be adhered to and if you do not have the training necessary to know exactly what those laws are, you could be negating your entire document without realizing it.
Buyer Beware
Don’t try to save money by doing it yourself or looking up how to’s on the internet. If you do, there is a chance that after you pass your family will be faced with a bitter disappointment when they find out that part of your will or possibly all of it, is not valid according to the law. They will have to decide whether or not to spend the thousands of dollars it will cost to fix the mistakes that were made initially.
Expertise
A good lawyer is not just doing to draft documents and help you right. Usually, with any experience, a lawyer will be able to get involved in certain family complications and help to mediate a solution. Counselling and advice are always best when coming from an unbiased third party, especially if there are issues that have long since been buried. For some reason, people receive critical news best from a professional.
Categories
That are certain categories that people are placed into. They are as follows:
- Your marriage is not your first
- You own a business
- You own real estate in several states
- You are related to a disabled person
- You have underage children or no children
- You want some of your assets to go to charity
- You still have a sizable 401K or IRA
- You are divorced
- You lost a family member
- Your estate is taxable federally or for state purposes.
Any one of these situations will require a probate lawyer to help you create documents to prevent most of your estate going to the government instead of your family members.
When should I employ an estate lawyer?
Hiring an estate lawyer doesn’t have to do with age. This is basically whenever you have enough assets that you want to will to someone in the event of your death. If you are planning on writing a trust or a will, which you should do if you have children or assets, this is when you should look into hiring an lawyer. This does not have to be an emotional time. Most people create wills and trusts to ensure that their property will be taken care of, if they can not be there to ensure it goes where it needs to. It is a logical and wise thing to do if you have people that you want to benefit from your hard work. Your loved ones will be very appreciative if the documents are drawn up correctly and legally without ability for dispute from any disgruntled family member that feels like they are entitled to more than what you have described in your will.
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