A lot of people try to do estate planning all on their own but it is important to understand that estate planning is more critical than many people see it to be. In New York especially, there are different laws affecting estate planning, probate and inheritance. Due to the legal complicatedness of it all, some do-it-yourselfers end up missing out on some salient points; they fail to consider those things worth considering and also fail to utilize the necessary tools available to them to maximize the amount they leave for their loved ones. The reason is simply because either they do not know how to achieve that, or they do not know there are provisions for such. To get the best out of estate planning, it is advisable to seek professional guidance from an estate planning attorney 11542, NY.
Top reasons why you need to hire an estate planning attorney
If you are still not sure how much an estate planning attorney can offer, here are top reasons to make up your mind.
Hiring a professional saves your time and money
There is a common misconception that estate planning is all about writing a will to bequeath assets to your heirs. While drafting a will is important for estate planning, that is not all there is to it. There is a plethora of considerations you need to make in determining how best to allocate your assets, protect them from the jaws of the court and state, and ensuring that the right persons get exactly just what you want them to get. Trying to learn all about this and the instruments you can use to accomplish them can waste your time; time better spent doing what you know how to do best.
Only an experienced estate planning attorney will know just what to do to ensure that the right instruments are used and mistakes are avoided — mistakes which may lead to family conflicts and lawsuits that can end up eating into the funds you wanted your loved ones to receive.
Ensure you consider and have coverage for every potential eventuality
The greatest mistake people make while estate planning is thinking they can do it perfectly themselves and save cost, not knowing that they are missing greatly on several provisions that the state laws have allowed for. There are different strategies that you may be ignorant of that a well-seasoned estate planning attorney will employ to give you the best of estate planning. For example, just writing a will when you have a complex and highly valuable estate will lead to a complex probate which can eat your estate funds and be problematic to your surviving family. But an estate planning attorney 11542 can help you avoid probate altogether. He can also help you minimize tax, grant you asset protection, prepare for incapacity in order to avoid a lengthy guardianship should you become incapacitated in the future.
Ensure that your wishes are carried out exactly as you want
Your attorney, due to his experience and legal know-how, knows the right terms to use in your documents to ensure that what you want is what the document says. When you do it alone, you may make mistakes which can lead to ambiguity or discrepancies, and your assets may end up ion the wrong place.
Also, having an attorney help you draft out your wishes in the various estate planning documents helps to speed things up in the long run especially when they are the one to execute your wishes later. When they are involved in the decision-making process, then when you pass away or you become incapacitated, your attorney already knows your wishes and would execute them just as they are in the document. This avoids confusion amongst your family members and puts them at ease.
Estate laws are complex
The estate laws of New York are complex and not readily understood by someone without a legal background. It would be a bad idea to carry out estate planning knowing that there are critical legal technicalities revolving round whatever decision you make; such technicalities may include tax implications, zoning, mode of ownership, several legal requirements, etc. Not all kinds of assets can even be distributed simply with a will or trust without having to go through some form of retitling. Being aware of these things, you are better off when you hire an estate planning attorney.
Estate planning attorney near me 11542
Our law firm based in New York offers esteemed estate planning services to New York residents. If you live around Glen Cove, NY 11542 and in need of an estate planning attorney near you, simply call us to schedule a consultation.