Why Should You Hire A Lawyer To Write Your Estate Plan?

How many Americans have bothered to create a final testament? Statistics about folks writing their Wills are interesting! A person needs to explain how they want to distribute their belongings in case they die. However, merely 46% of Americans have written Wills that describe how their assets should be divided among their inheritors. Why do people neglect to create this important document? One reason involves the estate planning process being complicated because of which laypeople often ignore writing testaments during their lifetime. However, we have nearly 70,000 estate planning attorneys available in the country. It can be beneficial to pen down your final wishes by employing the services of these lawyers when you're alive.

Ten benefits of hiring an estate planning attorney

In 2017, surveys showed that over 40% of Americans hadn't written any estate planning document. We observe that more people were interested in creating these documents in the past. Today, families are hesitant about leaving behind explicit instructions regarding the correct distribution of a relative's assets after their demise. With estate planning, your belongings are vulnerable to mishandling by people you don't trust! So, how can you distribute your valuables fairly among your loved ones? There are multiple manners of this distribution.

You can simply create Wills that instruct who inherits your belongings. But Wills pass through probate, so some people prefer establishing Trusts that give them more control and privacy over their belongings. A Trust may take many shapes according to your requirements. You can also donate some portion of your assets to an organization, e.g., leaving a charitable bequest to American Heart Association to help them prosper. All these arrangements can become much convenient only if you've hired a lawyer's services. Here's why.

1. Achieve your goals effectively

You can always create DIY estate planning documents, but they probably won't help you reach your financial objectives properly. These legal affairs involve complex verbiage and intricate procedures. So, it's always easier to delegate these complicated problems to an experienced and well-licensed attorney who handles estate planning matters for a living. Sometimes, errors in any estate planning document are caught after the creator's demise, thereby causing problems for the family. Lawyering up helps to avoid such situations.

2. A Will ain't enough

Some people are confused about estate planning documents that they consider solely to contain their Will. Instead, a Will merely constitutes one document among several that collectively become part of your "estate plan." So, creating your Will successfully means that you've made one – albeit one of the most important – document among many others. So, don't get confused by folks using the terms "Will" and "estate plan" interchangeably. And you can remove this confusion by hiring an attorney.

3. Avoid common mistakes

Some people tend to make mistakes that ruin their legacy and force their families to remain in severe distress. These mistakes include not drafting estate planning documents properly, putting inadequate information in the papers, forgetting to insert certain assets/people, or neglecting to update these papers. Hiring an attorney ensures that you don't make these mistakes and – most importantly – attain well-timed professional assistance if you've made one of these mistakes.

4. It makes probate more convenient

A Will mostly passes through an intricate process called probate, after which your inheritors receive the valuables assigned to them. This procedure isn't just expensive and time-consuming; it may even take years before your assets are passed down to your beneficiaries. So, it's essential to have an attorney's experience supporting your descendants after your death. Lawyers can help your heirs endure probate, handle delicate legal issues, and eventually gain control of the assets they deserve.

5. Clarifies estate planning laws

You must follow specific regulations while executing estate planning documents. These laws determine the provisions people can add to their final testaments while defining who can become a witness to these documents properly. So, estate planning attorneys are well-versed in these laws. They have years' worth of experience in establishing these documents for their clients. You can leverage these lawyers' expertise to ascertain that these legal matters are resolved without emotional strain.

6. Get objective suggestions

Lawyers don't merely offer their expertise or experience but their objective perspective as well. So, they suggest methods to distribute your belongings effectively without listening to emotions. Must you leave everything to just one child? Is it prudent to appoint a newcomer as the only owner of your family business? It's an estate planning attorney's job to give clients blatant and unbiased advice to help them make the right decision. So, a lawyer lets you see things from a rational perspective.

7. It's a cost-effective solution

Some adults consider attorneys expensive, especially for estate planning. Creating estate planning documents on your own has many risks, including these papers being rejected by a court. Even grammatical mistakes and misspelled words may lead to these documents becoming useless after your death. So, it's better to remain vigilant while you're alive and hire attorneys to remove financial obstacles for your family.

8. Updating already-written papers

Similarly, creating your estate planning documents isn't enough when you haven't revisited them in your life again. That's why we recommend hiring estate planning attorneys who can review papers you've created and update them according to your preferences. Maybe your financial condition has changed, or you wish to add/remove particular beneficiaries. So, a lawyer can study these documents to determine if they require any changes and rectify any mistakes that could've nullified them.

9. Reducing taxation liabilities

There are certain tax-related liabilities that you can avoid by employing the services of an expert estate planning attorney. Your estate becomes the target of several federal state taxes based on your debt and the expenses incurred while settling it. An attorney can help you make sure that you're paying the taxes that you owe the government. They can reduce these liabilities too by using their expertise (and sometimes connections). Thus, get yourself an experienced attorney.

10. Helping relatives with special needs

If you have relatives who require special assistance, hiring an attorney will ensure that your relatives continue receiving the medical/financial facilities they deserve. These lawyers can show you how to establish a Trust that enables incapacitated individuals to receive benefits from the government and their rightful share from the inheritance simultaneously. You can find many estate planning lawyers well-versed in special needs Trusts to help your relatives. That's why we suggest getting legal help!

Conclusion

In the United States, estate planning constitutes a $180 billion industry today. It enables people to ensure that their belongings are distributed according to their preferences. Unfortunately, merely 16% of adults aged 18-34 had created estate planning documents in 2020. So, what should you do when you're facing difficulties while writing a Will? It's suggested that you employ lawyers' services to ascertain that your assets are divided fairly after your death. It's a cost-effective solution to your legal issues. Moreover, these attorneys can help establish an estate planning strategy fitting your needs. So, it helps people ensure that their estate planning documents corroborate their requirements efficiently.