After years of toiling, you will almost certainly want your hard-earned money and assets to go into the hands of your loved ones upon your passing. Unfortunately, many people make the mistake of not securing their financial lineage, which often ends up causing confusion, hurt feelings, financial hardships, lawsuits and loss of estate value at the time of settlements. However, this can be avoided — particularly if you are prudent and predictive. There is no reason to be anything less than fully prepared when it comes to passing on the fruits of your life’s hard work and hiring a good estate planning attorney is a key factor.
What is estate planning?
Quite simply, this is the process for laying out the distribution of your assets upon your passing. Estate planning documents include trusts, wills or other records that lay out stipulations of what will happen after you die. You will also want to draw up a living will which communicates your declarations regarding your wishes if you become physically or mentally incapacitated. These are life-altering decisions and you need an experienced lawyer at your side to walk you through the process. Estate planning gives you the peace of mind to know that your death won’t leave your loved ones in a financial crisis.
How can an estate planning attorney help?
Here is a sampling of the important ways an estate planning attorney can assist you now and in retirement and help your family and loved ones after your passing:
- Secure and grow your assets.
- Provide guidance about retirement planning.
- Comply with all tax laws and concerns, while doing what is best for you and your estate.
- Draw up your will detailing the precise disbursement of your full assets.
- Prepare your living will and healthcare power of attorney documents to ensure that your wishes are clear should you become ill or incapacitated.
- Collect the death benefits from your life insurance policies.
- Disperse all of your assets in the event of your passing according to your fully documented wishes.
- Manage your accounts and prepare for any estate or gift taxes that will be due.
As you can imagine, these are complex and critical legal matters that need to be handled by an experienced estate planning attorney. Jonathan Meek at Meek Law Firm has the education and experience to guide you through the process, just as he has done for many other satisfied clients.
Contact Meek Law Firm today to discuss your estate planning options. Call (704) 848-6335 or use the contact form on the right of this page to schedule a consultation appointment. We look forward to hearing from you.