Estate Planning Lawyer
Before giving a short explanation of estate planning lawyer let us first explain as to what estate planning exactly mean and what are the components of the estate planning.
What is meant by estate planning?
Estate planning is a process, in which a person plans for the transfer of his/her real as well as personal property to the beneficiaries upon his/her death. In estate planning the assets or the property that a person possess is referred to as estate. Estate includes tangible as well as intangible assets like houses and land, investments, insurance policies, savings accounts and businesses.
Estate planning permits the people to direct the sharing of their assets to the individuals of their choice. Also having an estate plan allows an aggrieved family to prevent the disputes taking place over the sharing of the assets among the members of the family after the death of the property holder of the family. Thus the beneficiaries of the property or assets could be assured of receiving their portion of the assets with minimal of taxes as well as with minimum probate or lawyer’s fees.
What are the main components of the estate planning?
The four main components of the estate planning are as follows:
- Power of attorney: It is a most vital component of the estate planning. Power of attorney gives a chosen individual (by a grantor) the right to act and handle the matters of the grantor on the behalf of the grantor. For example individuals select a close friend ,relative or choose a professional they believe in to deal with their issues if they are themselves unable to do it
- Will: A will is a document that describes the desire of an expired person to distribute his/her assets or estate among his/her family members or relatives. If the children of the expired person are minor then the money or the assets or estate of the deceased person is handled by the person who is given the charge of the guardianship by the deceased person in presence of the lawyer and a written statement regarding the name of the guardian or the care-taker is mentioned in the will of the expired person. Also an individual could remain the guardian till the children achieve the age of maturity
- Medical Directive: A medical directive means informing the members of the family the wishes of the person who is unable to take decisions regarding the intake of medicines as well as medical treatment due to medicated health problems (issues) or ill health. Medical directive is seen in the form of health care by proxy, power of attorney or a living will
- Trust: Trust is a legal document that gives a trustee an authority to hold the title to property for another individual. A trust can be seen in the form of revocable living trust, supplemental needs trust, testamentary trust or irrevocable trust
Who is the lawyer who deals with the issues related with estate planning?
A lawyer handling the issues that are concerned with the estate planning is a court-certified lawyer who makes arrangement for the transfer of the assets or the estate or the property from one individual to his/her heirs or close relatives or the nominee who are the beneficiaries of the property (or estate or assets).
Skills required by the lawyers dealing with the legal matters related to estate planning
- Lawyers handling the legal matters related with the estate planning must have good knowledge of estate planning mentorship
- Lawyers dealing with the legal issues of estate planning must have advanced knowledge of the legal system that has direct relationship with the estate planning matters as well as impacts the matters of estate planning
- Lawyers handling the legal matters that is concerned with estate planning must have good knowledge of uniform probate code and state laws that sets authority and time limit for the wills and trusts to come into force or get executed ( as per certain criteria or rules)or get challenged within a certain time period
Educational requirements for the lawyers handling the legal matters related with the estate planning
- Individuals who want to carry out the legal practice in the matters of estate planning at the bar at law are required to clear a four year bachelor degree in any stream from an accredited state institute plus a three year bachelor degree in law from a law college (of that respective state) recognized by the American Bar Association
- A law graduate has to clear the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) with a minimum grade point average score in order to get admitted to a law school recognized by the American Bar Association
- It is a prerequisite rule for a law graduate to clear the state bar written exam as well as the written ethics exam so that the law degree certificate holder would to get permission to do practice of estate planning legal matters in the bar at law of that respective state
- Most of the law faculties require their students to do legal internships in some reputed law firms and acquire the experience certificate certifying them as legal interns of that reputed law firms before taking their final exams in law at the respective law faculties
- It is a duty of the lawyer to pass the required number of continuing legal education (CLE) courses in order to remain consistently updated about the renewed changes taking place in the various fields of law
Duties of the lawyer dealing with the issues related with the estate planning matter
- Lawyers handling the issues concerned with the estate planning must provide a detail legal information on the wills creation and trusts creation to the clients
- Lawyers dealing with the legal problems of estate planning must guide the clients and give tips to the clients over the payment of estate taxes,
- Lawyers handling the legal issues concerned with the estate planning must help the clients reduce the taxes or fees that are imposed on their assets or property or estate upon the transfer of their assets or property or estate
- Lawyers dealing with the legal matters connected with the estate planning must establish the contingency plans to assure that the clients wishes are carried out
- Lawyers making arguments in the court of law regarding the issues and matters of estate planning of their clients must be able to know and handle the personal and business matters like personal property debt , brokerage accounts ,retirement plans ,dynasty trusts and insurance polices of the client on his/her behalf or in the presence of the client
Thus the career as an estate planning lawyer is an enriching career and a nice future investment that would bring rich dividends.
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