If you think estate planning is something you can do yourself, you may want to think again. The estate tax relief legislation of December 2010 raised the value of property an individual could leave estate tax free to $5 million adjusted for inflation each year. Another crucial change involved lowering the top federal tax rate to 40 percent.
As a result, an increasing number of people want to avoid paying the services of an attorney for this type of right. What they don’t realize is that estate planning is a complex business. All it takes is a single missing signature or wrong word to alter the entire contents of a will or trust. Read on to discover three compelling reasons why you need to hire an estate planning attorney.
Specific State Laws
Each state has its own laws when it comes to determining who can and cannot be in a trust, will, medical power of attorney, or financial power of attorney. There are also differences between the formalities that must be observed when signing an estate planning document. What is required in Arizona may not be required in Florida and vice versa.
For example, some states require that a personal representative be related by marriage or blood, or must be a resident of the state. Failure to meet the above criteria means that the person will not be able to act as a personal representative.
warning emptor
This is an old Latin saying that means “buyer beware.” The evolution of the Internet has led to a plethora of legal documents readily available online. This can make legal representation seem unnecessary. The problem is that you can fill out your online forms quite happily, only to find that some or all of your trust, will, financial power of attorney, or medical power of attorney is invalid or not working as expected. If this happens, your family may have to pay thousands of dollars to correct the mistake, and you’ll end up hiring an estate planning attorney anyway.
Complexity
As we mentioned earlier, estate planning is a complex business, and if you own a business, are in your second marriage, have no children or children who are still minors, want to leave money for charity, or have real estate in another state, you will need the advice of an estate planning attorney. In fact, there are dozens of other situations not described above where things can quickly get messy.
Regardless of how much research you’ve done, you likely lack legal experience, and this could get expensive. If you’re not willing to pay for an estate planning attorney in an attempt to save money, his family is likely to spend 3-5 times as much money on the back end. To make things easier for your loved ones and ease any stress you may be feeling, contact a trusted real estate attorney today.
