When people think about family law, they typically think about child support, divorces involving children or adoption issues. While this is certainly something that many family law firms provide, another thing that a Family Lawyer in Bainbridge Island can provide is estate planning. This may seem somewhat odd, but in reality, if a person is leaving behind a spouse or children that they wish to take care of in the event they would pass away, this very much becomes a family law issue.
There are many approaches that individuals can take when it comes to estate planning. For those that don’t have a great deal of money but they have life insurance policies, making sure the beneficiaries of the life insurance policies are updated is essential. The reason for this is that while a person’s estate may have to enter into the probate process after a person has passed away, life insurance is free from probate and estate taxes. This is money a family could use if a provider has passed away.
For individuals that have a fair amount of money, especially those individuals whose estate could be hit rather hard by the estate tax, estate planning may have to be a bit more specific. In these situations, people may set up a trust. What this does is it transfers a person’s possessions, both physical and monetary before their death, to an individual designated as the trustee. Often times, this can be a spouse, a child or another sibling. This trust allows for an estate to avoid the timely and costly probate process and it can also significantly reduce the taxes due on the estate after a person passes away.
Whether you have a large amount of money or you’re like most people and have only a limited amount of liquidity or assets, consulting with a Family Lawyer in Bainbridge Island to set up a proper estate plan is essential. Whether it’s updating a person’s will, developing a living will or preparing to handle financial assets after a person has passed away, the estate planning a family lawyer can offer can be extremely helpful. A family lawyer can help give you peace of mind to know your family is well taken care of in the event you were to pass away.
