When to Hire an Estate Planner

When to Hire an Estate Planner

One of the biggest stresses that a head of a family often has is distributing his or her assets upon death through an estate plan.

If you have several children, you can expect a sibling rivalry against who takes the lion’s share.

It’s at this stage that you might consider hiring an estate planner. An estate planning lawyer can help you divide your assets as you wish. This ensures there aren’t any issues later on.

But when is the right time to hire an estate planning attorney?

Here’s what you need to know: 

Why Consider an Estate Planner

An estate planner will understand the local laws of your jurisdiction and can ensure that your estate plan complies with said laws.

They will also help legally avoid and reduce any potential tax burdens that your heirs might have to fulfill. They’ll prepare a legal estate plan that outlines how assets should get distributed.

You can contact smartestateplans.com to help you find the perfect estate planner for your needs. 

Do You Even Need an Estate Plan?

Now let’s consider if you need to hire an estate planner at all. In most cases, you can create your estate plan by yourself.

However, this often causes problems. You’ll have to consider the following if you create an estate plan on your own:

  • Do you know the local laws?
  • Can you write the legal text that won’t leave room for ambiguity?
  • Do you keep track of all your assets?
  • Do you understand the potential tax implications?

In most cases, the answer to all these questions is no. Estate planning is more complex than it seems. As a result, it’s always better to consider hiring an estate planner for your business. 

When’s the Time?

Now let’s look into when you should consider hiring an estate planner. The best time to hire an estate planner is always as soon as possible.

Often, many patriarchs or matriarchs will wait till they reach old age to sort out their estate planning. But at such an age, you might have forgotten all your assets.

Your small library of books are assets. That fountain pen you keep in your desk drawer is also an asset. These simple assets can also get fought over in an estate dispute.

If you’re not careful, such assets can get taken away from your estate and given to the state altogether!

Your estate plan can get edited as time goes on. You want to speak to an estate planner as soon as possible to get started on the process. 

What You Should Know About Estate Planning

Before you hire your estate planner you should understand the fundamentals of how the process works. This helps you during consultation sessions with your estate planner.

First, you need to be specific with your language on how to distribute your assets. You’ll have to specify whether each asset goes directly to a beneficiary or to a mediator first.

If you have minor children, then you’ll have to pass on your assets to a guardian. The guardian will hold onto the assets until the children become adults.

You’ll have to write text that ensures that said guardian doesn’t try to sell off or give away these assets.

You also have to discuss the rate of distribution of each of your assets. For example, let’s suppose you run a business and have 2 heirs. In many cases, you might want to split the shares 50-50.

In most cases, this is also assumed even if it’s not explicitly written in your estate plan. You might have one heir with more business experience and you might wish for them to own a larger share of the company.

Likewise, what happens if your heirs live in different jurisdictions? Each of them might have different tax obligations when they inherit your business. You might want to consider this when you decide how to divide their shares.

These are just a few things you should keep in mind as you’re preparing your estate plan. 

Best Practices

Let’s wrap up by looking at a few best practices to ensure you have the best estate planning experience.

The first is to work with your estate planner to create a list of your assets. This should exist in physical and digital form. You can use a spreadsheet program to organize this list.

Make sure you always include the date of the last edit. You want to also note any major changes made to the list. You want to revisit your estate plan at least once per year.

This is especially crucial if you have any major life changes. For example, let’s say you have another child. You’ll want to add this child to your estate plan. This can get easily overlooked and your youngest child won’t have access to any of your assets upon your death.

Another factor to consider are your own tax liabilities. As discussed, there are various tax obligations depending on your jurisdiction. While these are often thrust upon your heirs they can also get placed upon your estate.

For example, your estate might have to pay an inheritance tax on the cash you leave your heirs. This means that you won’t give your heirs the exact cash amount you want to.

However, there are ways to reduce this tax burden or even eliminate them in certain cases. Make sure you speak to your estate planner on how to reduce this.

You’ll also have to pay off debts before you die as these can, in some cases, move onto your heirs. 

Hire Your Estate Planner

Now you know the benefits of an estate planner and when’s the right time to hire one for your needs.

They’ll help you write the perfect estate plan for your needs. You won’t have to worry about not complying with local laws or about potential disputes upon your death.

Make sure you also do your research so you can have a successful consulting session with your estate planner. You also want to follow our best practices to draft the best estate plan.

You can find more business and lifestyle tips on our blog.

Article Submitted By Community Writer

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