Estate Lawyer
When you reach the point in your life where you’re ready to organize and prepare your assets for when you pass away, working with an estate lawyer can ensure this is a secure and steady process for you. Experienced lawyers, such as our friends at W. B. Moore Law, will work with you to develop a solid plan around your will, trust, and local probate process, and even the succession of a business if needed. An attorney will ultimately give you the comfort and confidence of your estate being carefully handled after you pass away or when you can no longer take care of yourself. Your intended beneficiaries can safely receive their assets without court battles or tax bills to deal with. We’ve compiled some common factors below that further explain the benefits of working closely with a lawyer to handle your estate.
You Want To Protect Your Beneficiaries
Working with a lawyer to design an estate plan creates the best future for protecting your family, loved ones, and heirs in receiving their parts of the estate. By clearly stating how your assets should be handled can legally secure your beneficiaries from dealing with any potential misunderstanding or court cases.
You Want To Prevent Any Family Conflict
Given it is your estate plan, you have the full right and ownership of delegating your assets the way you want to. However, sometimes after one’s passing a family member or loved one may try to create reasons that an asset belongs to them instead of the beneficiary you intended to give that asset to. Whether it be a special, personal belonging or a business, people can treat these assets very sensitively, and regardless of who you’ve delegated it to, someone may passionately believe they deserve ownership of that asset. Even though it’s not common, there are many ways for heated situations to form around the execution of an estate, and a qualified lawyer will protect and mediate this process.
You Want To Reduce Taxes Of What Will Be Left Behind
Planning your estate ahead of time, your beneficiaries can face far fewer taxes on the estate than if you did not pave the way for them. Both federal and state taxes can really take a heavy hit on your estate, which inevitably impacts your children and heirs. It’s important to understand that inherited 401(k)’s and investments are taxable, and you want your loved ones to get the most out of these assets.
You Want To Name The Guardian Of Your Children
While it is incredibly challenging to do so, if you are ever in a life-threatening state, such as a serious illness, and you have children who still need to be cared for and raised, you’ll want to be able to choose who their legal guardian will be. Should you pass away and your children do not have a legal guardian established, the court steps in to help decide who will raise your children. This is an especially important precaution to take if your children are still young.
