An estate planning attorney drafts wills, advises on tax implications, sets up trusts, and may be appointed executor. They ensure correct procedures are followed to distribute property according to the client’s wishes and may reduce tax fees. Executors collect assets, pay claims, and distribute the estate.
An estate planning attorney may be responsible for many duties in the preparation and administration of a person’s estate. The most commonly cited example of what an estate planning attorney does for clients is drafting wills. In planning the disposition of the client’s property through a will, the attorney typically also advises the client regarding the tax effects of the disposition. An estate planning attorney can also set up any trust that is appropriate for the client’s purposes. Finally, after the client’s death, it often happens that a lawyer is appointed executor for the administration of the client’s estate.
Drafting a will is a much more complicated process than one would expect. There are special rules, depending on the jurisdiction where it is performed, for the appropriate language to include, as well as the actual execution of the will. Someone who wants to execute a will to make sure his estate is arranged the way he wants it after death will typically hire an estate planning attorney to make sure the correct procedure is followed. Otherwise, upon death, the property cannot be distributed according to his wishes.
Again, depending on the jurisdiction, there may be very particular rules about the tax implications of the various types of property dispositions. Some jurisdictions have heavy property taxes where a portion of every property must go to the government. In some places that have these rules, an estate planning attorney can make the disposition of a client’s property in a way that reduces the impact of those fees.
Sometimes, a client’s situation will require that they have a will trust set up for one or more heirs. For example, if a person wants to ensure that his or her grandchildren are set up with a college trust, that person can set up a death will trust with the proceeds of the estate. An estate planning attorney can set up this fund so that, upon each grandchild’s high school graduation, the funds in the fund can be used towards the grandchild’s college tuition.
Ultimately, upon the client’s death, he will need an executor to take care of the administration of the estate. Typically, the executor is named in the will and may be the estate planning attorney. The duties of the executor include collecting the assets of the deceased, determining and paying any claims, and distributing the balance of the estate to the beneficiaries.
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