A person’s life can e complicated by a legal separation from his/her spouse, especially if children are involved, and legal assistance is often needed for handling such matters, especially if the other party has already done so. For later in life, estate planning is critical for ensuring that a person’s estate, the sum of their money and property, is distributed according to that person’s will, so a real estate attorney will be needed. How can lawyers help with legal separation law and writing a will?

Legal Separation Law

Many marriages end in divorce, and others end up in a case of legal separation, and underage children are often caught in the middle. For example, every year in the United States, around 876,000 divorces take place, which means one every 36 seconds, and over 1 million children end up involved in divorce proceedings annually. According to Legal Zoom, both divorce and legal separation law but a distance between two married people and creates divides, and marital assets and debts, and child custody, are split, but there are some key differences between these two practices. Financial rules and boundaries are created that both parties must follow in either case.

In the event of legal separation, the marriage is not actually terminated, and the two people still fill out paperwork as married people, and the two people may also inherit property from each other. This is common for people whose religious beliefs forbid actual divorce, allowing them to live separately from each other. Legal separation law also allows the two people to settle disputes and ideas over how to divide assets or reconcile with each other without the finality of divorce. If a court declares two people separated, then it is a legal separation, and both sides will make use of lawyers and legal separation law to ensure that they get what they want out of the proceedings. Child custody is often a major point of contention, along with money and assets like a house or a car. Adoption lawyers may also be involved in a separation case, just as they would be if the couple got a proper divorce.

Estate Planning

Writing a will is important for nearly every adult American, although many adults do not have one at all, sometimes due to procrastination or believing that their estate is not substantial enough to warrant writing one. However, passing on without a will can create a mess for the deceased’s family and their assets. For example, creditors to the deceased may get their hands on that person’s money and other assets and leave little or nothing for the deceased’s family, and if the deceased owned a private business, this can be even more complicated to handle. Even family members may end up being a problem, taking too much for themselves or blocking others from claiming anything.

However, hiring a real estate attorney means that a professional, clear, and legally sound will can be written to protect the person’s estate after their passing. This allows money and property to be distributed exactly according to the deceased’s intentions, and this is especially important for larger estates, or those that involve a privately owned business, whose assets can be tricky to handle alone. However, a real estate attorney will know how to handle that, and will know how to prevent creditors or ambitious family members from abusing the estate. Having a solid, professional estate can also set the person’s mind at ease, knowing that his or her money and property will be used fairly after their passing.