I found my estate attorney by going to estate planning seminars but those probably aren’t happening much. I walked in, about 20 years younger than everyone else and thought “she knows her stuff “ as people threw out questions and she answered them all easily. About 3 years later I had her set up my estate, and update it every 5-10 years or for life changes.
Then I found my accountant via my attorney. She also recommended a financial advisor whom I interviewed for tax saving ideas and since she came up with some I let her handle my 529 and back door Roth accounts.
You can always look at online reviews and then zoom interview a couple.
I’ve had a few different estate attorneys. Two were really good, one was more interested in getting into politics and one was a large firm. I assumed years ago that the large firm had done this tons of times and would be a safe choice.
Well, naive me, it turned out they did this trust for me but ended up putting themselves into positions where they could charge the estate a bunch of fees post death. When I had another attorney review it when I moved to MD he flagged all that for me and helped to change it.
So be careful. While it may be obvious to read it, when you have zero interest in law, going through a 3 ring binder of papers doesn’t interest you.
While it may be obvious to read it, when you have zero interest in law, going through a 3 ring binder of papers doesn’t interest you.
It may be a pain in the neck. And it may be one of the most boring things you do. But you really must read through your whole estate plan before you sign it. There is no one more interested in getting it right than you.
Hello, I also am trying to educate myself in reading the new tax laws and how it will affect my estate and tax planning. I’m reading books and learning the lingo enough to interview an Estate attorney to update our husband and wife trust that is out dated. How do I go forward in finding an Estate Attorney - one caveat we own a home in Missouri(no State Estate Tax) and now one in Oregon where they have a lower ‘State Estate Tax’ that I need to be concerned about. Should I find an Estate Lawyer for a new trust in Oregon or is one in Missouri ok?
Hello, I also am trying to educate myself in reading the new tax laws and how it will affect my estate and tax planning. I’m reading books and learning the lingo enough to interview an Estate attorney to update our husband and wife trust that is out dated. How do I go forward in finding an Estate Attorney - one caveat we own a home in Missouri(no State Estate Tax) and now one in Oregon where they have a lower ‘State Estate Tax’ that I need to be concerned about. Should I find an Estate Lawyer for a new trust in Oregon or is one in Missouri ok?
I assume the way you wrote, that you are currently MO residents, and that your trust is sitused in MO. So start with a lawyer there, for whatever updates are needed. He/she can probably research whether you need to do anything in OR; the trust should be able to property in more than one state.
