How To Find The Best FL Estate Planning Attorney
No one likes to think about or discuss their mortality. However, it is a fact that you will eventually have to reckon with. Planning the distribution and division of your estate after your death is an essential part of doing so. If you have built up a business or accumulated substantial wealth, it is especially important to create wills, trusts, and other documents that set down exactly how you want your estate divided. Hiring an estate planning attorney in Jacksonville, FL. can help.
How to Find the Right Estate Planning Attorney
The lawyer you hire will be privy to your innermost thoughts, concerns, and secrets. You should be comfortable with them. You should retain the services of an estate planning attorney who you believe has your best interests in mind.
Here are a few tips for finding such a lawyer:
- Look for a specialist
You need a lawyer who specializes in estate planning and the making of wills and trusts. Even if you have a personal lawyer who handles many of your business and personal issues, you should put the future distribution of your estate into the hands of someone who has mastered this area of law. The last thing you want to do is burden your loved one with excessive taxes and other difficulties.
You can find a list of qualified estate planning attorneys on the website of the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils and on the site of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.
- Ask your personal lawyer
If you have a lawyer who serves as a personal advisor in all your affairs, you should ask them for a recommendation. In fact, you may want to leave the search for an estate planner entirely in their hands.
- Ask your financial advisor
Your financial advisor is another professional who is likely to know of estate planning attorneys. Your advisor may have already helped you with some aspects of estate planning. This will give them some insight into the nature and size of your estate and the things that are important to you. Based on this information, your financial advisor will be able to refer to the best estate planning lawyer for you.
- Ask your accountant
Estate lawyers turn to accountants to assist them with trust and income tax issues. There is a more than even chance that your accountant does business regularly with estate planning attorneys. Indeed, it may be best to have your accountant find an estate lawyer for you since they already have access to your account and know which parts of it need planning.
- Contact your local Bar association
The Bar association in your city will have a list of attorneys who specialize in estate planning. The advantage of going to the Bar is that you can also get a professional history of each attorney you are considering. You want an attorney with a sterling record. Contacting the Bar will help you find one.
- Check advertisements
You can scroll through online web pages. There are also sites that bring together the sites of all the estate planning attorneys in your state or locale.
- Ask friends and colleagues
You probably know people who are like yourself in their professional and business lives. They may have already done their estate planning. You should ask them for a referral. They may have an estate planning attorney who can offer you the same solid and effective service and solutions.
You should take your time in the search process. You should ensure that you are completely at ease with the person who helps you do your estate planning.
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