An attorney’s role when updating Lombard estate plans is not limited to trusts, probate, or wills. An attorney’s first and foremost obligation is to provide the peace of mind that you need when planning for the future. With years of experience, an attorney could help you achieve this without having you worry about the legal nature of the estate plan. Reach out to an attorney who could help today.
The role of an attorney when updating Lombard estate plans focuses primarily on keeping estate plan holders up to date with potentially necessary changes to their estate plan. When life happens, people may need to update who they wish to receive parts of their estate, or what they wish to include within the estate. An attorney’s job is to inform people of how they could update their estate plan and if wanted, draft changes for people. An attorney could be the one to send out a particular notice that informs people that their estate plan may need to be reviewed. When the relevent person receives that, they may make a choice as to whether or not they wish to amend any plans they have.
Ultimately, an attorney serves as a focal point since they are familiar with estate plans and every day people are often not thinking about their estate plan.
An estate plan is not any more complicated to update than it is to create originally, and some people believe that it is easier to update an estate plan versus making the decision to step in and create one in the first place. In the case of will-type plans, it is as simple as drafting a new will, revoking the old, and enacting the new.
Some lawyers do not recommend using codicils, which are essentially amendments to a will, because locating the original will for probate could prove challenging Now, not only do they have to locate an original will, but they have to locate codicils as well. While there is really no reason to not create a brand new will every time someone wants it updated, amending it is relatively easy to do.
However, this is different when it comes to trusts because a trust is technically a separate entity, and it is only effective if it is funded. When a person initially creates a trust, and they retitle their assets into the name of the trust, it becomes much more difficult to revoke a trust than create a brand new one. All previous assets need to be retitled into the newer trust.
Instead, it is recommended that trust creators either amend it or do a restatement. An amendment amends specific aspects of the trust. For example, if someone wishes to change the trust and give it to two different charities, they could prepare a simple amendment that changes the initial charities listed.
There are still the difficulties, such as needing to locate both documents. People need to have all the documents in front of them as far as having the total estate plan, but the difference between the two is that the trust is different to just get rid of and then create a new one because it is already funded with assets. A way to get around that is to restate the trust.
It is not technically a brand-new trust, so they do not need to retitle any assets but now they just have one operative document that includes their current estate plan, and that is called a restatement. Restating trusts and amending wills falls well-within the role of an attorney when updating Lombard estate plans.
The role of an attorney when updating estate plans in Lombard cannot be thought of as anything less than useful. Attorneys have experience dealing with the legal nuances of wills, trusts, and probate courts. Because of this experience, it is in your best interest to work with a lawyer. Do not let the overwhelming nature of probate and planning for probate to keep you from what is important in your life. Call today.
