Without the best estate planning attorneys, you risk:
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Are you looking for an estate planning attorney?
Or maybe you’re wondering if you even need an estate planning attorney.
Either way, we’re going to cover:
Let’s dig in.
What is estate planning?
Estate planning determines who receives your assets when you die.
It also determines who handles managing the distribution of your estate.
Proper estate planning ensures your family receives your estate with minimized:
taxed
Estate planning attorneys will also help you with estate planning tasks like:
Who needs estate planning?
Literally, everyone needs estate planning.
Some common reasons a person would need an estate plan are:
Estate planning is important because estate plans protect:
Good estate planning attorneys protect your family from government involvement in your estate.
They also increase the amount of money that you’re able to pass down by reducing taxes.
Related: Penalty For Stealing From An Estate
You’re probably wondering what estate planning documents you need?
Most people only think about a last will and testament for their estate plans.
A will is the most common estate planning document that you need.
But a will may not be ALL that you need to make sure your estate goes to the right persons.
And without the government getting involved in your estate’s distribution.
Here are the estate planning documents you need that your estate planning attorneys will give you.
Related: What Happens If No Probate Is Filed?
A will is a written document that lists how you’d like your belongings distributed after you’re gone.
If you want your nephew to have your coin collection, you can put that in your will.
With a trust, you can put your assets into a living trust for your benefit while you’re still living.
Upon your death, your belongings go to the person you name in the trust.
When you do this, you will not need your estate to pass through probate court.
Related: Disadvantages Of A Trust
A durable power of attorney is handy if you become incapacitated and can’t make decisions for yourself.
A durable power of attorney can appoint someone to make decisions for you.
A healthcare power of attorney is commonly referred to as an advanced care directive.
A healthcare power of attorney gives someone else the authority to make decisions about your healthcare due to your incapacity.
Your estate planning attorneys will set this up for you.
They will make sure that your healthcare directive follows your direction.
This keeps doctors from making medical decisions for you.
For example, you may have religious beliefs that the doctors will not follow unless a healthcare power of attorney is in place.
Some assets can bypass a will or trust altogether if you designate a beneficiary.
These include assets like life insurance and 401k plans.
Otherwise, the court may decide who inherits all those funds.
So, how much does estate planning cost?
Estate planning attorneys’ estate planning costs fall into two categories:
Estate planning attorneys will charge flat fees for simple estate planning services.
Your estate planning attorneys will be able to assess whether your estate plan fits into a flat fee structure.
They will look at your financial status, family situation, and any special considerations and know what planning tools you will need.
For the average person, estate planning attorneys will charge a flat fee for the estate plan.
A flat fee estate plan includes the most common estate planning documents like:
The only reason that an estate planning attorney would charge you by the hour is if you have a complex estate.
Estate planning attorneys will charge you by the hour if your estate planning requires:
Sometimes your estate planning attorney cannot reasonably predict how much effort your estate planning will require.
In this case, they will charge you by the hour for the estate planning.
When your estate planning attorney charges by the hour, they will ask you to pay a retainer fee.
If they don’t work as long as they thought they would, they will refund you a portion of your retainer fee.
Next, let’s talk about what happens if you die without a will.
Related: How To File A Will
When it comes to what happens if you die without a will, there are three categories to look at:
When you die without a will, your estate gets split up per intestacy laws.
This means that the courts will determine who gets what, regardless of what you wanted to happen.
This requires your estate to go through probate court.
The probate courts will pick someone to be the executor of the estate.
This can be a spouse, child, or even a third party person.
Let’s look at the intestacy laws.
If you have a spouse and children, they will split your assets 50/50.
Your spouse would get 50% and your children would split the remaining 50%.
If you’re like my grandma, then you’d like your spouse to keep 100% so they don’t run out of money.
You’d need an estate plan to make this happen.
When you die without a will, the courts decide what to do with your children.
The judge will determine who gets guardianship based on the best interests of the child.
But, most likely, the judge won’t give guardianship to the person of your choice.
And if the judge feels like there are no good options, your child could end up in the foster care system.
An estate planning attorney will make sure your family pays the least amount of taxes on your estate.
Under Federal law, your estate is taxed by 40 percent if it’s worth over $11.58 million.
Anything under that amount is generally exempt from federal taxes.
State taxes are an entirely different story.
Especially if you pass away before writing a will.
You want to make sure that your family is set up.
You don’t want your kids going into the foster system if something happens to you.
You don’t want the state to decide how to distribute your estate.
You don’t want your heirs to lose half of their inheritance to unnecessary taxes.
You don’t want family members who are disowned to get your assets.
You don’t want your estate to get stuck in probate for 12+ months.
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