Estate Planning

How to Choose the Best Estate Planning Attorney: A Guide

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How to Choose the Best Estate Planning Attorney- A Guide | Citadel Law Firm

How to Choose the Best Estate Planning Attorney: A Guide

Choosing the best estate planning attorney for you can be difficult if you don't know what to look for.

There are very few things as valuable as making sure that your life's work is properly taken care of after you die. Maybe that is why the market for estate lawyers and attorneys is a disputed one! On top of that, there are more than 200,000 businesses in the United States alone that offer estate planning services. Finding the best estate planning attorney for your needs can be challenging though.

Of course, not all estate planning attorneys are created equal. There is often a wide gap between the best estate planning attorney, the average estate planning attorney, and the worst estate planning attorney. And there is also the right estate planning for you family and your needs.

Considering the disproportionate impact of estate planning on the future of your legacy, it is essential to work with the best estate planning attorney possible. But how can you tell which estate planning attorney might be the right choice for you? Please keep reading to learn all about the most important ways to figure out which estate planning attorney might be the best choice for you!

Make the Most of Estate Planning Attorney Referrals

You probably already know some people who have experience working with a variety of attorneys. These could be friends, family, or acquaintances.

This might also include professionals you have worked with. Those might include CPAs, financial advisors, or other lawyers that you have worked with in the past.

When it comes to the referrals of friends and family, you know that they have your best interest at heart. They may be able to provide effective recommendations.

When it comes to the recommendations of professionals, you know that they want to protect their reputation. That means that they may also provide you with great referrals.

At the same time, you have to keep in mind only the willingness to help, but the ability to do so properly. Professional recommendations might be better in terms of understanding the real difference between a good and a bad estate planning attorney.

On the other hand, if somebody you personally know has personal experience with an attorney, they may be able to provide you with an inside look at how a specific attorney manages their business.

Although referrals are important you should also take other factors into consideration.

Check Out Estate Planning Lawyer Ratings and Reviews

You can often find reviews for estate planning attorneys on Google. You may also be able to find some ratings and reviews on in other places. If you approach these reviews and ratings the right way, they can help a lot.

After all, in most cases, these ratings and reviews are the opinions of past clients of these estate planning attorneys. As a future past client yourself, these ratings and reviews can tell you how likely you are to be satisfied with the service you will receive.

When you have a lot of attorneys to choose from, it can help to limit yourself to just the attorneys with the highest overall ratings. On top of that, sorting by rating can be very quick and efficient.

However, it is also important to read the content written down in the reviews. After all, if you don't, you won't know why an attorney has a higher rating.

Could this really make a big difference? Imagine an attorney who also does pro bono work on the side. They might have incredibly high ratings from all of their grateful pro bono clients.

But those ratings might be largely the result of gratitude rather than because this lawyer provides unusually good estate planning services.

These are the kinds of details that can inform your decision when you are reading ratings and reviews.

Our estate planning attorney David Gerszewski was elected one of the best Estate Planning attorneys in the Southwest, you can work with him.

Avoid the Wrong Estate Planning Directories

You can find online directories and referral services that will theoretically show you great lawyers. However, these sites are not always reliable.

In particular, if a site is not verified by a third party, you should ignore it.

Sites that aren't verified often only list lawyers who pay to have their names on them. That is not the same thing as a list of lawyers who are actually skilled and reliable.

Study Prospective Estate Planning Attorneys a Little

When you have a few lawyers that you are considering, learn about them. Spend a little time reading their biographies. You can also Google their names to find other information about them.

In most cases, you won't find anything that interesting. However, you may find a few things that make you decide not to further consider a specific attorney.

Keep Your Options for Estate Planning Lawyers Open

The world is moving online more all the time. If you pick the best lawyer in your city, they might do a good job. But the best lawyer in the whole country will probably do an even better job. Most estate planning laws are subject to state regulation, that does limit which lawyers you can choose from.

Having a nearby lawyer can be convenient. But it is not necessarily essential. Keep in mind the possibility of hiring an estate lawyer who is farther away from you if that estate lawyer is the right one for your family.

Get a Personal Sense of Each Estate Planning Lawyer

Before you hire a lawyer, have a conversation with them. Most estate planning lawyers offer a free consultation. A consultation in person is always preferable. It is important that you have a lawyer with whom you will feel comfortable working. An estate lawyer will usually take care of you and/or your family in one of the most difficult moments of your life.

Understand How to Find the Right Estate Planning Attorney

We hope that some of the ideas in this short article on the best ways to choose between possible estate planning attorneys have been helpful for you. Many people try to rush finding the right estate planning attorney. However, the extra time that you take to study the landscape of opportunities available to you will result in finding an estate planning attorney of superior quality.

When it comes to estate planning, you don't want to cut corners. Citadel Law Firm is specialized in Estate Planning. Our estate planning attorneys will be pleased to offer you a free consultation for you to understand if we are the right law firm for you. Call (480)565-8020 or click here to schedule your free in-person estate planning consultation.