You still need an estate planning lawyer if you are single. In fact, you may need one even more than a married person does considering that you do not have a spouse that all of your assets can easily be passed to if you have no estate plan of your own. It is also important that you look out for your own interests and take the time to decide which of your loved ones you want to pass things down to. So meet with a Rockland County wills, trusts & estates attorney and get your plan taken care of.

What Can An Estate Planning Lawyer Help Me Do?

The estate planning process allows you to specifically outline what you want to do with all of your assets after you pass away, If you are the sole owner of something, like a vehicle, a piece of property, or a bank account, it is yours to put in your estate plan. We can help you:

  • Choose beneficiaries on all of your accounts
  • Pick someone to have medical power of attorney, the right to make healthcare decisions for you when you are no longer able to
  • Set up a trust
  • Write a will that has legal standing
  • Ensure that you can pass down assets to friends and other loved ones
  • Make care plans or set up a trust for a loved one with special needs

A knowledgeable estate planning lawyer from our firm can help you with every stage of this process.

What Happens to My Assets if I Do Not Have a Plan?

If you have assets that are individually owned when you pass away, the state of New York essentially has to make a will for you. For the most part, the state is only going to leave things to family members. Your children will get everything or your parents will get everything if you have no children. If neither of these are an option, then your assets could go to another family member. A grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin might be at the top of the list.

The problem here is that some people probably did not plan to leave everything to one person or a group of family members. If you had friends or other loved ones who you wanted to pass something down to, the state is not going to be able to account for that. Maybe you wanted to leave some of your assets to charity or set up a trust for a loved one. The state is not going to do that for you. You need to take the time to do that for yourself, preferably with the help of our seasoned estate planning attorney.

Schedule a Consultation With Our Team

Our law firm has more than two decades of experience helping clients with their wills and estate planning needs. So contact the Lauterbach Law Firm and set up an appointment with our team today. We can help you take on every aspect of the estate planning process so that you can be sure that your family members and loved ones are taken care of when you are gone.