Drafting wills without consulting estate planning lawyers can lead to unnecessary stress to your loved ones when you pass away. As you create a will, get the services of an estate planning attorney to make sure you do everything legally and correctly. After all, your estate plan is really for the benefit of any family member or individual that you appointed as heir.
Wills and trust are serious legal matters. Do not simply make decisions and appoint heirs without getting legal counsel. Having an estate lawyer assisting you as you write a will ensures that all aspects of estate law will be explained to you.
A last will and testament is not the only way to distribute your assets. Generally, trusts provide better asset protection and could help in avoiding probate. (The probate process is complicated, and a good estate attorney well-versed with trusts law will help you avoid probate whenever possible).
When drafting your will, ask your estate law attorney what it means to designate beneficiaries. Broadly, beneficiary designation on assets of the estate can bring a happy surprise to relatives even years after your passing. Under the same provisions, inheriting after death is technically possible.
Under estate laws, one can distribute from an estate to another estate. A great-grandparent’s legal estate could be paying out to a deceased person, whose children and grand-children would benefit from his or her share.
Availing of the legal services of experienced estate attorneys ensures that any wills and trusts made comply with all aspects of estates law, including the above.
Although a pleasant surprise for some, this facet of drafting wills could be a hassle for others. A bank account, a life insurance policy, or stock shares that nobody was able to keep track are turned over to the state. It stays there until a surviving spouse or the designated heirs come forward. In some cases, the money languishes for several years.
Distributing these would involve multiple probate estates, so the services of an estate planning lawyer are necessary along the way. You would not want your loved ones to go through all of that. Such is not the ideal and easy way to transfer assets, so ensure that you know how beneficiary designations play a part in estate planning.
Estate law, the planning process, and estate administration are not just about distributing property when you die. Drafting a will or trust and estate planning, in general, is a serious legal issue.
Estate planning law is not something that you should take lightly. Setting up a last will and testament involves a legal document. Therefore, before proceeding, it is necessary to seek legal advice from a will and trust attorney who can explain to you relevant estate planning laws.
Our law office takes pride in our specialization in trusts and estates. For any questions on probate and estate planning, or even on living wills, succession, trust documents, types of trusts, or power-of-attorney, contact our law firm. Call us at Entrusted Estate and Asset Protection, PC for reliable estate planning services and legal representation.