Elko, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

You may find an attorney who is willing to review and help you sign documents that the attorney didn't prepare, but honestly you will likely not be well-served by that course of action. In order to review a Will and revocable trust, for example, any attorney at my firm would need to read the document in depth, in addition to meeting with you to understand your situation, your wishes, and what you are trying to accomplish in the documents, in order to ensure that the documents are adequate or to know what changes should be recommended. That kind of work is generally hourly rate work, and a thorough review and consultation takes a lot of time. You would likely be better off just having new documents prepared (an amended and restated revocable trust), especially if you find an attorney who does estate planning work on a fixed fee basis. In my firm, we always review existing documents as part of an estate planning consultation, and if the underlying documents really are pretty good, then sometimes we can help with the few changes needed. But it is almost never the most cost-effective way to do it, because there's so much from-scratch work and we can't give you a flat fee because we don't know how long it will take. If you really are set on doing this yourself and just finding an attorney who will review the documents you prepared and help you sign them, this is not the correct forum. You will need to look up attorneys in whatever area you want to work in, and then call or e-mail each attorney's office directly to see whether or not they will perform this kind of work and how they will charge for it. Again, you may find one. But it likely won't be inexpensive.

You may or may not need a trust or a family limited partnership. However, you do need an estate plan if you don't already have one in place. Even if you do have one in place, if it has been more than 3 years or so, it would be a good idea to sit down with your estate planning attorney and give it a review.   This question is not one which is suited for an answer on this forum, because in order for me or any other attorney to tell you what you should have in place to protect your family and transfer your assets effeciently, the attorney MUST be able to sit down with you, review your assets in detail, review your family situation, explain the issues you are facing and your options for dealing with them, and make personal recommendations. So, I cannot tell you whether you need a trust, FLP, or any other planning structure. I can tell you that if you have rental properties or a working farm (you mentioned the farm, but you don't state what type of activities you conduct on the farm and whether it's really a business or just a personal use farm), you may well benefit from having at least one or two limited liability companies (which may or may not be structured as typical "family" LLCs), to help protect you against potential liability that might arise with regard to those properties. As for a trust, there are two basic types: irrevocable and revocable. Irrevocable trusts come in many flavors, but are primarily tax planning techniques. If done correctly, the irrevocable trust is generally designed to eventually move the assets it holds out of your estate for estate tax purposes; some types are also designed to have charitable deduction benefits. They generally also involve the loss of at least some degree of control by you over the assets transferred to the trust. Revocable trusts are usually a probate-avoidance technique, but can also be helpful in the event of a long-term incapacity. If you have real estate that is located in a different state from your principal residence, or if you plan to distribute your estate in a manner that may make a would-be heir unhappy, avoiding probate may be a good idea. Otherwise, whether you really need to avoid probate depends on your principal state of residence (GA is generally NOT a state where a normal probate is all that difficult or expensive). Please find a good estate planning attorney in the state where you have your principal residence and get a consultation. It will be worth the time spent.

The aunt needs to hire an attorney. The home is not a part of the estate, because she owns it. She needs someone to assert her rights. If she had personal property in the home, she can petition for it to be returned. It is not an easy case and it may not be worth pursuing depending on how much the property is worth.