Even if you never get arrested or sued, you’ll likely still have to talk to a lawyer at certain points in your life. After all, law isn’t just about crime and civil liability, but also about things like business formation, bankruptcy, marriage, divorce, and inheritance. The part of the law covering inheritance is known as estate law, and it is one area we specialize in here at Bennet Guthrie PLLC.
An estate attorney, also known as an estate planning attorney, helps people prepare wills and other documents rather than litigating cases. In this article, our team will provide answers to some common questions you may have about an estate planning attorney and their responsibilities.
- What does an estate planning attorney do? An estate planning attorney mostly involves helping clients write up documents to distribute their property. In legal terms, your estate is the total property you own, including your house, your car, the cash in your bank accounts, and other financial assets. The role of your estate planning attorney is to help you decide what happens to this property after you pass away or become incapacitated.
- What’s the difference between a will and a living will? The first type of will is a last will and testament, a document which dictates how your estate should be divided after your passing. A living will, on the other hand, doesn’t have anything to do with property. Instead, it defines what emergency medical interventions and end-of-life care you’d like to receive. In a living will, you get to specify what types of medical treatment you want to receive should you become incapacitated. An estate planning attorney can help you create either type of document.
- What’s a power of attorney? An estate planning attorney can also help you create a power of attorney. This document allows you to appoint someone you trust as your agent, and they’ll be permitted to make decisions on your behalf in the event you can’t make them for yourself. You can also entrust different decisions to different people. For example, you can put your business partner in charge of your part of the business but put your spouse in charge of your medical decisions.