Get Started
1-866-7INKWELL

Why You Need an Estate and Trust Administration Lawyer

Estate administration ensures that your loved ones respect your wishes for your assets when you’re gone. Estate planning also prepares for situations where you’re alive but unable to make decisions for yourself. An estate planning attorney can guide you through the process of setting up your estate and administering it. Let’s look at how your estate planning attorney helps you put your estate together.

What Do Estate Planning Services Involve?

Estate planning services perform many different services to put your estate in order. They ensure that all your assets, including real estate, are properly titled. If you don’t have properly titled assets, those assets could end up in probate court after your death. Your estate planning attorney also helps you set up a revocable trust, which holds your assets and prevents a probate court from distributing them after your death. Your attorney can set up a last will and testament that takes effect after your death. They can also set up a living will that outlines your medical wishes, so your loved ones can honor them if you are incapacitated. All these services take care of you and your assets in the wake of your death or incapacitation.

What Happens If You Don’t Plan for Your Estate?

If you don’t make estate planning decisions, you could end up with a probate estate. That means a probate court distributes your assets according to the laws of your state. For example, estate law in St. Louis follows the laws of Missouri, which claim that an estate without a will falls under the Missouri’s intestacy laws. According to intestacy laws, there are a wide range of possible outcomes if the deceased did not create a will. For example, a surviving spouse can receive half of an estate if their deceased spouse has descendants from a previous marriage or relationship, and there are similar laws for situations where the spouses do share children. Do you see how this type of scenario can create an estate dispute? Estate planning services help you avoid probate court, bitter family disputes, and trust and estate litigation.

How Does a Revocable Trust Work?

An estate planning attorney can also help you set up a revocable trust. How does that type of trust work? A revocable trust holds your assets for you, so your estate avoids probate after your death. When you avoid probate, a probate court does not have to prove your will’s validity or distribute your assets. A revocable trust also states  where you want your assets to go after your death. 

 

Additionally, this type of trust is revocable because you can change it any time after you set it up. If you put your assets into a revocable trust, you can set up a pour-over will that takes care of any assets you purchase or receive after you create the revocable trust. After your death, the trust will absorb the assets in the pour-over will. Overall, a revocable trust works to distribute your assets according to your wishes and keeps them out of probate court.

 

How Does Inkwell Help You Set Up Your Estate?

Inkwell’s estate and trust attorneys in St. Louis, MO help you plan out every part of your estate. We can help you set up your revocable trust and guide your trustees through its administration process. Our Core Legal Plans, Funding Program, and Maintenance Program all ensure your trust and estate assets go to your chosen beneficiaries and destinations after you pass. We also prepare powers of attorney and other legal documents that carry out your will if you die or become incapacitated. Ultimately, Inkwell can help you take care of your assets, your loved ones, and your estate after your death through our comprehensive estate planning legal programs.

Set Up Your Estate and Trust With Inkwell

If you’re ready to begin the estate planning process, reach out to Inkwell today. We’re trust and estate attorneys in St. Louis who have the knowledge and experience to help you set up and manage every part of your estate. Let us help you set up the right estate plan and revocable trust for your personal assets and your financial situation.