Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
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slahiri
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Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by slahiri »

I have setup our living trust with the help of a lawyer.

Now I need advice on how to move my assets in it.

Also, based on a recent bad legal incident, I want to know how to safeguard the trust from being sued by other parties.

Please share any information you may have.

Thanks a lot!

- Sandip
Lafder
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by Lafder »

Why can't the lawyer who set up the trust tell you what to do? And advise on how to protect your assets from lawsuits?

If you no longer trust the attorney who set up the trust, I would pay a new attorney to review the trust before I moved assets, in case there are issues in how the trust is set up.

I thought it was as simple as retitling assets in the name of the trust ?

Oh duh, the title of your post is how do I find a good estate attorney. I would ask around and see if the same names come up more than once as a start.

lafder
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LadyGeek
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread is now in the Personal Finance (Not Investing) forum (attorney).

slahiri, Welcome!
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gatorman
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by gatorman »

You might contact your state bar association for a referral to an asset protection planning attorney. In most states there is no asset protection for assets transferred to a revocable living trust. In many states there is no asset protection for the grantor's assets transferred to an irrevocable trust established by the grantor. Alaska and Nevada trusts may afford some degree of protection, but you'd need to consult an attorney there to get the details.
gatorman
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slahiri
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by slahiri »

Thank you gatorman and Lafder!
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dm200
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by dm200 »

slahiri wrote:I have setup our living trust with the help of a lawyer.
Now I need advice on how to move my assets in it.
Also, based on a recent bad legal incident, I want to know how to safeguard the trust from being sued by other parties.
Please share any information you may have.
Thanks a lot!
- Sandip
With either a will or trust (or a combination), it seems to me that a competent attorney would provide adequate and detailed guidance and instructions on doing this. Didn't this attorney provide this guidance? if not, why not?
A few years ago, my wife and I redid our wills, etc. and chose complex wills with disclsimer trusts - and, as part of the "package" from the attorney were detailed instructions on changes to beneficiary designations on retirement
daveatca
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look for the money

Post by daveatca »

At funerals of rich people
small_index
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by small_index »

Poking around on yelp for a "real estate" attorney, I kept coming across "estate attorney" in listings. So check yelp.com and see if the reviews there help guide your decision.
bsteiner
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by bsteiner »

gatorman wrote:You might contact your state bar association for a referral to an asset protection planning attorney. ....
small_index wrote:Poking around on yelp for a "real estate" attorney, I kept coming across "estate attorney" in listings. So check yelp.com and see if the reviews there help guide your decision.
Neither of these is likely to be a good place to look.

However, any firm with a good tax and trusts and estates practice should be able to create an asset protection trust, either domestic or offshore. Anyone with a high enough net worth to be considering creating an asset protection trust should be able to find competent counsel if he/she doesn't already have one.
Gemini
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by Gemini »

If you are in NYC, bsteiner is the man.
FLC41
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by FLC41 »

If you're in the U.S., you might wish to consult the American College and Trust and Estate Counsel web site:

https://www.actec.org/public/AboutACTEC.asp

ACTEC fellows are selected by their peers, and they therefore cannot "buy" or self-nominate their way into membership.
Tamahome
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Re: look for the money

Post by Tamahome »

daveatca wrote:At funerals of rich people
We do not actually go to funerals (unless we actually knew the person who passed). Asking for the information for the attorney of the deceased could be considered... bad taste.

As far as where to find an attorney practicing in that area of law, most bar associations have "sections". The estate planning section would have those who practiced that area of law as a focus of his/her practice. It would be a good place to start.
I'm not a financial professional. Post is info only & not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship exists with reader. Scrutinize my ideas as if you spoke with a guy at a bar. I may be wrong.
small_index
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by small_index »

bsteiner wrote:
small_index wrote:Poking around on yelp for a "real estate" attorney, I kept coming across "estate attorney" in listings. So check yelp.com and see if the reviews there help guide your decision.
Neither of these is likely to be a good place to look.
Could you elaborate on why many positive yelp reviews would be a poor place to pick an estate attorney?
bsteiner
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by bsteiner »

small_index wrote:
bsteiner wrote:
small_index wrote:Poking around on yelp for a "real estate" attorney, I kept coming across "estate attorney" in listings. So check yelp.com and see if the reviews there help guide your decision.
Neither of these is likely to be a good place to look.
Could you elaborate on why many positive yelp reviews would be a poor place to pick an estate attorney?
I searched in Yelp for "estate attorney" in "New York, NY" (without the quote marks). I looked at the first 50 or so names. There were only a few that I recognized, and all but one were postings by the lawyer without any reviews. I only recognized one who had reviews, and while the reviews were favorable, the lawyer wasn't one whom I would recommend.

You're better off asking people whose judgment you trust, getting a few names, and then checking their bios and their firms' websites, and their ratings on martindale.com (A, B or C, based on peer review, and without any grade inflation).
Pacific
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Re: Where can I find a good Estate attorney?

Post by Pacific »

small_index wrote:
bsteiner wrote:
small_index wrote:Poking around on yelp for a "real estate" attorney, I kept coming across "estate attorney" in listings. So check yelp.com and see if the reviews there help guide your decision.
Neither of these is likely to be a good place to look.
Could you elaborate on why many positive yelp reviews would be a poor place to pick an estate attorney?
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/y ... ior-814981
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