An estate attorney should always be consulted if you are considering having a will drawn up because they can help you make sure that the loved ones that you leave behind are well taken care of and that your assets are distributed according to your wishes. Listed below are just a few of the reasons to work with an estate attorney.
They Can Help Make Sure That Your Wishes Are Met After You Pass
The single most important reason to work with an estate attorney is to get their help making sure that your wishes are met after you pass. One way in which they will do this is to sit down with you and not only discuss how you would like to distribute your assets after you pass but also why you were distributing those items and assets the way you are.
The reason for this is that if one of your family members or friends chooses to dispute your will and your estate plan after you pass, the attorney will know exactly why you were choosing to distribute those assets how you did and can explain it to the individual attempting to dispute the will in order to get them to end the dispute and avoid costing the estate a lot of money. In addition, if the issue should go to court, being able to explain the reasoning behind how you distributed your assets can often help the judge make the decision to throw out the dispute and follow your will to the letter.
They Can Help You Discover Ways To Maximize Your Family's Inheritance
Another reason to work with an estate attorney is that they can help you discover ways to maximize your family's inheritance. A very common issue that your inheritors can run into after you pass away is to find out that they have to pay a significant portion of their inheritance to the government in the form of taxes or to pay off some of your debts.
However, the estate attorney can help you minimize the impact of those taxes on the assets that you are leaving to your beneficiaries through the use of trusts that are not subjected to estate taxes if you create an irrevocable trust. An irrevocable trust is basically a trust fund, and, once you put the money into the trust, you are no longer able to access it or withdraw any funds from it; that is left up to the individual managing the trust and the beneficiary of the trust. Since the money technically no longer belongs to you, it is not going to be taxed by the government when you pass away.
Speak with an estate attorney at a law firm like DOUG NEWBORN LAW FIRM, PLLC as soon as possible if you are looking to get a little bit of help creating a will. You'll want to work with an estate attorney because they can help make sure that your wishes are met after you pass and help you discover ways to maximize your family's inheritance.
