An estate plan helps you spell out your assets how you want them distributed for your loved ones after you’ve died. Wills, living wills, trusts, and powers of attorney are just some of the documents that go into this plan.
Many of these documents and elements of estate planning require in-depth knowledge of estate planning law and legalease, which is why it’s so important to hire a Georgia estate planning attorney like Kim Frye of Marietta Estate Planning to help you through it.
But what exactly does an estate planning attorney do, and why are they so important?
Who Is An Estate Planning Attorney?
A Georgia estate planning attorney is a lawyer who focuses on wills, trusts, and estate planning for people — and often for their businesses, too.
This type of lawyer can assist you in preparing all the documents you need for estate planning and guide you through each step of the decision-making and document-drafting process.
The attorney can also guide you on how to reduce the burden of taxes and can act on your behalf.
What Does An Estate Planning Attorney Do?
Estate planning attorneys are there to objectively guide you through the process of estate planning, explaining the options you have, and helping you ensure that your loved ones are not left confused after your death.
Here’s a look at some of the important work they do:
-
Prepare and Execute the Will
A will is an authentic legal document, which means a licensed legal professional must prepare it. Any estate planning attorney will compile all the documents listing the various assets you have and help you prepare how you want these assets to be divided, to whom, and at what time. After you pass, your Georgia estate planning attorney will ensure strict adherence to any instructions you give.
-
Designate Beneficiaries
Your beneficiaries are the people who will receive your benefits, assets, belongings, and property after you die. This could be your spouse, children, other family members and friends, etc. Your estate planning attorney can help you designate your physical and digital assets. At the reading of your will after you die, your attorney will see to it that the various beneficiaries of your assets receive their share.
-
Create Trusts
A trust involves appointing someone (called a trustee) to take care of your assets during your lifetime and in death. The trustee distributes your assets to the beneficiaries you choose. An estate planning attorney supervises these arrangements and helps you create the trust.
-
Setting up Power of Attorney
A power of attorney is a legal document that empowers someone to make decisions for you if you are unable to do so. It may also be beneficial to set up an advance directive, which covers healthcare decisions if you become incapacitated. (If you have a power of attorney over an asset and the person who created the power of attorney dies, you can hire an estate planning attorney to help you through the probate process of accessing the asset.)
Contact Marietta Estate Planning today
Our Marietta, Georgia estate planning attorney Kim Frye is the mother of young adults and the daughter of someone who needs care. She knows what it feels like to have the weight of worry and responsibility on her shoulders, and she also knows the sense of relief that comes with having a plan in place.
That’s why she helps other people throughout Georgia create their estate plans, thanks to her 27 years of experience protecting people through the law. Contact Marietta Estate Planning today to get started.
