When Should You Hire an Estate Planning Lawyer or Estate Lawyer?

Wish to craft a solid estate plan? Allow the best estate planning attorney in Grand Rapids working from the law offices of Sean Patrick Cox to explain why it is wiser to let an estate planning attorney handle it instead.

Everyone today owns an estate. That estate may involve property, investments, motor vehicles, stocks, or other types of personal possessions. No one lives forever. So naturally, you would want to bestow these possessions to the people you care for once you’ve passed away. This is where estate planning becomes so fundamental.

With an estate plan, you get to dictate how your possessions are supposed to be distributed, who gets what, and when they should get it. Simply put, an estate plan acts as an assurance that your wishes will be carried out in the event of your passing. That being said, drawing an estate plan isn’t child’s play and should be done under the guidance of a seasoned estate planning attorney.

In this article, we will go through a list of reasons that indicate why hiring attorneys for estate planning is not only smart but also necessary if you wish to provide for your loved ones, even after death.

When and Why to Hire Lawyers for Estate Planning

You should seek and hire a competent estate planning attorney to make the entire process of creating an estate plan as hassle-free as possible. You should strongly consider hiring an attorney if you wish assistance with the following:

1. Finding the Best Way to Protect Assets

A reliable estate planning lawyer will know that a decent estate plan will involve documents that ensure your loved ones will have no issues inheriting the assets you’ve left behind for them.

A typical estate plan includes the following:

• Power of Attorney
• Trust
• Medical Directive
• General Assignment
• Guardianship Nomination
• Will

Estate planning lawyers can compose these documents using specific verbiage, which involves the setting of rules to ensure your loved ones don’t have to jump through legal hoops to acquire your assets. Estate planning lawyers will make sure that all formalities are covered in a bid to protect your assets and the future of your family.

2. Help you Avoid the Excruciatingly Long Probate Process

Probate is a process that entails the transfer of a deceased person’s estate to the rightful heir or beneficiary. The entire process is infamous for being too long and expensive. The process can go up to 2 years and is also very public. However, there is a way to avoid this process if your estate has already been designated to beneficiaries.

This is another very good reason why creating an estate plan early on with the help of reliable lawyers for estate planning is so imperative. Even if the need arises to go through the probate process, you can rely on such lawyers to help you navigate through this process and all of its nuances in an efficient manner.

3. They can help you avoid typical mistakes when creating an estate plan

Remember that with an estate plan, you are basically making a record of all the assets you own and your wishes. The plan acts as a document that can help your family find essential information pertaining to financial records, beneficiary designation, titles, etc. As such, it is very important to make sure your plan is devoid of any errors whatsoever.

A seasoned attorney can ensure that an adequate estate plan is created that is compliant and can hold up in a court of law. They can also help you avoid common mistakes that people have committed in the past when conceiving their plans. For instance, they’ll make sure that no assets or people are left out of the plan. They will also ensure that certain beneficiaries are listed to receive 401ks and IRA benefits without fail.

They can help drastically reduce your expenses in taxes and court fees by drawing an adequate, relevant, and complete estate plan.

4. Reducing Tax Liabilities

There are many ways of knowing whether or not your estate is viable for federal estate taxes. Factors that could help you determine this include:

• Debt owed during the time of death
• Expenses incurred when settling an estate
• Deductions that your estate is entitled to.
• Gross estate value

You can know the value of your net estate by deducting expenses, debt, charitable donations, etc. from your gross estate. You owe no taxes if the value of your estate is less than your estate tax exemption.

The laws surrounding state and federal estate taxation can be complicated to understand. An estate lawyer will not only help you understand it but also employ strategies to reduce your tax liabilities. These lawyers can arm you with all the insight you need on estate-related taxes.

5. Update Estate Plan Regularly

Life is unpredictable. Sudden death or birth in the family, marriage, and changing relationship dynamics can all encourage one to make changes to their estate plan. An estate planning attorney will make sure your plan is updated in accordance with your wish when deemed necessary. They will make sure that your estate plan is capable of meeting the specific wishes of you and your family even under changing circumstances.

Conclusion

As leading attorneys for estate planning, we are often asked ‘what does an estate planning attorney do? We hope this article can answer this question while also helping you understand why it is important to approach these entities.

As for when you should hire an estate lawyer? We would say that if you own assets and wish to protect your family’s future after your passing, then do not wait until you’re old or retired. Call the offices of Sean Patrick Cox right away for qualified legal assistance on the matter.

We pride ourselves in being the first name that pops up whenever someone Googles ‘best trust and estate planning attorney near me’.

Call us now to schedule a free initial appointment with our estate lawyer.