Contrary to what some believe, Howell estate planning attorneys aren’t here just for the wealthiest members of our community. In fact, after years of experience we come to see how nearly every person in Howell can benefit from putting together an estate plan, including a will. While you may not feel that you have a lot of assets to protect or believe that your family knows your wishes and will follow them, here are some points to ponder in determining if perhaps you really should hire a Howell estate planning attorney after all.
Make Your Estate More Valuable
The idea of making an estate more valuable should actually be pretty important to those who don’t consider themselves to be “wealthy.” With the help of a good estate planning lawyer, you can work toward a more comfortable future, as well as to maximize the assets that you do have. With a retirement plan, life insurance, and other planning tools, things can start to look a lot different than you expected. Not only that, but you’ll also be able to leave an inheritance behind for your loved ones.
Protect Your Privacy (and Your Family’s)
When working with an estate planning attorney in Howell, you will want to look at the possibility of setting up some sort of trust. Again, these types of legal tools are NOT just for the rich or well-to-do. There are many, many advantages to having a trust, but one of those that resonates with a lot of folks in Howell is the fact that assets placed into a trust do not necessarily have to go through the very public probate process. This affords way more privacy regarding your estate, what you’ve left behind, and other details that you’d prefer to keep private.
Name Guardians for Your Children
No matter how much money you’ve got in the bank or elsewhere, if you have minor children, there is no question that you need to hire an estate planning attorney to draw up guardianship and other important documents. If you become incapacitated or pass away without these incredibly important papers legally filed, then you are basically giving the court system carte blanch to determine what happens to your children. They make these decisions based on certain legal precedents, and there is a dangerously high chance that the guardian chosen for your children under 18 will NOT be the person you would have chosen. This should be enough to send pretty much every parent in Howell running to a good estate planning attorney!
Do It While You Can
It’s not uncommon for <insert city> residents to want to put off estate planning until they absolutely have to think about it. The problem that they and their estate planning attorney run into, however, is that you can wait too long. When putting together a will or other estate planning documents, the court needs to be satisfied that you are of sound mind and body. If you’ve recently found out you’re gravely ill or are losing cognitive function, an estate plan can be rendered invalid on those grounds.
The bottom line is that nearly everyone in Howell would end up in a better position by working with an estate planning attorney. From professional retirement planning to naming guardians to protecting your own privacy and more, if you haven’t yet started the process, now is the time!
The post Do You Need an Estate Planning Attorney in Howell? appeared first on The Elder Care Firm.
The post Do You Need an Estate Planning Attorney in Howell? first appeared on SEONewsWire.net.]]>Estate planning lawyers in Michigan use all kinds of strategies to help protect their clients’ assets and to find ways to provide for future generations. Sometimes this is about planning for your own retirement, and other times it might include purchasing a life insurance plan, or some other proactive means of preparation. Brighton wills and trusts lawyers are responsible for helping to utilize wills and trusts to allow heirs to benefit from an estate as much as possible.
The Benefits of Living Trusts
Trusts are a great tool for protecting an estate because they provide tax benefits, privacy, and the ability to minimize drawn-out and potentially expensive probate proceedings. A wills and trusts lawyer can help you create the trust, which actually becomes its own legal entity that “owns” any assets you transfer to it. There are many trust options available, so it’s best to really go through the options with a wills and trust lawyer in Brighton, Michigan in order to determine what makes the most sense for you and your family.
Use a Will to Name Guardians
A will, on the other hand, can provide different types of protection. This is the place where you will want to name guardians for minor children or those with disabilities and to express your wishes for what should happen to your property after you pass away. Even if you have a will, your estate will still need to go through the probate process, which usually starts by establishing that the will itself is valid. The best way to move forward will be to work with a wills and trusts lawyer to develop both a will and one or more trusts. In fact, the will itself can even be used to establish a trust upon your death. Yes, that is a lot of choices, but a Brighton wills and trusts lawyer will be able to simplify the entire process for you and offer expert advice on strategizing for the future.
Brighton wills and trusts lawyer
As an aside, wills and trusts are not the only important things you will want to discuss with your Michigan estate planning lawyer. Your estate plan should also include documents such as powers of attorney, medical directives to ensure that your choices for helpers are known should you become incapacitate or disabled. Again, a good Brighton wills and trusts lawyer is a great resource for getting things underway.
The post A Primer from Your Brighton Wills and Trust Lawyer appeared first on The Elder Care Firm.
The post A Primer from Your Brighton Wills and Trust Lawyer first appeared on SEONewsWire.net.]]>Estate planning lawyers in Michigan use all kinds of strategies to help protect their clients’ assets and to find ways to provide for future generations. Sometimes this is about planning for your own retirement, and other times it might include purchasing a life insurance plan, or some other proactive means of preparation. Brighton wills and trusts lawyers are responsible for helping to utilize wills and trusts to allow heirs to benefit from an estate as much as possible.
The Benefits of Living Trusts
Trusts are a great tool for protecting an estate because they provide tax benefits, privacy, and the ability to minimize drawn-out and potentially expensive probate proceedings. A wills and trusts lawyer can help you create the trust, which actually becomes its own legal entity that “owns” any assets you transfer to it. There are many trust options available, so it’s best to really go through the options with a wills and trust lawyer in Brighton, Michigan in order to determine what makes the most sense for you and your family.
Use a Will to Name Guardians
A will, on the other hand, can provide different types of protection. This is the place where you will want to name guardians for minor children or those with disabilities and to express your wishes for what should happen to your property after you pass away. Even if you have a will, your estate will still need to go through the probate process, which usually starts by establishing that the will itself is valid. The best way to move forward will be to work with a wills and trusts lawyer to develop both a will and one or more trusts. In fact, the will itself can even be used to establish a trust upon your death. Yes, that is a lot of choices, but a Brighton wills and trusts lawyer will be able to simplify the entire process for you and offer expert advice on strategizing for the future.
Brighton wills and trusts lawyer
As an aside, wills and trusts are not the only important things you will want to discuss with your Michigan estate planning lawyer. Your estate plan should also include documents such as powers of attorney, medical directives to ensure that your choices for helpers are known should you become incapacitate or disabled. Again, a good Brighton wills and trusts lawyer is a great resource for getting things underway.
The post A Primer from Your Brighton Wills and Trust Lawyer appeared first on The Elder Care Firm.
The post A Primer from Your Brighton Wills and Trust Lawyer first appeared on SEONewsWire.net.]]>