Hiring a Family Law Attorney When Adopting a Child

Six Problems An Estate Planning Lawyer Can Help You Avoid

by Jamie Nichols

Hiring an estate planning lawyer is essential to ensure that your assets will be distributed as you wish when you pass away. There are a lot of problems you can avoid by hiring an estate planning lawyer today and devising a will and estate plan.

The following are six problems an estate lawyer can help you and your beneficiaries avoid. 

Documents including trusts and wills that are not updated as needed over time

Things change over time. Changes regarding your finances and the financial situations your beneficiaries are in can make it so that you need to update documents like trusts and will.  When you have a lawyer experienced with wills and estate planning, they can make necessary updates to your estate planning documents. 

Legal issues that make your will invalid

Drafting a will is a legally complex task. You need to make sure that any will you have drafted is legally valid so that it can't be successfully contested after you pass away. An estate planning lawyer can draft your will and any other documents to ensure that they are legally valid. 

Legal issues that make it so that your will doesn't comply with the law

If you want to make sure that your wishes are carried out after you pass away, you need to make sure that all the stipulations in your will adhere to the law. Your estate planning lawyer can go over your will with you and let you know if you need to make any changes to ensure full compliance with the law. 

Will and estate planning documents that are subject to multiple interpretations

Estate planning lawyers know how to draft text in a legal document such as a will so that the meaning is clear and cannot be challenged down the road. This way, you don't have to worry that the meaning of your estate planning documents will be twisted or manipulated in the future. 

Lack of financial planning in place for dependents

If you have never hired an estate planning lawyer and drafted a will, your dependents could struggle if you pass away. It can take years to resolve the legal quagmire that is sometimes created when an individual passes away without having a will in place that states how their estate should be distributed. 

For the sake of your dependents, you need to plan for the future and the possibility that you may pass away unexpectedly. 

High estate tax costs

Taxes on estates can be considerable. You don't want your beneficiaries to be surprised with very high estate taxes when you pass away. An estate planning lawyer can discuss any tax issues with you and help you to minimize tax liability for your estate. 

Contact a local estate planning lawyer if you need help with any of these issues.

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