A living trust refers to an estate-planning document with a list of instructions about what will happen to your assets after you die. Most people opt for living trusts instead of wills because they help avoid unnecessary expenditure and time wastage. It might be a good idea to sort out your living trust in case of something unexpected happens.

Probate proceedings involve many complications and are tiresome, so you should consider setting up a living trust. If you are looking for a reliable asset protection and living trust attorney like a Garden Grove CA asset protection attorney, here are some tips that will come in handy:

Qualifications

You need to exercise caution when looking for a lawyer to help with your living trust. Look for a lawyer with plenty of experience with living trusts. Also make sure you feel comfortable around the lawyer because you will be working closely with him/her.

Here are some places to start looking for a living trust lawyer:

Seminars – because living trust lawyers are in high demand, they usually conduct seminars. You can look for lawyers after such a seminar and schedule an appointment for later or ask for free consultations.

Word of mouth – you can rely on word-of-mouth from neighbors and family members when looking for a good lawyer. The people that you trust can provide you with the best references.

Check search engines – you can find a good living trust advocate online, especially if he or she is good at his job. Search engines can help you find more than a thousand names with different reviews and ratings.

Call the Potential Lawyers

Once you come up with a short list of possible lawyers, you should go a step further and start conducting interviews to narrow down your list. To end up with fewer names, call each of them and ask questions. The answers to the questions you will ask should help you narrow down the list further.

The questions that you should ask include:

• How many living trusts have you set up successfully?
• How much experience do you have in handling living trusts?
• How much do you charge and are there any hidden charges?
• Do you have a list of references that I can contact?

Interview in Person

You need to set up personal interviews to get a better sense of the lawyer’s personality. The interview should last no more than twenty minutes, so you need to write down the questions that want answered. They should include:

• Do you mind if I seek a different opinion from a different attorney?
• Will you update me if there are legal changes that might affect my case?
• Can you give me a price estimate?

Follow your common sense to see if it is necessary to seek a second opinion. However, if you feel good about your attorney after your meeting, you need to go with your gut and hire him or her. While creating your living trust, safeguard your assets for the following reasons:

• Protecting your business entities and assets is a smart move, especially if you do not want to be liable to any creditor.
• Despite your best efforts, some situations are unavoidable, especially if your profession has a great degree of liability. As a doctor, real estate investor, or property owner, you never know when you will be hit with a lawsuit.

To select the best attorney for your needs, conduct a thorough background check to see the skeletons in your potential attorney’s closet. The last thing you need is an incompetent lawyer.