Your estate plan should reflect your ultimate wishes, values, and preferences. To assure this, it’s important that you have a healthy, open relationship with your living trust and will lawyer. You might start the conversation by asking some of the following, incredibly important questions.
5 Things to Ask Your Living Trust Attorney
1) Do I need a trust?
It’s sometimes assumed that estate planning is mostly just about having a last will and testament. Actually, for the vast majority of people, a will simply isn’t sufficient.
Why is that? Well, for one thing, a will won’t keep your estate out of probate, which can lead to some hassles and headaches on the part of your beneficiaries.
One way to avoid this, and also to keep your estate confidential, is with a trust. A living trust and will lawyer can advise you on whether a trust is needed in your estate plan; and if so, what kind.
2) Who should serve as my trustee?
If you do establish a trust, you’ll likely need someone to serve as the trustee. (Depending on whether you get an irrevocable or a revocable trust, you may or may not be able to be your own trustee.)
Your living trust and will lawyer should be able to clarify what the trustee duties entail and guide you in selecting the right person for the job.
Trustee selection is an important estate planning consideration, and worth discussing with your living trust attorney.
3) What about end-of-life issues?
Estate planning isn’t just about who gets what when you die. It’s also an important chance for you to make your wishes clear about the kinds of life support services you would like to receive, should you become clinically incapacitated for any reason.
For example, you may benefit from an advance health care directive, which allows you to specify the types of life-saving interventions you wish for. (And, when you wish for those interventions to be withdrawn.)
Then again, you may decide you’d rather have a Power of Attorney, letting you appoint someone as your legal representative to make important decisions on your behalf.
A lawyer who specializes in living will trust Power of Attorney issues can guide you through the different options for ensuring your wishes are upheld.
4) What will happen to my children?
If you have kids who are still minors, you’ll want to ensure your estate plan specifies who will take care of them, should you and your spouse or co-parent both die.
Also, you’ll probably want to make sure you leave resources behind to provide for your children’s education and other basic needs.
This is another critical area when receiving support from a living will trust Power of Attorney specialist.
5) How can I manage my tax burden?
Your estate will likely be subject to taxation. But there may be strategies you can employ to minimize that burden.
In doing so, you will be maximizing the value you leave to your family members and other loved ones.
Skilled living trust and will lawyers should be able to advise you on all matters of tax strategy.
More Questions? Ask Singh Law Firm
If you have questions for a will and trust attorney, we’d love to hear them.
Singh Law Firm is one of the top estate planning law firms serving Fremont, California and beyond. We are known for our expertise in will and trust law, as well as our friendly, personable, and client-centered approach.
To speak with us further, we welcome you to reach out to Singh Law Firm at any time.
