How to Choose an Estate Attorney
Selecting an estate planning attorney is an important task, but how do you go about it? The best ones usually don't advertise in the Yellow Pages and finding one online is not much easier.
The first question is, what exactly are you looking for? Some attorneys specialize in wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and durable powers of attorney, for people without taxable estates, some prefer the high-net worth crowd, and some are best for settling an estate after the individual has died.
There are different skills involved in each one.
Basic Wills.
The lay public always thinks they only need a "simple will".
Therefore, it should only cost $100, right? Well, if you wish to hire a live, flesh-and-blood attorney, you need to expect to pay more than that if you want a good job done.
Otherwise, you should just purchase an online will or a computer program to do your will.
(See my article "I Don't Have a Wil--Do I Really Need One?") While it is true that virtually all attorneys these days use computerized forms as a starting point, don't forget that what you are really paying for is the judgment and experience of an attorney to spot issues you didn't know about and to make sure the document addresses them.
Very, very few people really have what I'd call a "plain vanilla" situation; there's always something: a second marriage where he wants to be sure his kids won't get left out if he leaves everything to his wife; a child with a disability; a trouble making child involved in drugs or alcohol; a special gift to be made to a charity or educational institution; contingent gifts to various relatives, etc.
Tax-Planning Wills.
Attorneys who can prepare tax-planning wills (i.
e.
, where your estate exceeds $2 million) must not only be familiar with all the will drafting skills of the attorneys who do basic wills, but must also have a very strong tax background.
They must be intimately familiar with estate tax, gift tax, generation-skipping tax, income tax, plus real estate law and the partnership and LLC rules, as well.
Since trusts would almost always be involved in a plan of this type, they must be trust drafting and administration
The first question is, what exactly are you looking for? Some attorneys specialize in wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and durable powers of attorney, for people without taxable estates, some prefer the high-net worth crowd, and some are best for settling an estate after the individual has died.
There are different skills involved in each one.
Basic Wills.
The lay public always thinks they only need a "simple will".
Therefore, it should only cost $100, right? Well, if you wish to hire a live, flesh-and-blood attorney, you need to expect to pay more than that if you want a good job done.
Otherwise, you should just purchase an online will or a computer program to do your will.
(See my article "I Don't Have a Wil--Do I Really Need One?") While it is true that virtually all attorneys these days use computerized forms as a starting point, don't forget that what you are really paying for is the judgment and experience of an attorney to spot issues you didn't know about and to make sure the document addresses them.
Very, very few people really have what I'd call a "plain vanilla" situation; there's always something: a second marriage where he wants to be sure his kids won't get left out if he leaves everything to his wife; a child with a disability; a trouble making child involved in drugs or alcohol; a special gift to be made to a charity or educational institution; contingent gifts to various relatives, etc.
Tax-Planning Wills.
Attorneys who can prepare tax-planning wills (i.
e.
, where your estate exceeds $2 million) must not only be familiar with all the will drafting skills of the attorneys who do basic wills, but must also have a very strong tax background.
They must be intimately familiar with estate tax, gift tax, generation-skipping tax, income tax, plus real estate law and the partnership and LLC rules, as well.
Since trusts would almost always be involved in a plan of this type, they must be trust drafting and administration
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