Dealing with estate planning work can leave you wondering whether you're doing enough to ensure that as much money and assets as possible end up in the places you desire. One approach that many estate planning services firms encourage their clients to consider is setting up a trust. Let's take a look at how this works and what the pros and cons are. Trusts versus Estates At its core, a trust is a fiduciary agreement involving a third party while an estate is a direct transfer of assets and powers.

Making arrangements for your passing is one of the least pleasant activities that you will need to do, but it can be essential for protecting your loved ones from chaos and stress following your death. To this end, estate plans can be extremely useful, but you might not fully appreciate the range of benefits that you can enjoy by creating one of these plans. Manage Tax Implications If you plan on leaving assets to your survivors, it is important to note that this could potentially result in their owing additional taxes.

When you are interested in buying a restaurant, you may be most interested in finding out about the food and managing the place, but before you finalize the purchase, it's wise to think about getting a real estate attorney. Your real estate sales agent may be helping you find places and look at them, but there are some reasons to have a lawyer in your corner. You might think you don't need a lawyer in this kind of situation, but look at the following points before you decide not to hire one.

If you are buying property, you may be tempted to handle the deal yourself, especially if you've bought real estate before with no problems. However a good real estate lawyer can be worth their weight in gold when it comes to protecting your assets during negotiations, in closing, and after the sale. How do you know what makes a good attorney? Here are four things they'll never do. Leave the Property Title Open to Future Legal Problems

No one likes to think about death - especially their own. However, if you plan to leave a considerable estate to heirs, you need to take steps to ensure they can get their inheritance as quickly as possible. Whenever someone passes away, their estate must go through probate. This is where your final will is determined to be valid or invalid. Probate can take anywhere from a few days to weeks or even years, if the will's validity is contested.

If you are working up to selling your home, there may be situations where a real estate attorney's help will be needed. Some home sales are simple and can be worked through with just your realtors, but others may involve details that only a lawyer can help with. Here are four times that hiring on a real estate attorney can help ensure that the sale of your home is above board.