What is an Estate Planning Attorney?
13 Jun 2019 Legal Services
Understanding what an estate planning attorney is and what they can do for you will help you make an informed decision about whether or not hiring an estate planning attorney is in your best interests. At Linley Welwood, their team of highly trained and experienced lawyers are equipped to handle all kinds of wills, estates, and trusts.
What is Estate Planning?
Estate planning is the preparation of managing and disposing of a person’s assets in the event that they become incapacitated or deceased. The estate planning process covers important topics, such as which assets will be left to which heirs and how estate taxes will be settled. In most cases, estate plans are set up with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney.
What is an Estate Planning Attorney?
An estate planning attorney is a lawyer who has been specifically trained on how to advise clients on the best ways to prepare their affairs for the possibility of a mental disorder and the eventuality of death. While estate planning attorneys are most commonly hired to help draw up a last will and testament, lawyers specializing in this field can also draft living trusts, develop a plan for mitigating or avoiding estate taxes, and design a plan for keeping your life’s savings and assets safe from your beneficiaries’ creditors.
Do You Need an Estate Planning Attorney?
There are many reasons why you might want to hire an estate planning attorney, including preserving family wealth, providing for a spouse and children, funding someone’s education, or leaving your assets to a charitable cause. While the most basic step in preparing your estate for the possibility of becoming incapacitated or deceased is writing a will, experienced estate planning lawyers can also assist in other major estate planning tasks, such as:
- Setting up trust accounts in the name of beneficiaries to limit estate taxes
- Determining a guardian for living dependents
- Naming a will executor
- Creating and updating beneficiaries on life insurance plans and 401(k)s
- Preparing funeral arrangements
- Reducing the taxable estate by setting up annual gifts to qualified charitable and non-profit organizations
- Setting up a power of attorney to handle other assets and investments
If you would like to learn more about what an estate planning attorney is and how they can help you, or if you are interested in their legal services for wills, estates, and trusts, please contact Linley Welwood at 604-850-6640 or by filling out a contact form on their website.
