Why its always important to have a Local Lawyer working for you
While in the mist researching for trends on Google Trends I still came across the trending topic of estate planning and asset protection. I was surprised to learn that this topic was up 50%. This is surprising to me because in my practice in Estate Planning tends to be seasonal. In my experience the majority of my Estate Planning Clients come to me towards the end of the year November to December and also January to February. I researched the areas of my practice for the past five years and this trend shows up year after year except for the year 2020.
Clients want to protect their family sometimes this means always hoping for the best while planning for the worst. That’s why is important to have estate planning documents such as a last will and testament and power of attorneys. Furthermore, our lives are ever changing and having a good and ongoing relationship with your estate planning attorney to update or change your documents are important.
The the COVID-19 started shutting down business and clients were being laid off I show a surge in Estate Planning Clients so much so that I had wrote several articles on this. One in particular was in the Ravenna Recorder Courier https://www.record-courier.com/news/20200515/attorneys-talk-about-need-for-wills-during-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR1mVWgVzFlAFVe0hDeDo5G6Pq-iH8kBL4j9jg0Ui9eYCne2fEvoMLVV0Tc
This article is a great example of how local Attorneys are seeing the need to estate planning and after this article my practice is still seeing a surge.
Going further into my research there is a surge among other topics like wrongful death which is up 120% and Asset protection lawyer was up 70%. Once again, this research is contrary to my experience and I believe of course this is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If anyone where to watch the news or follow news articles of headlines online the news feeds are saturated with COVID-19 deaths and more shut downs or restrictions. I believe that this is a large result of clients looking into financial matters, personal assets and retirement plans.
I find it important to point out that planning your estate and asset protection is important whether there is a pandemic or not. This type of planning includes a wide areas of assets held by the client. I believe that clients do not realize that this type of planning covers real estate, bank accounts, life insurance polices, business entities just to name a few.
I find in my practice that a lot of clients do not know what Estate Planning Is or what it does. This is a process of designating who will receive your assets and handle your responsibilities after your death or incapacitation and helps protect your assets from creditors.
In my practice Power of Attorney documents are also apart of this process and this is also a process of designating who will manage your assets or medical decisions while you are still living and this agent will act on your behalf. I also see at my practice that a lot of clients do not know the types of power of attorneys and do not know that you can name anyone as your agent not just a family member. Clients can pick any person to act on their behalf. When an this type of plan is done correctly it helps to prevent fraudulent transfers.
One of the main goals in this area is to ensure beneficiaries receive assets in a way that minimizes estate tax, gift tax, income tax and other taxes and to avoid probate.
The probate process is a case that is filed with the Probate Court when an asset needs to be transferred into a beneficiaries name. It can be a timely and costly expense to your loved ones. Filing a probate case also makes those assets subject to creditors. Having a proper estate plan in place helps avoid this process. I have found in my experience, that a lot of clients do not know how the probate process works or why or if we need to file a case with the probate court. It is so important to provide education to our clients about this process.
With the internet playing such an important role in our lives specifically during COVID-19, I also looked into more research to see what clients are looking for. I found that there is a surge in online companies offering easy and simple estate planning like US Legal Forms and Nolo. These companies could pose such a problem for clients because they offer broad generic forms and do not explain to the client what the clients situation requires.
As with any areas of law, every family situation is different. When clients come to a lawyer for estate planning and if there are problems about the documents at a later time a lawyer can always update these documents. There is no such thing as a general power of attorney. There are specific documents for client and its different in every state. I have seen these forms time and time again when clients bring them in. Clients do not have the knowledge or understand what each documents means and if those documents meet their needs. I usually end up just redrafting the clients entire estate planning because they were mislead on what documents they needed.
I believe that clients are also mislead on how much should basic estate planning cost. These online website advertised simple and cheap costs for clients. If a client has a simple estate, then a costs for attorney services are often reasonable. Clients are often surprised at how affordable going to a lawyer can be.
I also find that clients do not know what the difference between will and estate planning. A last will and testament is just one document that lays out how you want your assets disbursed upon your passing. An estate planning can over a wide variety of assets, that is why is it so important to speak to a lawyer about what documents and strategies are right for the client.
Depending on how complex a clients asset protection plan is, there can be a number of processionals who will need to work on the plan. There can be financial advisors or life insurance policies.
Clients tend to think that they need to be a certain age to create an estate plan but at any age a client came meet with a lawyer to discuss their clients needs. The trend that I have in my office is clients who are currently married or who have children. There are certain estate planning documents to help protect these loved ones.
Its important to remember that lawyers can provide the custom tailored services that online companies cannot. The one aspect that I enjoy about estate planning is that these clients are lifetime clients. Whether there is a pandemic or not. This means that attorneys have a ongoing relationship in which we provide a flexible asset protection plan with their clients. Our lives are always changing and its seems like our lives are changing faster then ever. A good estate planning lawyer can help provide and meet the needs of their clients through a wide variety of their services.