Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person’s life, for the management and disposal of that person’s estate. This is put in place to provide during the person’s life and at death for their loved ones. This is done in order to minimize gift, estate, generation skipping transfer, and income tax.
Believe it or not, you have an estate. In fact, nearly everyone does. Your estate is comprised of everything you own including your car, home, other real estate, checking and savings accounts, investments, life insurance, furniture, personal possessions. No matter how large or how modest, everyone has an estate and something in common in that you can’t take it with you when you die.
An estate planning attorney is a type of lawyer who advises clients on getting their affairs in order to prepare for the possibility of becoming unable to care for themselves or death. An estate planning attorney helps and guides you in choosing the correct options for maintaining your estate after death or in case of incapacity. An experienced attorney seeks to fully understand your desires and goals regarding the maintenance of your estate and other property and suggests ways to achieve those wishes. Estate planning lawyers help people write instructions for the future handling of their property, finances, healthcare, and the future support and care of their loved ones.
How to choose a perfect estate planning attorney:
Estate planning is one of the most important steps a person can take to make sure that their final property and health care wishes are honored. While choosing an estate planning attorney you may consider the following things:
- Comfort level: Make sure that you are comfortable telling your lawyer about everything. Ask yourself if you are totally comfortable and does the lawyer you are going to hire seem interested in listening and solving our problems at all.
- Credentials: Before hiring an estate planning attorney check his records and how long has he been in service and also check if he has worked on similar cases to yours.
- Cost: Check how the lawyer’s fees are structured whether they are structured hourly or flat fee. Ask your estate planning attorney if he can estimate the cost of your case for you to get an idea of how much the whole thing is going to cost you.
- Location: Always make sure to check for your lawyer’s location. The lawyer’s office should always be located at a convenient distance.
An experienced estate planning attorney can help minimize the amount estate surrendered to taxes, as well as to ensure that the management and distribution of the estate is carried out according to plan. Particularly when your plans are complex and you have substantial property or assets, it is important to have an attorney who can ensure that your plan functions the way you intend. Depending on the complexity of your individual situation, your estate planning team may include attorneys, financial planners, bankers and insurance professionals.
The Law Office of Sean J. Nichols is dedicated to assisting clients throughout legal issues that come with aging including: elder law, estate planning, probate law and more. Check out the Law Office of Sean J. Nichols at http://www.seanjnichols.com to contact an estate attorney today.