Why Use an Attorney to Update My Estate Planning Documents?

If you have created your estate plan but need it to be updated, you should always reach out to a local attorney to help you update your estate plan. While you may think it is easy and you just need to switch out a name, or update a phone number, it is likely more complex than that.

An Attorney Knows the Law

While this may go without saying, an attorney knows the law. Regardless of whether you used an attorney to draft your estate plan previously or not, you should use one now. A knowledgeable estate planning attorney in your area will not only review the prior documents with you and discuss your desired changes, but importantly, they will make sure that what you wish to change is actually viable.

For example, in Florida, the executor of your estate must be a Florida resident unless they are blood related to you. So, if you wanted to update your will to remove your sister as executor and appoint your best friend who lives in Georgia, your wishes would not be achievable. Of course, you can update the will to say whatever you like, but the purpose of it is to ensure it works! An attorney can act as a sounding board to make sure your changes are viable.

Having a good estate planning attorney on your side is helpful because it is more than just typing documents. It is helping you to understand your estate and creating a plan around that to ensure your family, friends, and favorite charities are taken care of when you die.

The Purpose of An Estate Plan is To Meet Your Wishes

While creating an estate plan on your own or using a non-attorney software often seems to be the cheap route, it often winds up being more expensive in the end. When you do not have a local attorney helping you and making sure your wishes comply with state law, you may wind up trying to do things that you cannot do. (For example, appointing an out-of-state friend as your executor!). You may also not properly bequeath items, which would result in your wishes being frustrated.

Therefore, while the cheap solution may seem to be “all you really need,” it often isn’t even worth what you paid because it just doesn’t work. The purpose of an estate plan is not just checking something off your to do list. The purpose of an estate plan is having something that meets your wishes and can take care of you and your beneficiaries in the event of your incapacity or death.

Jacksonville Estate Planning Attorney

If you need a local attorney in Florida to help you update your estate plan, contact us today. If you are ready to get started on your Florida estate plan, you can do so here.