Estate Planning Attorney in Charlotte NC
Nobody wants to think about what might happen if they’re incapacitated or pass away. However, estate planning ensures that your wishes are carried out and that your spouse or children receive the benefits you want them to have. Here’s some information about what estate planning entails and why you should speak with an estate planning attorney before creating your will or living trust.
Why Do You Need Estate Planning Services?
The goal of estate planning is first to ensure that your resources will find their way into your loved ones’ hands after your death without having to endure a lengthy probate process. For that reason, estate planning includes everything from last will and testament to your power of attorney, and ensures other legal documents are up-to-date and easy to access when your family needs them.
Many people view estate planning as deciding what happens to their real estate and other assets after they die, but a comprehensive estate plan will also deal with situations that can arise while you’re still alive. For example, there might come a time when you need someone to make medical decisions on your behalf or you want someone to preserve your wealth on behalf of your family. An estate planning attorney can help you create contingency plans for the unexpected, including living wills, healthcare powers of attorney, and advance directives, which combine a living will with a medical power of attorney.
What Services are Included in Estate Planning?
Estate planning can include:
- Deciding who receives medical power of attorney if you’re incapacitated
- Creating your last will and testament
- Forming a trust and appointing someone to manage assets on behalf of your minor children
- Deciding who should care for your children if you die prematurely
- Selecting a beneficiary to receive your assets and life insurance death benefit
There are many ways you can protect your assets and ensure they’re delivered to the people you wish. As every person’s life circumstances are unique, you need to discuss your options with someone who understands the law. A qualified attorney can help you navigate which estate planning documents you need to create for your own situation.
Steps in the Estate Planning Process
Once you’ve decided to begin planning your estate, the process begins with appointing people to represent your interests and inherit your assets.
- You should appoint someone to hold a health care power of attorney so that they can act on your behalf if you’re injured or incapacitated.
- You should declare a financial power of attorney to control your assets in the event you’re no longer able to make decisions on your behalf.
- You should review all your assets, including life insurance policies, properties, investments and retirement accounts.
- You should decide on at least one beneficiary, or multiple beneficiaries if you wish to divide your assets among multiple relatives.
- You should create a last will and testament or living trust to determine what happens to your assets following your death.
Why Have an Attorney Do Your Estate Planning?
While it’s possible to create estate planning documents on your own, an estate planning attorney knows how to help you avoid many of the mistakes people make when creating a will on their own. If you don’t have an attorney review your estate plans and prepare these documents, it’s possible that your will can be contested in court.
Freedom Law | North Carolina serves clients in the Charlotte, North Carolina area who need legal representation in family law matters such as estate planning. Contact us today to learn how to protect your assets and ensure they arrive in the right hands after you pass away.