WHY YOU SHOULD USE AN ATTORNEY FOR ESTATE PLANNING

 WHAT AN ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY DOES FOR YOU

• An attorney can stimulate your thoughts and aid your estate planning.  
• An attorney understands how the form, order and language of a will may be interpreted by a court. 
• Each individual person's situation is unique and requires a unique will. 

 Don't Let It Rust

Once you draft a will or trust, you may need to change it.  A change in marital status, a move to a new state, the birth of a child, or a change in tax laws can all prompt a review and rewrite of your estate planning documents.   

Be sure to sign any new will or trust and have it witnessed before destroying the old one.  Improper changes may not be effective and  may inadvertently invalidate other parts of you plan.  So take the time to do it right.

WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE A WILL

Have you ever wondered "Why you should have a Will? To understand the importance of a will, you must understand what happens to your property if you die without a Will.   What follows is a summary and there are exceptions to the discussion.  For application of the laws to your specific situation and location you should always consult an attorney.

Ten Common Reasons for Having a Will:

 1. To give a treasured heirloom or gift to a particular person;

 2.  To devise one's own scheme of property distribution instead of the method dictated by the State's laws of intestate succession;

 3. To create a trust to manage assets and financially care for minor children or dependents:

 4. To ensure a present spouse, children from an earlier marriage, and step children share assets or the estate in a manner considered more fair or realistic;

 5.  To equalize at death the inequities that may have been caused by  more support or gifts going to one child during the life time of  the parent.

 6. To equalize at death the benefit one person may receive because they have joint ownership  of property compared to those who will only share benefits of the probate estate after death.

7. To give to charity;

 8. To advise the court as to who  should  care for minor children:

 9. To control who handles financial affairs after death:

 10.  To plan in such a way as to reduce tax consequences of after death transfers.

WHAT GOOD ESTATE PLANNING DOCUMENTS DO

1. A revocable Living Trust avoids a conservatorship of your assets; 

"2. An Advance Health Care Directive avoids a conservatorship of your person; 

3. A Durable Power of Attorney for property management avoids a conservatorship of your assets; 

4. A properly structured revocable Living Trust minimizes estate tax; 

5. A properly structured Living Trust provides for the surviving spouse, while protecting the interests of children from a prior marriage; 

6. All of your estate planning documents should work in concert to minimize capital gains tax and other income taxes paid by the surviving spouse, children or other beneficiaries.

GETTING READY TO MEET WITH YOUR ESTATE ATTORNEY--WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING

 It is helpful to bring any existing wills, trusts, and powers of attorney, a list of beneficiaries and also a list of potential fiduciaries--people or banks who can act on your behalf in the event of death or incapacity. Your beneficiaries' addresses and birthdays, and the addresses of anyone who may act on your behalf such as potential guardian, agents, executors, and trustees. If you have a financial balance sheet or details list of assets, bring those, but usually a general idea of your assets, including insurance, is sufficient for the initial estate planning consultation. In most instances, you can get the ball rolling if you have a least a general idea of your assets.

Knowing the general nature and extent of your assets is a basic requirement for your attorney to have the ability to write a legally binding will or trust. The allegation of incapacity ( along with undue influence) is a common reason to challenge an otherwise legally binding estate plan. 

At the end of our first estate planning meeting you can decide whether or not to hire me and an Engagement Letter will be prepared. The Price list will give you a good idea of what to expect in terms of cost. At that time, if you're not sure you want to hire me, you may take the Engagement Letter home without signing it and contact me when you have made a decision. If you decide to proceed, then sign the Engagement Letter and we will set up a mutually convenient time for our next meeting. 

After I am hired with an Engagement Letter, and we have resolved any possible outstanding issues preventing us from getting started, I will send you a draft of the documents (PDF. or hard copy), usually within a few weeks. If the draft needs work, then we exchange more information until we have the semblance of an estate plan that meets your needs and review the revised drafts. You may sign them at that time, or it may require another meeting. After you have signed your documents, copies are made and  you are given the originals to keep in a safe place such as a safety deposit box at your bank.