If you are planning your estate, this involves many things, and you need to ensure everything is done correctly. One professional that can help you with this is an estate administration attorney. Below is information to help you decide if you should hire this type of attorney or do the planning on your own.

Reasons to Hire an Attorney

There are many reasons you should hire an estate administration attorney. First, if you feel overwhelmed at all about filling out all the necessary paperwork, you will likely make mistakes. Some of these mistakes could be detrimental. For example, you may leave assets to the wrong person after your death. 

If you have a large estate, you should definitely hire an attorney to help you. Also, if you have children, this is a big reason. This is because you will designate who you want to have guardianship of your children after you pass away. If you do not do this, a judge will decide who will have custody of your children. You may not agree with this decision. 

If you own your own business, and especially if you own more than one business or land that is in different states, you need an attorney to help you. If you were recently married, you may not want to leave your estate all to your new spouse. If you have a disease that will cause impairment at a later date, such as dementia, you will not be able to make any of these plans on your own. 

Reasons Not To Hire an Attorney

There are many reasons why you would not need an estate administration attorney. The main reason is if you have the time it takes to do this and have some experience with this already. Also, if your estate is small or you do not have a lot of assets that would result in complications, planning your estate will not be too difficult. 

If you do not have any children, then planning your estate will not be nearly as difficult. This is because you will not have to worry about guardianship. 

You can get the documents you need online, and in many cases, for free. You'll need documents like a Trust Letter to a Broker or Bank, Last Will and Testament, letter of intent, durable power of attorney, and more. You can fill these documents out on your own in many cases. You will have to have many of these documents signed in front of a notary public. 

Talk with an estate administration attorney, and they can give you more information on how they can benefit you.