A knowledgeable lawyer is the single most crucial tool in crafting an estate that protects your family’s interests in the face of complex, unexpected end-of-life issues. Without thorough contingency plans laid out in advance, default laws could inflict significant financial losses capable of plaguing loved ones years after your passing. Ensuing legal battles in the absence of a clearly worded estate have torn countless families and relationships apart via drawn-out courtroom struggles and other undesirable outcomes. Here are just a few ways your estate lawyer can lay the most secure foundation possible for your posthumous legacy.
Choosing the Right Law Firm to Plan Your Estate
The lawyer you choose should exhibit proven competency in advising division of assets and various documents required to guarantee fulfillment of your final wishes. Among other affairs, the law firm tasked with planning your estate will review and draft trusts, beneficiary designations, durable medical power of attorney, a last will and testament, and additional binding, protective documents in the event that you become ill. Without these valid and enforceable safeguards, your family will have no decisive direction while splitting up your assets. Sound legal advice will also prove invaluable if you should ever need to revise any of these documents in the face of shifting circumstances.
Your Estate May Define Your Legacy
The things you own and assets you accrue in life may not themselves define you, but how you order their redistribution when your life is over can speak volumes to future generations. Many bequeath considerable assets to loved ones if only to avoid estate taxes. Some gift money to charitable causes near and dear to their hearts. Others declare lines of succession securing the legacy of a family business in qualified hands. Your attorney can explain in clear language how various estate-planning tools lock in the course of your life’s work after you die.
Peace of Mind
The sooner you engage an estate-planning lawyer, the better. Ideally, you should retain a trusted law firm far before you expect to likely become incapacitated. However, a sudden and unpredictable illness or accident could strike at any time. Remember, once you begin taking these contingencies under consideration, your legal representative can always assist you in updating key documents as your life evolves and changes. Irresponsible heirs, high nursing home costs and other risk factors can wash away a lifetime of wealth-building without an adaptable estate tailored to your most immediate circumstances.
Saving Money
Without well-advised planning, your estate can become a messy, expensive affair. Depending on your net worth, a perfect storm of court costs, taxes and professional fees could siphon millions of dollars from your heirs. Seasoned estate-planning lawyers possess keenly honed senses for the best questions to ask and provisions to max out your heirs’ tax and financial benefits after your passing. That’s because estate law is a fine balance of art and science that dynamically changes on a constant basis. All the while, a single misplaced phrase can undo the most mindfully intended documents. Keeping tabs on all the rules in play constitutes a critical full-time job.
Once you die, there is no second chance to guarantee your last wishes are fulfilled exactly as planned. You are far better off revising your estate numerous times instead of postponing key changes or opting to forego legal costs and draft everything yourself. However, an experienced estate-planning lawyer dramatically improves your odds of drafting documents you are as confident toward on the day you die as when you signed them. Remember, just because you can do something on your own—and, technically, you can indeed draft your own will with no additional counsel whatsoever—doesn’t make doing so a good idea.
Author Info: Rachelle Wilber is a freelance writer living in the San Diego, California area. She graduated from San Diego State University with her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Media Studies. She tries to find an interest in all topics and themes, which prompts her writing. When she isn’t on her porch writing in the sun, you can find her shopping, at the beach, or at the gym. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @RachelleWilber.
