Folsom Wills Lawyer

What Kind of Attorneys Do Wills?

When it comes to drafting and administering your will, two types of lawyers need to be involved: a wills lawyer and a probate lawyer. Sometimes, a single attorney or office will offer both services.

During the drafting process, you will be aided by a wills attorney. However, once you need someone to guide you through your will’s administration, you’ll need to work with a probate attorney.

Should I Hire a Lawyer to Write My Will?

Generally speaking, yes, it is a good idea to work with a lawyer to draft your will. This is the case for a variety of reasons—even though, technically, an attorney isn’t legally required for a will to be upheld. Still, by working with a lawyer, you will be able to guarantee the integrity of all your decisions throughout the entire document. Furthermore, without an attorney, it isn’t difficult to make errors, which can ultimately compromise critical components of your will. Therefore, a will must be created carefully and with intense attention to detail.

3 Reasons a Hiring a Law Group Is Worth the Cost

Sometimes, money-saving tips from magazines, like how to DIY your own will, can cause more harm than the few dollars you might have saved doing it on your own. The experience and insight of an experienced lawyer can ensure the intent of your will is carried and that there are no unwanted surprises. Here are some of the top reasons it’s worth hiring an attorney when it comes to drafting your will.

1. An attorney can ensure that your will is comprehensive and precise so that there is minimal risk of misinterpretation or confusion in the future.
   Naturally, you’ll want your will to be a comprehensive document. Due to all the factors that you need to consider, it isn’t difficult to accidentally leave out key elements if you’ve never drafted a will before. When you work alongside someone with substantial will-drafting experience, you’ll be able to create a truly comprehensive document without any missing bits of information. Whenever you leave out pieces of information, you risk causing confusion or miscommunication when it comes time to apply the decisions outlined within your will.

   Simply put, it should be clear to your family and loved ones who is meant to receive what, without any room for debate or misinterpretation. Where does each of these items go, and who is in charge of the process of distributing them? Also, make sure that you don’t forget to address factors such as charitable donations and guardianship whenever applicable. A wills attorney will ensure that you don’t miss anything important based on your personal circumstances.

2. An attorney can help you to create a legally binding will.
   While the assistance of a wills attorney isn’t required for a will to be considered legally binding, working with a lawyer can ensure that you don’t make any errors, which could compromise the legality of the document.

   A will isn’t just a piece of paper offering your loved ones a quick, unofficial how-to guide on how to distribute your belongings. Remember, a will is a legal document, and it needs to be treated with the seriousness of one during the drafting process. Ideally, your will’s word should be treated as law, not as a suggestion or a loose guideline. It typically isn’t worth drafting a will without the aid of an attorney, as you’re putting yourself at serious risk of making a fatal error within the document.

   Whenever a will is considered not legally binding, it loses all value—it no longer has a legal say over where your belongings and assets end up. For instance, maybe an individual finds a template on the internet. They then use that template as the basis for their will, which they draft on their own, without the assistance of an attorney. However, that individual might be using a template intended for another state without realizing their error. Nevertheless, this person genuinely believes that they are crafting a legally binding document, even though they are greatly mistaken.

   Without the aid of an attorney, this sort of error might never be corrected. If a scenario such as this one occurs, then there is a serious risk of litigation or disputes once it’s time to implement the demands of the will. This sort of error is highly avoidable, and if the individual had worked with a California wills lawyer, it never would have occurred.

3. An attorney can help reduce the tax burden placed upon your family and loved ones.
   Unfortunately, this is another critical aspect of the will drafting process that is often overlooked by those without experience. Make sure you’re considering the tax burden that your decisions will have on your loved ones in the future. Ideally, you should try your best to reduce the extent of this burden.

   For instance, maybe your estate includes significant retirement funds, investments, or real estate. If this sounds like your situation, it generally isn’t a wise idea to hand off all your belongings at once. Instead, you should take deliberate action to alleviate the impact of taxes on your assets before they are distributed to your family members. To do this, you’ll need a clear strategy in mind.

   A California wills attorney can help you craft this plan of action, thanks to their extensive experience in creating wills. In addition, your attorney will be able to take any tax implications into account, looking at how they will affect the beneficiaries of your will.

How Do You Find a Good Attorney for Wills?

When you’re searching for an attorney to tackle your will, you should never choose the first lawyer you come across. Instead, it’s worth putting some effort into your search—your will is an incredibly important document, and you are going to want it to be error-free. Still, how do you go about finding a good attorney for your will? There are a few factors you can take into account when you’re on the hunt for a wills lawyer.