What is an Estate Plan?
Many people think that when you talk about an Estate Plan, that means you have a large estate subject potentially to federal estate taxation. With the federal estate tax exemption now at $11,400,000 for each individual, less than 2% of the estates in the entire United States will ever have an “estate tax problem.” However, most estates do have an estate problem.
In prior years, the bulk of the sophisticated estate planning was done by the tax attorney. The reason being, the tax code drove the person to the tax lawyer to “save the business and/or the farm” from the federal estate tax. Once the estate tax was addressed, solved and/or mitigated, then the Estate Planning Lawyer/Tax Lawyer, took care of the Wills, Buy-Sell Agreements, Employment Agreements, sales of businesses, children who cannot handle money, special-needs children, and the like.
Why should I hire an estate planning attorney?
Today, most “estate planning” is being done by the General Practice Attorney, who probably looks at one (1) or two (2) estates per year as opposed to 10 (ten), to twelve (12), to fifteen (15), per month. It is like going to a surgeon to perform a very sophisticated surgery, but he only does one (1) operation per year. Would that really give you a comfort level?
No, it is much more complicated than that. A Will is not an Estate Plan. The Will is simply a part of, and, memorializes a significant part of the Estate Plan. Are you worried about children dissipating their inheritance once they get it? If so, how do you prevent that? Do you have an occupation that has significant liability? How do you protect yourself from lawsuits and from the subsequent Judgment? Do you have property in multiple States? Do you have a disabled child who may be in need of permanent care and State and federal assistance?
The sophisticated Estate Planning Attorney addresses these issues, and he or she does the best that they can to solve them. Think about it, if you are not going to go to the surgeon who performs one (1) surgery per year, do you really want to go to the Planner who only does one (1) or two (2) estate plans per year?
Contact the experienced Estate Planning Attorneys at Barnes Law Firm today!
