You have made the decisions about how you want your estate divided after you die. The hard work of who gets what is on paper. Now, you need an attorney who can help you forge a will and act as executor when the time comes.
You want to accomplish several things at this point. Your assets need a way for your nest egg to be sheltered from being consumed by long-term care should it be in your future. Some investments work for this, but others don’t even get close. An estate attorney can give you guidance in this important area. You want your heirs to receive your assets, but not until the proper time. Your attorney can help here, too.
So, how do you find an estate attorney? You could look in the Yellow Pages. Another possibility is to ask friends about it. You could contact an attorney that doesn’t deal with estates and ask who he or she would use. If you trust this person, their recommendation is probably valid and not just a personal friend.
If your estate is sizable, you may already have an attorney who can handle this for you. With a modest estate, your banker probably knows who’s reputable in your local area. Even your county clerk’s office may have a list of who handles many of the estates in the county. You can contact your state bar association to make sure they are not being sued by every estate they’ve represented.
The reality is that if you don’t know an attorney, this can be a scary trip. By using a combination of 3 or so of the above methods to locate an attorney, you will help increase the odds of finding a good one. You really want more than honesty here because you may need guidance beyond just creating a will and executor. An experienced estate attorney is worth his or her retainer to your estate. You may need to spend a few hundred dollars to interview prospective attorneys before reaching a decision.