What Can an Estate Planning Lawyer Help You With?
Estate planning is an important part of life. It ensures your loved ones are cared for after your passing and will also make sure that your wishes are carried out, even when you are no longer here. Estate planning is essentially a final gift you can give to your friends and family. If you have even just a small amount of assets, you need to contact an estate planning lawyer, like one from Kaplan Law Practice, LLC, as soon as possible to set up a consultation. Your lawyer can look at the big picture of your life to determine what the best thing to get started will be.
You Can Create a Will
It is important to create a will so that when you pass away your belongings go to the proper people. If you are married, your items will likely go to your spouse. If you are unmarried, there will be a protocol depending on your state, where your children or parents will likely inherit your things. A will can be as detailed or as vague as you would like, but the more you put in there the more you will have control over where your belongings will go after you pass away.
You Can Determine an Executor
The executor of your estate will be important because he or she has the most control over decisions that are made without your input. Anything that is detailed in a will needs to be followed through with, but the executor will be the person to interpret the will if there are any questions.
You Can Set Up a Trust
Trusts can be a good route to leave money in because they will be exempt from going through the probate process. This means that they will not be taxed at a high rate. It is important to be able to figure out what the best way to leave your assets will be so that your family can get the most out of your estate. Your estate planning lawyer will be happy to go over all of the pros and cons of each avenue of doing so.
Contact a Lawyer Today
Reach out to an estate planning lawyer as soon as possible to get started in planning your estate. You can always edit it as time goes on, but it is important to have your wishes in place so that a lawyer can help facilitate things with your friends and family, should anything ever happen to you. A lawyer will know how to do this in the most practical way without having it feel emotional and upsetting.