When you work hard your whole life, you don't want your assets to go into the wrong hands. Whether you leave behind a spouse, children, grandchildren, or best friend, planning your estate can ensure your designated assets go into the right hands. However, failure to spell things out legally may keep your estate in limbo or the target of a scam. Here are reasons to arrange a meeting with an estate planning lawyer today.

1. Name Beneficiaries

The most obvious reason to hire an estate planning lawyer is to specify who your heirs are. You may want to leave everything to your spouse, children, or grandchildren, or split things evenly. You can specify if you want one person to get the bulk of everything or if you want to designate it by percentages. Planning out your estate provides great flexibility in how you want to allocate your assets. If you don't plan this out while you're still alive, it’ll be left in the hands of the state to appoint your assets to whoever your state considers your next of kin.

2. Appoint a Trusted Manager

Upon your death or incapacitation, you need someone to ensure your assets go into the right hands. The executor is the person who manages your will upon your passing. It's their job to work with a probate attorney or estate lawyer to go through the legal process to prove your will is valid. They'll ensure that every beneficiary gets whatever is designated to them. The executor usually should be somebody who isn’t named as a direct heir in your will.

3. Take Care of Minors

Do you have any minor children? If so, estate plans left to them let you name a legal guardian until they become 18 years old, according to Forbes. Think of someone who you trust, whether it's an older sibling of theirs, a godparent, another relative, or a friend to manage their care and assets until they are old enough to handle it on their own.

4. Name a Power of Attorney

You may need to begin designating control of your estate before you pass away. In any event that you become incapacitated due to illness, coma, mental issues, or age-related memory loss, it's important to name a power of attorney. Your power of attorney can act on your behalf when you can no longer speak or act for yourself. This person is often allowed to make health-related decisions for you.

5. Reduce False Claims Upon Death

When someone dies, it can often create a major fight over money. Sometimes, that fight may happen among their heirs, but it may even happen with strangers looking to scam. It may even cause extended family members with no claim on the estate to come out of the woodwork. By having everything spelled out with a proper estate plan, you can prevent the likelihood of mishaps happening upon your death. Plus, if you utilize a trust instead of a will, the way your estate is handled will be more private.

6. Lower Inheritance Taxes

It would be a shame to see so much of your estate go away to taxes because of poor planning beforehand. Working with an estate planning lawyer can help you create solutions so that your beneficiaries can benefit from more of your assets and pay less inheritance taxes. One way to do so is by gifting money and assets to your heirs during your lifetime. Life insurance is another way to provide for heirs without major tax consequences, especially if you have an irrevocable life insurance trust. Look into annuities, which usually provide a death benefit to anyone you name as an heir. These beneficiaries may also receive tax-free withdrawals if you change an IRA to a Roth account.

As you can see, there are several reasons to use an estate planning lawyer. We've been awarded the Florida Legal Elite for our amazing representation of clients. To find out more about how we can help you make the most out of your estate, contact the Law Offices of David H. Trevett, PL today for a complimentary consultation. We look forward to working with you and helping you plan your estate. Get peace of mind when you work with our team.