Planning your estate involves deciding what will happen to it long after you are gone. While the law provides a default scheme of disposing such property, relying on that usually involve very lengthy court process and potentially very hefty tax consequences for your heirs. An alternative method is to plan a head through documents such as wills and trusts. If you decide to go with the latter option, chances are that you are going to need a relevant attorney to guide you through the process. However, with so many such lawyers in the market today, choosing a good one can sometimes prove to be a very big challenge. When looking for a good estate planning attorney Washington DC residents will find the following tips very useful.
As usual, the best approach when looking for any service or service provider still remains word of mouth. No amount of advertisement can be compared a referral from someone whose opinion you trust. In fact, good lawyers do not always advertise their services. Most of their clients come through referrals. Because of this, you should be very skeptical with a solicitor who has big adverts in every corner of the street. This could be a sign that he/she is desperate for work due to past malpractices.
The only way you will be able to tell whether your prospective lawyer is qualified to work as an estate planning lawyer is through his/her license. This is because such licenses are usually only to lawyers who meet certain conditions set by the relevant board. Because of this, it is not advisable to hire a solicitor who cannot show you his/her valid license of operation. This could be an indication that he/she does not have one or that he is using one that has already expired.
Legal field is usual very wide. Because of this, most lawyers choose to specialize in specific aspects of it. For instance, you will find those lawyers who only specialize in divorce cases, others only deal with matters to do with estate planning and so forth. Because of this, it is also advisable that you choose a lawyer who specifically deals with your area of interest.
Unless the lawyer you settle on a very close family member, you will also have to pay him/her for their services. This makes legal fee a very important factor when choosing your estate planning lawyer. As the saying goes, you should cut your coat according to your size. In other words, you need to find a solicitor who you can comfortably afford to pay for his/her services.
Before you settle for any lawyer, you should also ask him/her the duration they have been in this practice. It is pretty obvious that experienced attorneys would offer you better legal services compared to their inexperienced colleagues. This is because they have handled several similar cases to yours and know all the potential pitfalls to expect.
Once you identify that ideal lawyer, the next important step is to sign a written contract. This is a very important step that must not be overlooked. Any your prospective lawyer is hesitant to enter into a contract with you, you should treat this as a warning sign and look for another lawyer who is ready to sign a contract.
As can be seen above, finding a good lawyer is not something you will be able to achieve overnight. You really need ample time to consider all options available to you. This explains why starting the search early is almost mandatory.
As usual, the best approach when looking for any service or service provider still remains word of mouth. No amount of advertisement can be compared a referral from someone whose opinion you trust. In fact, good lawyers do not always advertise their services. Most of their clients come through referrals. Because of this, you should be very skeptical with a solicitor who has big adverts in every corner of the street. This could be a sign that he/she is desperate for work due to past malpractices.
The only way you will be able to tell whether your prospective lawyer is qualified to work as an estate planning lawyer is through his/her license. This is because such licenses are usually only to lawyers who meet certain conditions set by the relevant board. Because of this, it is not advisable to hire a solicitor who cannot show you his/her valid license of operation. This could be an indication that he/she does not have one or that he is using one that has already expired.
Legal field is usual very wide. Because of this, most lawyers choose to specialize in specific aspects of it. For instance, you will find those lawyers who only specialize in divorce cases, others only deal with matters to do with estate planning and so forth. Because of this, it is also advisable that you choose a lawyer who specifically deals with your area of interest.
Unless the lawyer you settle on a very close family member, you will also have to pay him/her for their services. This makes legal fee a very important factor when choosing your estate planning lawyer. As the saying goes, you should cut your coat according to your size. In other words, you need to find a solicitor who you can comfortably afford to pay for his/her services.
Before you settle for any lawyer, you should also ask him/her the duration they have been in this practice. It is pretty obvious that experienced attorneys would offer you better legal services compared to their inexperienced colleagues. This is because they have handled several similar cases to yours and know all the potential pitfalls to expect.
Once you identify that ideal lawyer, the next important step is to sign a written contract. This is a very important step that must not be overlooked. Any your prospective lawyer is hesitant to enter into a contract with you, you should treat this as a warning sign and look for another lawyer who is ready to sign a contract.
As can be seen above, finding a good lawyer is not something you will be able to achieve overnight. You really need ample time to consider all options available to you. This explains why starting the search early is almost mandatory.
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