Estate Planning Lawyers in Liberty County, GA

Serving the Needs of the Hinesville, Ludowici & Jesup Communities for Decades

Estate planning is one of the most important legal actions you will undertake if you wish to make certain your property and health care wishes are followed and that your loved ones are taken care of when you are gone. These actions involve a number of legal documents that will be tailored to your needs and objectives. They will establish instructions that will clarify many questions that can arise should you pass away or become unable to express your wishes due to illness or injury.

Estate Planning Lawyers Near You

At Pirkle & Pirkle Law, our Liberty County estate planning attorneys have the requisite skills, experience, and knowledge to design an estate plan that will fit your personal needs. Our firm has been established as a professional source for a wide variety of legal matters in Southeast Georgia since 1974. We have helped thousands of individuals throughout the decades in creating viable and successful estate plans that have many benefits for the entire family. Read our lawyer reviews to see why clients choose our Liberty County law firm when they need an estate planning lawyer near them.

Need an estate plan? Reach out to Pirkle & Pirkle Law online or give us a call at (912) 205-5038 to discuss your needs in a free, initial consultation with our estate planning attorneys in Liberty County, GA.

What is an Estate?

Your estate is made up of everything you own, including:

• Your home
• Your vehicles
• Other real estate holdings
• Your checking and savings accounts
• Investments
• Stock portfolios
• Life insurance
• Furniture
• Jewelry, collectibles, and art
• Other personal possessions

What is an Estate Planning Lawyer & What Do They Do?

Everyone has an estate, no matter how large and complex or small and simple. In order to ensure that you maintain control over how that is estate is passed on after you are gone, you need to take legal action now through estate planning instruments and methods, such as a last will and testament, revocable or irrevocable trust, powers of attorney, advance health directive, or other legal documents.

These documents will provide instructions covering whom you wish to name as heirs and beneficiaries, delineating what you want each of them to receive, and when you want them to receive it. This can include family members, friends, charitable organizations, and others whom you name through your estate planning documents. An estate planning lawyer can help you draft a legally binding last will and testament, and assign a power of attorney, trustee, or heir to your property.

Services Will and Estate Lawyers Near You Can Provide

Will and estate lawyers play an essential role in estate planning, providing expert advice to individuals who want to ensure their assets are managed and distributed according to their wishes after their death. They guide clients through the complex legal landscape, offering clarity, and helping to construct an effective plan that mitigates tax liabilities and avoids potential disputes among beneficiaries.

The services provided by Will and Estate Lawyers include but are not limited to:

• Drafting a Will: This critical document allows you to express your wishes regarding the distribution of your assets after your death. The attorney will ensure your will is legally valid and clear to avoid misinterpretation.
• Creating Trusts: Estate lawyers can help establish various types of trusts, providing control over your assets and offering potential tax advantages.
• Designing an Estate Plan: Attorneys work with you to develop an estate plan that meets your specific needs and goals, considering all aspects of your financial situation.
• Updating Estate Plans: As life changes occur, your estate plan may need to be updated. Lawyers assist in revising your will, trusts, and other documents as needed.
• Probate Assistance: After a person's death, the estate may go through a court process known as probate. An estate lawyer can help navigate this process, representing the estate's interests.
• Estate Tax Planning: Estate lawyers provide advice on strategies to reduce the potential impact of estate taxes on your beneficiaries.
• Powers of Attorney and Living Wills: These documents allow you to designate an individual to make financial and health care decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. An attorney can guide you in making these critical decisions.
• Guardianship: If you have minor children or dependents, estate lawyers can assist in setting up legal guardianship in your will.
• Asset Protection: This involves strategies to protect your assets from creditors. Estate lawyers can provide advice on how to best structure your finances to ensure your assets are safeguarded.
• Resolving Estate Disputes: If disputes arise during the probate process, estate lawyers can act as mediators or represent clients in court to resolve these disputes.

Remember, effective Georgia estate planning with the help of competent will and estate lawyers can ensure that your assets are protected and your loved ones are taken care of after you're gone.

Benefits of an Estate Plan

Estate plans provide many benefits. These include providing clarity to your beneficiaries which will reduce or eliminate conflict among them, ensure that your property is passed on efficiently and with the least amount of legal trouble, can help to avoid or reduce time, taxes, and expense, especially those involving probate, can establish the kind of end-of-life medical care you wish to have or not have, designate trusted individuals to manage your life, financial, or medical decisions should you become incapacitated, and outline your wishes in regards of funeral, burial, or cremation services.

Estate Planning Instruments

Wills

A last will and testament will designate who will receive your property after you are gone, designate a guardian for any minor children as well as someone to manage their inheritance until they come of age, and designate someone you trust to act as the executor of your will in seeing that your instructions are carried out.

Trusts

A trust is a fiduciary arrangement wherein you as the trustor give another party as the trustee the right to hold your property or assets in trust for the benefit of your heirs and beneficiaries. In a living, revocable trust, you can act as the trustee to manage your property while you are alive. Once you pass on, whomever you have designated to act as a trustee after your death will carry out your instructions as to how you wish the property to be transferred.

Powers of Attorney

A Power of Attorney is a legal document in which you name a trusted person to act on your behalf when you are unable to do so through some type of incapacity or because you are out of the country. Powers of attorney can have wide authority to handle all of your life affairs, such as financial, medical, and more or they can have limited authority, granting your agent a specific duty, such as handling medical affairs or financial matters only.

Turn to Pirkle & Pirkle Law for Trusted Legal Help

Our legal team is here to help you with all of your estate planning needs, including help with probate administration as well as designing and finalizing all of the legal documents appropriate to your situation. Let us use our extensive experience in this legal field to ensure that your estate is handled professionally and accurately according to Georgia law.

Need help with probate or an estate plan? Contact a Liberty County estate planning attorney today! Give us a call!