Who are Estate Lawyers and What Do They Do?
An estate is the real or personal property that one possesses at death. Estate lawyers in the Gold Coast help their clients to get their things in order so they can be prepared for death or mental illness that can see them lose control of their assets.
What Do Estate Lawyers Do?
Most people think of estate lawyers as people with expertise in making a last will and testament. However, an estate lawyer does more than that. An estate lawyer on Gold Coast also helps in trusts, living wills, power of attorneys and health care directives.
Estate lawyers will help you to mitigate or avoid estate taxes, keep your investments and assets safe after your death, and arrange for how you can be taken care of in case you become mentally ill.
Estate lawyers Gold Coast also provide very comprehensive estate planning services for their clients. This means that the attorney has to understand the life goals of the client and working to ensure that they achieve them by providing the required legal counsel.
Who Needs an Estate Lawyer?
Everyone needs an estate lawyer because eventually everyone dies and leaves some sort of asset or property behind. If someone dies and they do not leave a will behind, their possessions go into probate court therefore planning before any eventuality is important.
Before a lawyer is able to properly offer counsel, they should understand the type of ownership the client has and the control they have. Is it a community property, partnership or joint tenancy? This is important for the lawyer to know because it affects how much control the client can have on the assets.
For instance, if the estate is a partnership, one partner cannot sell the property without the consent of the other partner. The people who will take charge of the estate after need to know how much control they have.
Qualities of a Good Estate Lawyer Gold Coast
Specialisation
Although some estate lawyers also practice general law, having a lawyer that is specialised in estate law will be more beneficial for you as a client. This is because with specialisation, a Gold Coast lawyer understands all the ins and outs of law planning.
They can offer good advice and they are able to get through the required processes quickly and without any mistakes. When the lawyer is specialised they become more updated on the laws of the region which means better services for you.
Caring
With an estate lawyer, you share most of your intimate details and issues about your life. You should therefore look for a lawyer that cares about your life, someone that will always try to meet you at the point of your needs and take care of your interests.
Honesty
it is very easy for an estate lawyer to take advantage of their clients when they are vulnerable. It is therefore important that you look for a lawyer with high levels of integrity and honesty, a lawyer that cannot turn on you or favor one side or the other after your death.