How to Find an Estate Planning Attorney: A Step-by-Step Guide
Knowing how to find an estate attorney is a lot like knowing whether somebody is trustworthy or not. It requires you to have a keen sense of character and to be able to tell whether someone will be there when you need them.
In the worst of cases, you are not going to be able to tell if your estate attorney has done does their job or not, after all – it will be your heirs, your family & children who will need to work with them.
Estate attorneys ensure, through planning, that a person’s assets, debts, and property are taken care of after they pass away. In short, they are responsible for making sure everything you want to be passed down is passed down correctly. Most of all, they help you to make sure your last wishes are followed exactly as you wanted.
Keep reading below to learn how to find an estate lawyer you can trust!
Ask for Referrals
The best way to find someone worth hiring to handle your final wishes is to ask around. Almost everybody should have an estate lawyer, and chances are that the people around you have done their research on theirs. Simply ask them who they went with and look into the lawyer yourself!
Asking Other Professionals May Get Better Results
Nobody knows professionals like other professionals. They tend to have a keen sense of who to trust, and the quality of other peoples’ work. When you first start looking for an estate lawyer, you could try to get referrals from other kinds of lawyers.
A personal injury lawyer or a corporate lawyer likely will not have much particular interest at stake in giving you a fair assessment of an estate lawyer’s office. Check your network. You might be able to get both an honest opinion and a skillful evaluation of estate lawyers just by asking other lawyers about them.
Community Referrals Guarantee They Are Trustworthy
You are a part of your community, and you should take advantage of it. Talk to the people who know you about your search for an estate lawyer. There is a lot of people that end up using or needing an estate planning lawyer at some point in their life, and if someone already hired an estate lawyer they trust, it is at least possible that you will be able to develop a positive relationship with that lawyer too.
Research How to Find an Estate Lawyer Online
In addition to flexing your network, you may also wish to research estate lawyers online. Most law firms have reviews from actual clients either on their website or on their Google page. These reviews are usually from clients who felt compelled enough, positively or negatively, to share their experiences.
Read up on different law firms, including what they specialize in and what they are known for. That way, you will get a sense of how each law office is different and what you need from the one you go with.
Besides using your favorite search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo), you can also use websites like NOLO, FindLaw, and AVVO. These websites specialize in finding lawyers based on location and specialty. They also contain contact info and reviews for each law firm.
**Bonus, if they have a blog, like ours, you will be well-read on what goes into estate law too!
You Need an Estate Lawyer that You Can Trust
Knowing how to find an estate attorney is a lot like knowing how to trust a person. You need to talk to them and get a sense of their character. You also need to see examples of how they manage their work, and whether people tend to be satisfied with it.
You can reach out to us to schedule a time to speak about what you are looking for in an estate lawyer. We understand how important family is and will work to make sure everyone in it is taken care of when you are not here to do it yourself.