Baton Rouge Wills Lawyer

A will specifies how you’d like your assets to be divided and distributed after your death. It’s a key component of the estate planning process that a Baton Rouge wills lawyer can help with. Without a will, your assets will be divided by intestate law, in which you’ll get no say. Not specifying your wishes for your estate can also result in an increased likelihood of disputes between family members.

The Rowe & Manning Law Firm LLC has extensive experience in helping people craft their wills and estate plans. There are many critical aspects of a will that must meet the expectations of Louisiana law in order for it to be considered valid. We help ensure that these requirements are properly fulfilled. This can drastically reduce the likelihood of your will being challenged during succession.

What a Baton Rouge Wills Lawyer Does

A Baton Rouge wills lawyer can assist with the designing and drafting of a will. This process involves sitting down with our clients, understanding what they desire their will to accomplish, and learning how they want their estate managed and distributed when they are gone. Often, this document will be part of a more complex estate plan.

It’s important that our clients take advantage of all the benefits offered by a will. That’s why we ask questions regarding concerns that they may not have considered yet. This allows us to ensure that the will is comprehensive and covers all of the critical issues that wills are designed to address.

Once we have a thorough understanding of our client’s objectives, it becomes our responsibility to draft their will. It’s crucial that this be done properly. There are laws governing how a will must be crafted and how estate distribution will need to occur, and failure to properly include these requirements could lead to challenges and the will being invalidated.

Will design can be particularly complex in Louisiana, where our legal heritage is heavily influenced by French, Spanish, and other maintained European legal traditions rather than British common law, as with most other states. Matters such as forced heirship, for instance, need to be taken into consideration when designing a will.

Once the will is drafted, it will need to be signed. It’s important that this be done properly, that the signer be of sound mind, and that they be free from any undue influence. These are the kinds of issues that could lead to challenges regarding the validity of the will. It may also need to meet other legal requirements, such as the involvement of a notary, that our lawyers review with our clients.

Making Changes to Your Will

Once a will is signed and in place, there may be a desire to make alterations as time goes on and circumstances change. We help ensure that those changes meet legal expectations as well. For instance, you may want to change your will after a divorce or after having children. After we’ve finished creating or changing your will, it’s crucial to store it in a safe place.

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Let the Rowe & Manning Law Firm LLC Help You Put Together an Effective Will

A will is a critical part of estate planning, and for many people, it’s the central element of the process. It can bring peace of mind and comfort to know that you have some say in how your assets will be distributed rather than the state deciding how the estate will be managed. However, to have this kind of assurance, it’s crucial that the will be thorough and stand up to potential scrutiny or challenges.

At the Rowe & Manning Law Firm LLC, we help clients create wills that achieve their objectives and give them the peace of mind they are seeking. Often, these wills are part of a broader estate planning process in which our clients receive custom-tailored plans based on their desired outcomes for their estates. If you’re looking to ensure that your will fits Louisiana’s requirements, contact our team today.