Thursday, August 23, 2018

3 Reasons To Hire A Probate Attorney

When a loved one passes away, they leave behind many loose ends, such as bills and assets. The person responsible for tying up the loose ends of the deceased is their personal representative. Serving as someone’s personal representative is a daunting task, but you don’t have to go through it alone. In fact, you can and should hire a probate attorney to guide you through the probate process. Here’s why:

1. Probate is complicated.

When you serve as a loved one’s personal representative, you’re responsible for shepherding their estate through the probate process. This means that you’re responsible for a variety of tasks, including filing forms, settling debts, and distributing assets to heirs. All of these tasks need to be done in a specific order and within so many days. Most people without a law degree know little about the probate process, which makes completing complicated, required tasks difficult. By hiring a probate attorney for guidance, you can make sure all tasks are completed on time.

2. A probate attorney can lessen your stress.

Between keeping track of assets and paying off debts, probate is a stressful process. Hiring a probate attorney can lessen your stress because you can rely on them to help you through the process. Your probate attorney will provide answers to all of your questions and will help you file all necessary documents. The probate process is much less stressful when you’re not responsible for wading through all of the paperwork and tasks alone.

3. A probate attorney can help keep the peace.

The death of a loved ones is stressful and unfortunately, fights within families or between heirs are not uncommon during the probate process. A probate attorney can help you keep the peace by stepping in and explaining inheritances to heirs. As a professional and individual outside the family and friend group of the heirs, your probate attorney can serve as a level-headed peace keeper so that you can do your job as a personal representative without worrying about hurting other people’s feelings or becoming an easy target for angry individuals.

How can Boyum Law Firm help you?

Boyum Law Firm can help you with your estate planning, Medicaid planning, and probate law needs. To contact Boyum Law, click here.

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Thursday, August 9, 2018

Estate Planning: Is It Always Necessary?

Estate planning is an important task everyone should check off their to-do list for a number of reasons. Creating legal documents is one way to protect you and your loved ones from harm in the event of a medical emergency, for example. It’s easy to question, however, whether or not a daunting task like estate planning deserves a spot on your to-do list. After all, if you aren’t worried about redistributing assets or don’t have children to plan for, do you really need to create a plan? The answer is yes, everyone should create a plan. Here’s why:

Estate planning is about more than redistributing wealth

One common misconception about estate planning is that only the wealthy need a plan. This misconception stems from the belief that estate planning is all about redistributing wealth. You can and should use your plan as a wealth redistribution tool, but it’s capable of doing much more. For example, estate plans protect people and their loved ones from the unpredictable. To do this, your estate plan should include power of attorney documents (POA) and a living will. These documents protect you in the event of a medical emergency by giving a chosen individual the power to make medical and financial decisions on your behalf as well as stating your wishes in relation to life sustaining care. With documents like these in place, your estate plan can properly take care of you in life and after death, no wealth redistribution planning required.

That’s not to say redistributing wealth through your plan isn’t something to consider

While estate plans are capable of doing more than redistributing wealth, their wealth redistribution benefits shouldn’t be overlooked. Creating a last will and testament is the simplest way to redistribute wealth using your plan. In your last will, you list your assets and include who’d you like to receive them. Individuals with more complex inheritnace needs have other options, including a number of trusts. Trusts come in different forms to fit different needs. Your attorney should work with you to determine the type that best fits your situation. The key benefit trusts provide is their ability to avoid the probate process. By avoiding probate, which is the process used to settle an individual’s estate when they die, trusts keep information about who received what for an inheritance private.

You may not have specific privacy concerns that would cause you to need a trust, but creating estate planning documents, like a trust, enables you to dictate how your assets are distributed when you die. This is because without a last will, your assets are divided using the intestate laws of the state in which you live. To learn more about Nebraska’s intestate laws, click here.

There’s more to plan for than children in an estate plan

Another common estate planning misconception is that if you don’t have children, you don’t need a plan. People with children who are minors use their last will to name a legal guardian. A legal guardian is someone who steps in to care for minor children if something happens to their parents(s)/guardian(s). However, estate plans do more than name a legal guardian. For example, plans name the aforementioned POAs and a personal representative. A personal representative is the individual responsible for settling a person’s estate when they die. You ensure the best person has the job by creating a last will and naming a person yourself. If you don’t create a plan and select a personal representative, a judge will name one for you after you die. That individual may not have been the best person for the job.

How can Boyum Law Firm help you?

Boyum Law Firm can help you with your estate planning, Medicaid planning, and probate law needs. To contact Boyum Law, click here.

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Thursday, August 2, 2018

How Can Boyum Law Firm Help You?

At Boyum Law Firm, we end every blog post with an invitation for our readers to contact us with their estate planning, Medicaid planning, and probate law needs. Whether you have questions that need answers or are ready for a free consultation, we want to assist you in any way we can. Read on to discover all the ways our firm can help you today.

We can help you create an estate plan.

Estate planning is one of our specialties at Boyum Law Firm. Our experienced team can provide you with the knowledge you need to create a well-rounded estate plan that protects you and your loved ones. For example, we can help you create:

  • A last will and testament that enables you to name a legal guardian for your children, distribute assets, and appoint a personal representative.
  • Power(s) of attorney documents, which provide protection in the event you become incapacitated.
  • A living will, which enables you to determine in advance whether or not you’d like to receive life sustaining care in the event you’re in a permanent vegetative state or terminally ill.
  • A HIPPA release, where you can name who you’d like to have access to your medical information.
  • A variety of trusts, which enable you to distribute your assets and protect your privacy.
  • And more, such as the ability to obtain an LLC for your business or create a transfer-on-death deed.

Boyum Law Firm can assist you with Medicaid planning.

We can help you qualify for Medicaid in a smooth and organized process.

We can walk you through the probate process.

Probate is the process used to settle a person’s estate when he or she dies. The probate process is complex, which is why it’s often best to hire a professional to help ensure transitions are made smoothly and the estate is closed in a timely manner. At Boyum Law Firm, we can walk you through the probate process from start to finish. That way, you can rest assured you’re properly handling the estate of the deceased.

In conclusion…

Boyum Law can help you with your estate planning, Medicaid planning, and probate law needs. To contact Boyum Law, click here.

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