Estate planning can help you or your beneficiaries manage and protect the assets from potential creditors and reduce the tax burden. Litigation increases rapidly after an economic downturn, with governments and individuals seeking to recoup the benefits they unfairly gained during the crisis and those seeking to recoup some of their losses brought by individuals.
In Arizona, estate planning is not a one-size-fits-all procedure. The best way to prepare your estate is to speak with an experienced estate planning lawyer who can help you create a plan tailored to your needs and goals.
Following are a couple of ways an estate planning lawyer will help protect your assets in case of unforeseen issues.
Financial Strategies To Evade Estate Taxes
To reduce their tax burden, many clients turn to attorneys who practice estate law for assistance. An estate lawyer can help you transfer assets clearly without paying taxes or subjecting your assets to increased taxes. Although estate rules can change quickly, an estate planning lawyer will be up to date on the most recent financial news and familiar with all financial tools necessary to help their clients with taxation issues.
Tell Family Members About the Assets
One of the issues that property or other asset owners face is who gets what after their death. This can lead to litigation against the estate of the surviving members. To avoid this unpleasant scenario, an asset owner must get help from an estate planning attorney. They will not only evaluate the assets but also help in their transfer in case of the death of the original owner. An estate planning lawyer will act as a will executioner and let the surviving family members know about the assets and all the relevant details to help smooth the transfer after the death.
Hiring an estate planning attorney can help loved ones to get their assets without any hindrance. They prepare all the legal documents according to the wishes of the owner and regularly update them according to the local laws and regulations.
Support With Asset-Related Property Agreement Process
Protecting assets is undoubtedly difficult when an unexpected event could risk them. Consequently, hiring an estate planning attorney is crucial if one wants to transfer their wealth safely. An attorney can check the documents and titles to ensure they are clear and can transfer to your chosen beneficiaries. Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, property division agreements, and divorce agreements involving the division of assets can also all fall under this procedure.
An estate planning attorney can help you resolve any issues related to your assets, such as unclear property lines, and make things easy for the family after death.
Protection From Creditors
Asset protection is an essential step in the estate planning process. Asset protection is the legal process of defending your cash, assets, home, and other assets against creditors while you are alive and after you die.
After all, many people are concerned about unpaid debts and creditors trying to claim their property. A skilled estate attorney can offer a carefully crafted legal defense against unscrupulous debt collectors. Brown &Hobkirk, PLLC, is a leading estate planning law practice that helps individuals and families with complex legal matters related to estate planning, assets, wills and trusts, and business law.
Power of Attorney and Healthcare Directives Papers
You can choose a trusted person to make your health care decisions by creating a durable power of attorney for health care decisions and a living will with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney. Also, you can put your preferences in writing to act as a guide if you can’t prepare or deliver medical directives for yourself. It may happen if you have a terminal illness or other serious condition, if you are in a vegetative state, or if you are otherwise disabled. You may revoke these legal documents if you legally can do and follow your state’s revocation laws.
You can spell out your medical directives and health-related intentions in legal documents prepared by the estate planning attorney. Engaging with an estate planning lawyer can help you to create health care directives and designate a power of attorney. Creating these legal documents can save your family from the discord and confusion that sometimes arises when an accident or sudden death robs you of the ability to make decisions.
Advise on Effective Ideas
Even when you may have the noblest intentions, what you would like to happen to your assets may not be legally achievable or result in unnecessary hassle. A knowledgeable estate planning attorney can bring these issues to your attention and help identify more effective alternatives. They can also advise you about other important end-of-life decisions that you may not be able to make later in life, including financial and medical directives, organ donation, disposal of remains, and related matters. Without the help of an estate planning attorney, you can put your family in deep financial trouble due to careless planning and unclear directives after death.
Guide in Distributing Assets Legally
Attorneys who specialize in estate planning know that the process of distributing assets often involves beneficiaries. An estate planning attorney can advise clients on how best to accommodate beneficiaries with special needs, educational requirements, or other concerns to make the process go more smoothly.
In addition, a lawyer can devise strategies for achieving charitable goals and include charities or other groups in your estate plan. It ensures that no individual or organization has to go through a drawn-out process to obtain the assets you desire to leave them. An estate planning attorney can also ensure that you have the necessary resources to provide for the demands of each of your dependents.
Creating a Will
A last will (testament), which specifies who will receive the assets after death, must be written and signed by two witnesses to be valid under Arizona law. Your will is also marked by these two witnesses, proving that they were present when it was made. Typically, family members are the beneficiaries, but other parties can also name them as beneficiaries, including friends, charities, nonprofit organizations, and houses of worship.
However, if you die without leaving a will, the court will administer your inheritance through a probate process. The probate process is lengthy and traumatic and becomes a matter of public record for your beneficiaries. Also, if they find no heirs, your inheritance will go to the State of Arizona.
Therefore, for this complex matter, an estate attorney helps to create a will that complies with Arizona law. They prepare your paperwork and tailor it to meet your unique needs. Your attorney will ensure your paperwork complies with all legal standards and make the necessary arrangements for witnesses and notary public signatures; so you don’t have to worry about it later. A smooth execution of the will might be the most critical role an estate planning lawyer plays and is the main reason why people look to hire them.
Effective Asset Protection Strategies
After looking at your finances, they will assess whether assets can be secured or transferred and if they are subject to a lawsuit. They always give a fair assessment when discussing such potential legal disputes.
An asset attorney must understand your current and potential future scenarios to apply the necessary protection methods.
Here are some common tactics a lawyer may suggest:
1. Limited Liability Company
An attorney may advise you to form a limited liability corporation (LLC) for your business. It can protect personal assets from costly lawsuits or creditors who may use your company.
Since it establishes a separate identity for the company and its owners, an LLC has limitations. You will remain responsible for any debts incurred by your business, even in the event of bankruptcy. However, these loans will not affect your account or family home. You can protect your assets if someone claims against your company.
2. Liability Insurance
An estate planning attorney may recommend employing liability insurance as your first line of defense. This type of insurance will protect the consumer from legal liability.
However, if you don’t have insurance liability, an experienced attorney will advise you on this front accordingly. Both homeowners and businesses can benefit from liability insurance.
Contributing to Retirement Accounts
Estate planning lawyers help to maximize your contributions to pension plans, retirement accounts, and other savings to secure your assets from future litigation and creditors. Under federal ERISA restrictions, funds in these accounts are not susceptible to litigation or court judgments.
Legal Forms and Contracts
You may lose your assets to creditors if you don’t use legal agreements and processes. You draft these agreements with the help of a skilled estate planning attorney, who also ensures that you follow asset protection standards.
Protect your assets from creditor claims by taking precautions, using a valuation discount to reduce the estate or gift tax value of your FLP, and making wise use of the annual gift tax exclusion and the unified credit. An estate planning attorney can be a helpful resource whether you are just starting the estate planning process or looking to change an existing plan. Your house, car, bank account, etc., will be protected by an estate planning attorney in case of any unfortunate event.
