Estate planning is a crucial part of your financial plan. A will, trust, health care proxy, and financial power of attorney all work together to ensure not just your personal and economic well-being, but that of your loved ones, too. Maximizing your children’s inheritance by minimizing taxes and the impact of long-term care costs is not something to leave to chance which is why the first thing I tell clients is “don’t Google, just call me!”
Communication is Key to Effective Estate Planning
The best estate planner is someone you can talk to. When organizing your affairs not only do you articulate your financial aims and wishes, but you also consider delicate family issues that may interfere with the process. A good estate planning attorney will invest real care in looking out for your loved ones and will know which questions to ask to ensure you don’t make any costly oversights. Google, on the other hand, lacks this sort of compassionate insight.
Say, for instance, a child of yours depends on public benefits for their well-being. It makes sense that a central priority in your estate planning would be to ensure their continued financial security. Leaving them a generous inheritance, however, can go terribly wrong. If not allocated through a special needs trust or another strategic vehicle, the money you pass on could render your child ineligible for the benefits upon which they depend.
Complications involving blended families are another type of pitfall an experienced estate planning attorney can help you avoid. In such contexts, children may struggle with feelings about a new stepparent, division of assets may take on a new emotional charge. Furthermore, ensuring that everyone feels taken care of, considered, and compensated grows increasingly complex. In Georgia, for instance, a surviving spouse is entitled to a portion of the deceased’s estate that varies depending on the existence of other related heirs. If left unaddressed, this detail is apt to cause conflict in your absence. The advice of an attorney that has seen it all and can coach you through how other families have navigated (or failed to navigate) similar situations is instrumental in avoiding this outcome.
Beyond their ability to talk you through and anticipate the unseen complications of estate planning’s myriad intricacies, an experienced estate planning attorney is also the only authority that can assure you your documents reflect current legislation and will be received as valid by the court. This is vital information that no amount of Googling can provide.
For all of these reasons, clients concerned about protecting themselves and their loved ones and looking to execute a robust, reliable estate plan should skip searching around on the internet and just call me.
At the Estate Planning Law Group of Georgia, we prioritize client education at all steps of the estate planning process and would be thrilled to begin by answering all of your questions before working together to ensure you have a plan that meets all of your personal and financial needs.
Contact Attorney James M. Miskell
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