Estate Planning Law Firm – Helping to Protect Your Estate from Unexpected Claims
An estate planning law firm can help you assess and plan your estate, so that more of your assets go to your family, friends or charities and less of it goes to creditors and the government. They may be able to help you every step of the way, from calculating your assets to creating the best possible estate plan.
One part of estate planning that can be uncomfortable is talking about personal aspects of your life for your estate planning attorney, but it is necessary. For instance,
- you may have gone through a divorce
- you may have children from separate marriages
- you may have children born out of wedlock you want to provide for but those in your current life don’t know about them
- you may have children who have an intellectual disability, mental health issues or addictions you need to provide for but not give them total control of the assets
- you may have serious credit problems that you never took care of
Although these situations are not uncommon issues brought to estate planning law firms, some people are sensitive about discussing their past situations with a stranger, even if it is an attorney who is required to keep everything you tell them totally confidential and is understanding of personal issues.
Additionally, there can be many people from your past that may pop up after your death, in anticipation of claiming a portion of your estate. This can include ex-spouses, grown children that haven’t spoken to the deceased in years, other estranged family member, or even a long lost friend who feels that he or she may be likely to get a piece of your estate.
Therefore, people and situations from your past are an important piece of the puzzle that an estate planning law firm will need in order to anticipate any future claims quickly and avoid:
- Being unable to fulfill his client’s last wishes as discussed during the estate planning process;
- An unpleasant trip to probate court, which can disrupt the movement of your assets to those you have left them to. Not to mention often a substantial fee to a probate attorney as well as court costs.
As you can see, fully disclosing most of the information about your life and the people who have come and gone is an important issue to address with your estate planning attorney. In this way, the estate planning law firm can create trusts and properly plan your estate in order to protect it from unexpected claims being made against it. A properly planned estate can also minimize the estate taxes that will have to be paid.
Find out how our estate planning law firm can help you today.
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