There are so many estate planning attorneys that fail to establish a suitable plan for their clients. It happens more than you think.
They go through their “unique process” to ensure they’ve covered everything… Only for surviving spouses and family members to learn that was not the case.
Important things get overlooked, sending the estate into probate.
Why does this happen?
It happens when a lawyer doesn’t take the time to really understand your life. When they don’t ask you the necessary questions to uncover ALL of your needs and be sure you’ve thought of everything.
For a lawyer to help you and your family plan for the future, they need to know who you are. They need to understand your goals, values, and family to help you make the perfect plan. After all, this is YOUR estate plan.
The problem is personalized service.
If a lawyer does not take the time to genuinely build a relationship with you, you’re not getting the experience you deserve.
If your attorney doesn’t take the time to listen to you and ask questions, your estate plan will suffer. How are they going to properly articulate what is best for your family without really knowing you? The estate plan can’t truly reflect what you want to happen.
Another issue is the consistent and regular review of your estate plan. An estate plan can become outdated quickly – laws change and life changes. If these plans aren’t kept up-to-date, they will fail when your family needs them most.
The final result — Your grieving family, is left to handle a potentially lengthy and expensive court process against your best wishes.
Stafford Law Firm listens. We really listen. We’ll help make sure your plan works EXACTLY how it’s supposed to when your family needs it.
If you’re just looking for some basic legal advice, there are plenty of online resources. You can easily find some free estate planning documents yourself.
If you want an estate plan tailored to you… That will work when your family needs it most; we’re here to help.
Find a lawyer that looks out for not only your future but the future of your estate plan. They will take the time to build a personal relationship with you to FULLY understand your goals and values, and they will commit to continuing your relationship to ensure your estate plan stays up to date.
You can sit down and draft up an estate plan in a matter of hours or days. Will the estate plan hold up in court? Probably not. A good estate plan takes time. You can expect to be working with a lawyer for about 4 to 6 weeks. Then every 3 to 5 years after that for routine updates to your estate plan.