Lawyers serve a hugely important role here in the United States, of this there is just no doubt. There are many specialities in the realm of law, and getting legal aid is something that many people throughout the country will benefit from at some point in time or another. However, many people simply are not aware of the fact that lawyers provide a wide variety of services far outside of criminal cases. Even if you have been a perfectly law abiding citizen your entire life, the aid of a lawyer is likely to benefit you at some point in time in your life.
For instance, a will lawyer can prove hugely beneficial when you are in the process of writing a will. Wills are hugely important, as any will lawyer will attest to, but far too few people have drawn them up. In fact, more than 60% of the adult population of this country (around 64%, to be just a little bit more specific) does not currently have a will. Even among older adults, those who fall between the ages of 51 and 64, more than half of the population does not have a will. And among those who do, many do not have a will that is updated as it should be. Even younger people – those under the age of 40 – should have a will. There is no time that is too soon to draw one up, as you cannot always plan everything in life and having one just in case is far better than not having one at all.
When you’re in the process of drawing up your will, a will lawyer will be quite hugely beneficial. A will lawyer will help you to decide various aspects of your will, such as who your possessions will go to. A will lawyer can also make you aware of various other aspects of estate planning, such as if you should have a trust as well as a will. A will lawyer will typically recommend a trust when you have assets that are at least six figures, if not even higher. A will lawyer is likely advise this for the fact that having a trust will help you to avoid probate as well as minimize overall estate taxes.
A will lawyer can also help you to prepare bequests – also referred to as gifts – within your will. These gifts have a limit, as any will lawyer can tell you, but that limit is quite the high one. You can leave a gift within your will that is up to nearly $5.5 million, certainly a higher amount than most people will need to worry about. The estate tax exemption allows gifts up to this amount to remain tax free, a main reason to leave something as a bequest with the aid of a will lawyer. This data was collected back in the year of 2015, but this is something that has remained consistent for a number of years now.
Of course, important as the typical will lawyer is, there are many other important legal specialties that are also seen throughout the United States. For example, the medicaid lawyer, someone well versed in the realm of medicaid benefits, has become a hugely important fixture as well. After all, now more than 1 million people in the state of Alabama alone are served by Medicaid. In this same state, more than half of a million children are benefited by medicaid, and nearly half of the prenatal care provided throughout the state is covered by medicaid as well. Therefore, there are many benefits to medicaid not just in the state of Alabama but all throughout the country as a whole. Therefore, having medicaid lawyers well-versed in the program is a must for varying reasons.
At the end of the day, from the medicaid lawyer to the will lawyer to the criminal lawyer to the personal injury lawyer and beyond, lawyers play a hugely important role all throughout the United States. In the years that are ahead of us, they are only likely to continue this role and grow within it on a consistent basis.