The relationship you have with your wills, trusts, and estates attorney should be close and collaborative. In order to develop an estate plan that fully meets your goals and reflects your values, it’s critical for you to be open and forthcoming about the things that matter the most to you, from your attitudes about death to the kind of legacy you wish to leave for your children.
As you meet with your living wills lawyer, make sure you’re ready to tackle some key topics. Here are just a few examples.
What to Discuss with Your Living Wills Lawyer
1) Your family dynamics.
Family can be messy, and at times that messiness can be tough to talk about. Nevertheless, you’ll want to be candid with your will and trust attorney, explaining to them some of the tension points that exist within your family.
That’s because a will and trust attorney can actually help you avoid situations where those tensions boil over, providing great clarity in your estate plan to ensure your family members have no cause for confusion, hurt feelings, or bickering. But to achieve this goal, you’ll need to be forthcoming.
2) Your attitudes toward death.
In addition to wills and trusts, your attorney can help you draft an advance health care directive and/or a power of attorney. These documents are vital for outlining your end-of-life wishes.
To ensure that your estate plan accurately captures your real values, you’ll need to answer important questions like:
- What does dignified death look like to you?
- What makes life worth living?
- What are your preferences regarding resuscitation and/or life-supporting technology?
3) Distribution of your financial assets.
Your estate planning lawyer will also explain how wills and trusts can be used to pass along your financial assets, which can include anything from bank accounts to real estate, heirloom jewelry to retirement savings.
Ideally, your estate planning lawyer will be able to develop a strategy to keep your assets out of probate ss that they pass along to the intended beneficiaries and heirs as smoothly as possible, and without getting dinged with a bunch of probate fees.
But again, communication is key. As you talk with your living trust lawyer, make sure you disclose all of your assets, and that you are clear about how those assets are to be distributed.
4) Your wishes for charitable giving.
An expert in trust law can walk you through different strategies of legacy giving, basically providing you with an option to leave some of your assets to causes or organizations that matter to you.
For this to happen, you’ll simply need to provide some information about what those causes and organizations actually are.
5) Any questions you have about the estate planning process.
The estate planning process may seem intimidating, especially to those who have never done it before. The good news is that a good estate planning lawyer should be more than happy to talk you through each step of the process, helping you to feel not just comfortable but truly confident in the outcome.
Make sure you find an estate planning attorney with whom you feel like you can speak openly, and address any questions that come to mind.
Talk with an Attorney from Singh Law Firm
Ready to meet with an estate planning lawyer in the Fremont, CA area? We welcome your call at Singh Law Firm. Our experienced estate planning attorneys are happy to discuss your needs, answer your questions, and offer greater clarity about the estate planning process. Contact us today.
