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 experienced estate planning lawyer who could help today.
The role of a lawyer 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 about how they can update their estate plan and, if desired, draft changes for them. An attorney could be the one to send a specific notice informing people that their estate plan may need to be reviewed. When the relevant person receives that, they may decide whether to amend any plans they have.
Ultimately, an attorney serves as a focal point because they are familiar with estate plans, and people often do not think about their estate plan every day.
An estate plan is no more complicated to update than it is to create in the first place, and some people believe it is easier to update an estate plan than to make the decision to 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 one, and enacting the new one.
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 also have to locate any codicils. While there is really no reason not to create a brand-new will every time someone wants it updated, amending it is relatively easy.
However, this is different from trusts, which are technically separate entities and are only effective if funded. When a person initially creates a trust and retitles their assets to the trust’s name, it becomes much more difficult to revoke a trust than to 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 restatement it. 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 difficulties, such as needing to locate both documents. People need to have all the documents in front of them, including the total estate plan. The difference between the two is that the trust is different from just getting rid of and then creating 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. Now they 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 a lawyer 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 keep you from what is important in your life. Call today.
