When one is planning their estate they have to consider what will happen to their personal property when they die. The law usually provides a way of which unclaimed property can be disposed by this should not be relied upon as it involves lengthy court process and tax consequences of the heirs to that property. Since the area of wills and trust is very sensitive when it comes to disposing one’s property and assets, hiring an estate planning attorney might be a good idea even if one does not have a big estate. The first step in choosing an attorney is by first deciding whether one needs and attorney or not. If one owns small property that might not bring any problems in the future, one can do the wills and trusts by themselves. If one owns a business, real estate or have some investments accounts, one might need the services of legal assistant. When one decides to consult the services of an estate attorney, they might need to prepare necessary documentations and information about the various properties that they own, and think about the worth of one’s property and who would likely inherit them when one dies. The other step is to consider some of the recommendations made by friends and family as they are a good place to start your search because they personally know you and what you really like. It is advisable to only consider the recommendations of people who have once interacted with an estate planning attorney as they are the ones who know what it is like to look for an estate planning attorney.
One should also be very cautious of the possibility ulterior moves from the relatives especially if one has a big estate and they stand to gain some of their inheritance. Visiting the state or one’s local bar association’s website can be the best move when one has not found any worthy recommendation from their relatives. The bar associations have connections with attorney and they can make a good referral and enables one to meet with their potential estate planning attorney. Researching for estate attorneys who are board certified is very important and one can find this information on the websites of the bar association. This is because by checking the certification, one will have confirmed the attorney’s experience because the state can’t give attorneys certificates without them having a certain number of years in experience. Having a preliminary phone consultation with the shortlisted estate planning attorney should then take place.
During the phone consultation, one can obtain information that was not clear when one was doing their research. One should then look forward to make an appointment in person and they should do this with at least three other real estate attorneys before deciding on one. Lastly the necessary documents and information should be gathered by the client seeking the services of the attorney. One can ask the attorney questions about their practise during the interview that they have in order to know the person that they are seeking their services from.
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