Estate Planning Lawyer

People often wonder why they should talk to an estate planning lawyer and what the purpose of it all is. Why should I spend money to plan for what happens after I die? I’ll be dead then, so what do I care? While this is a valid point, most people are wanting certain things out of their estate planning. This article is meant to show the basic principles or reasons why we do estate planning and why you should contact an estate planning lawyer that is skilled in this type of work.

Our goals with estate planning are three-fold:

• Avoid Probate Court and ensure ease of use for our next of kin;
• Ensure that your assets go where you want them to go; and
• Protect you during life from incapacity.

Avoiding probate court is easy to explain. In Arizona, if you pass away with more than $75,000.00 in assets, or more than $100,000.00 in real property, then your estate must go through probate court when you pass, unless you perform some sort of estate planning. Probate court can take a minimum of 6 months, and can last 2 years, or possibly more if there is some sort of controversy. While in probate court, your heirs will be paying attorney fees that are usually between $4.000.00 and $10,000.00. However, you can avoid this entire expense by doing a little bit of proper estate planning. We you would like to read more about probate click here.

Further, proper estate planning ensures that your assets go where you want them to go. Arizona statutes lay out what happens without a valid will or living trust. If you don’t want the statute to control your estate, you can opt out by making sure that you have a will or trust that explains where you want assets to go to. This will also insulate your estate from any fraudulent claims from people claiming to be heirs.

Finally, a proper estate plan done by an estate planning lawyer is a full package that includes a trust or a will, and several other documents including Financial and Medical Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, Deeds, and other documents. These documents are effective during life only and expire at your death. They are in place to ensure that you have someone to make decisions for you should you end up incapacitated for any reason. These might take effect if you are in a car accident, or if you develop dementia related illness later in life. If you are unable to make your own decisions for any reason, these documents ensure that you have a backup decision maker in place so that you can receive the care that you need and so that your bills will continue to be paid.

All in all, the basic principles of estate planning are quite simple. Citadel Law Firm and our estate planning lawyers will be pleased to help. We want to avoid probate, ensure your assets go where you want them to go, and provide you protection from incapacity. Our estate planning attorneys are experienced with these basic principles and would be happy to speak with you. Click here to schedule a free consultation or call (480)565-8020 with one of our estate planning attorneys in Arizona at your convenience.

We can help you if you have a blended family and you need an estate planning attorney.