When conducting proper estate planning, you need to make sure that you are comfortable with your estate planning lawyer.
Picking an attorney can be difficult. Often, people will decide on a lawyer based on recommendations or referrals from friends and family. This is often a great way to ensure that you are able to locate an attorney you are comfortable with.
Another good way to pick an estate planning lawyer is to ask a local bar association. There are organizations called “bar associations” in nearly every state in the United States. These association will often have referral lists or links for different practice area categories. In the case of estate planning, the bar association in your jurisdiction may have a list of experiences, highly qualified estate planning lawyers. Simply calling the bar association or going to their website is a great way to do find an attorney you are comfortable with.
When you do pick an estate planning attorney in Minnesota, you want to make sure you bring in as much information as you can to the initial consultation. The lawyer will have many questions, and many of them will relate to your particular situation – both financially and physically. The lawyer will want some guidance from you on exactly what you would like to get done.
If you are interested in having a lawyer draft a trust, you should certainly tell him so. The same goes for a Will. The attorney will be willing to be flexible based on what he or she may feel your situation is, but the lawyer also will want you to be an active participant. Simply allowing the lawyer to control the situation may not be best for you.
When you do meet with an attorney about your estate, you should know your approximate net worth, what your main assets and debts are, and who you will want to be a personal representative or guardian of your estate. You will also want to compile a list of names and addresses of the beneficiaries of your estate. In fact, it may cost you more money if the lawyer is forced to gather this information.
In the end, you need to be very up-front about what you want to get out of your initial meeting with an estate planning lawyer. If you are not an active participant in the process, you may be sorry later.
