The importance of proper estate planning need not be stressed. When you hear the word estate, it refers to everything you worked hard for. Your home, money in bank accounts, investments in stocks, mutual funds and bonds, cars, life insurance, business and others. Without proper estate planning, your beneficiaries will most likely be inconvenienced with all the requirements in settling your estate.
In Arizona, the key to having well-prepared estate planning documents is to hire the best Arizona estate planning lawyer for your family. The qualities you need to look for include the following.
Professional
You should hire an Arizona estate planning lawyer that is highly professional. Aside from being state-licensed and having an extensive experience in estate planning, your lawyer should value your importance as a client and establish a great relationship with you. Your Arizona estate planning lawyer should also provide you with counseling together with excellent listening skills. Of course, you will need to have an estate planning lawyer that you can talk to on all levels and will maintain proper attitude at all times. In some cases, you will need to discuss with your lawyer sensitive issues involving your family and your lawyer should remain objective and respectful of your wishes.
Ethical
Since estate planning will deal with a lot of your assets, you should hire an Arizona estate planning lawyer that is reliable and trust-worthy. Your estate planning lawyer should consider all your needs above everything and work hard to ensure your family’s needs are be met as well. Having the right set of values should also be an important factor to consider and you can determine if your estate planning lawyer has this if he provides you with suggestions and advice that are legal and morally right.
Committed
This quality is perhaps the most important trait you should look for to hire the best Arizona estate planning lawyer. Your lawyer should be committed in working out all details in your estate and will not have problems working with your investment advisor, accountant and insurance professional. The best estate planning lawyer would never think of your estate plans as a one-time deal but will consider it to be a long arduous process that should be done meticulously and thoroughly.
With all these qualities, you can be sure that your estate plans will be completed and executed as you wanted.
By: Natalie Aranda
A successful mediation for the parties is one in which they resolve all their disagreements and proceed to an uncontested divorce hearing. Benefits of a mediated divorce settlement agreement include lessening emotional and financial stress, and an agreement both parties can live with because they are the one who chose the resolutions of their issues.
This checklist will help parties avoid forgetting important issues and information during the mediation. Ideally, you have met or spoken with your family mediator prior to the date of mediation and provided some of this basic information. Regardless, it is always a good idea for you to have these with you, even if you will be attending the mediation with your attorney and have previously provided these items to him or her:
1. Have basic information with you, including date of marriage, and the following documents for easy reference during the mediation:
a list of real and personal property and what you believe is the fair market value of it; debt, including credit cards, mortgage statements, etc., and the balances on each; investment accounts, including retirement, pension, IRAs, and regular investments, and the balances of each bank account (both checking and savings-If you and your spouse have children, include college accounts, doctors’ bills, etc. (Note: child support calculations are made based on your income recent pay stubs-it’s a good idea to bring at least at the last 3 months worth of pay stubs); health insurance information, including the cost for one, and the cost of health insurance for the children alone if you and your spouse have children from the marriage; any other document that is important to you and you wish to discuss with your spouse.
2. A list of the things and questions which are important to you to talk about and resolve.
3. An open mind. Regardless of what has taken place before this point, no one can change the past, including the mediator. It is best to look to the future and what you want to come out of the mediation so that you can evaluate the alternatives discussed during the mediation.
4. Be on time for the mediation. Even if your divorce mediation has been scheduled for the entire day, being on time will let you take advantage of every minute.
To download a mediation guide related to divorce visit http://peacefulfamilyoptions.info
© 2008 Vivian Rodriguez
By: Vivian Rodriguez
Filing for a divorce case is quite a painstaking and tedious task but it can be made simpler if you employ a skillful divorce lawyer. It is advisable to ensure you get a family court lawyer to handle your case, as it would save quite a lot of time, finance and energy in the end. In order to ensure you get a good divorce attorney, you must keep certain important points in mind. It is best to first inquire for some recommendations from family members or friends you are close to. If you are unable to find any known references, you must search the Internet for a good online family lawyer but always make sure to check their integrity and experience.
Once you decide upon a reliable divorce attorney, the next important thing is that you must prepare for your first interview with your legal counsel. You must try to provide as much relevant information you can about yourself and your spouse and/or children (if any) during your first visit itself. This helps the attorney to comprehend your case well in advance and further represent your case strongly. You must be comfortable enough with your him/her to share all the relevant information. You must be able to clearly state the reasons for divorce and be sure about it so that you know you and your attorney are working towards the same goal.
Make Sure You Select The Right Lawyer!
You must provide all relevant details to your lawyer related to your marriage and mention strongly if there was any prenuptial agreement of any kind. The next important thing is that if you have children, issues related to their custody are very crucial. You must make sure you discuss in detail about the custody of your child/children with your child custody lawyer in order to help planning in the preliminary stage itself. Once this is discussed, the next vital issue is related to finance. You need to be transparent about financial matters as in your source(s) of income, property owned or rented, investments, bank accounts and other assets, etc.
In case you have children, you need to provide details of their expenditure and plan out a feasible budget that can be followed by you if you intend to acquire the custody of your children. You will also need to show all your legal credentials to the divorce lawyer be it loan/ mortgage documents or any other pending court case. Also, be very precise and explicit about the outcome you require out of the divorce in terms of property, assets, etc.
By: Anupriya Jain
