Mobile Wills & Trusts Attorney
Serving Clients in Southern Alabama
If you have assets and an estate you want to protect, you may need a will and/or a trust. These legal measures ensure that your property goes to your beneficiaries and help give your family peace of mind when handling your estate after death.
Ryan Legal Services, Inc. provides legal support and guidance to clients in Mobile and Southern Alabama. We offer a variety of legal services, including wills and trusts. Our team understands how important it is to protect what matters, so we provide compassionate counsel and peace of mind when you need it most.
Call our Mobile wills & trusts attorney at (251) 241-5234 to find out how Ryan Legal Services, Inc. can help you plan for the future.
What Is a Will?
A will is a legal document that includes your intentions to leave your property to a person or organization, name a guardian for your minor children, select an executor, and name a trustee to manage your property. There is no room for a misunderstanding or confusion about who will handle your assets or receive the inheritance. Wills protect your interests after death and help make the probate process easier on your family.
By planning out the future of your estate ahead of time, you can protect your assets from probate. Probate is the process of dividing an estate and paying off creditors after death. The court will evaluate your estate and distribute the funds to the state for back taxes, creditors, and finally, the beneficiaries. A will can eliminate the need for probate or ensure that large portions of the estate are exempt from the process.
Intestacy Laws
Your estate will be subject to intestacy laws if you die without a will. In Alabama, intestacy law grants your property to your closest relatives, starting with your spouse and children. If you do not have a living spouse or children, your estate will go to the next of kin.
To inherit an estate or assets, a person must outlive the deceased by at least five days. Half-relatives, those who share one family line but not the other, have the same right to property as a blood relative. This means that a sibling who shares the same father but not the same mother is equally entitled to your estate as a sibling who shares both parents. Posthumous relatives, conceived before and born after your death, may be beneficiaries.
Trusts
A trust is a method of estate transfer that utilizes a fiduciary relationship between the party authority and the trustees or beneficiaries. If you decide to organize your estate through a trust, you become the party authority or trustor, and many select a trustee to handle the estate after death.
There are different types of trusts, including:
- Living Trust: A living trust is a document that can be changed or edited during the trustor's lifetime. These documents allow the trustor to maintain property ownership during their life and protect assets from probate.
- Irrevocable Trust: Unlike a living trust, irrevocable trusts cannot be changed or modified once written. No one, including the trustor, can edit the document for any reason.
- Charitable Trusts: These trusts benefit a charity or the public in general, depending on the trustor's wishes.
If you have a trust, you still need a will to ensure that your wishes are carried out after death. A trust protects assets, but a will can protect assets and children in many cases. A will can also account for property not listed in the trust. Essentially, a will provides legal backup to the trust.
Start Planning for the Future Today
Creating an estate plan can be complicated and emotionally burdensome. No one wants to think about what may happen to their loved ones if they die, but you do not have to face this process alone. Our Mobile wills and trusts attorney can guide you through the estate planning process and overcome obstacles along the way.
Ryan Legal Services, Inc. has over 24 years of experience handling wills and trusts, and we prioritize our client's goals to help them pursue the most optimal result. We believe in providing every client with one-on-one counsel with our attorney and 24/7 access to our staff and case updates. Our team puts our experience to work and treats our clients with the respect and compassion they deserve.
Get the peace of mind you need and schedule a free consultation with our Mobile wills and trusts attorney. Entrust your case to Ryan Legal Services, Inc. and put your case in good hands.