Most Americans spend their entire lives accumulating wealth for retirement and, hopefully, to leave something to their family, friends or a beloved charity. Tragically, many people do not create proper estate plans, leaving their property and other assets vulnerable to lawsuits by and between beneficiaries of the estate. Luckily, however, qualified estate planning attorneys are eager to assist people in preventing litigation from hindering the execution of their final wishes. Many diverse estate planning vehicles are available to Colorado residents to help ensure assets are properly distributed and their estates evade conflict.

The first step towards protecting your estate and avoiding litigation is to speak with an experienced estate planning attorney. He or she can help you customize an estate plan for your individual circumstances with the goal of providing desired and detailed distribution provisions; trusts for children, grandchildren and/or beneficiaries with special needs; and estate tax planning to the extent reasonable and necessary. Basic online forms are most often generic, non-specific and far too ambiguous for even the most basic estates. Completion of such forms can often lead to misunderstandings or ambiguities, which foster estate litigation among the beneficiaries left behind.

During these conversations an attorney can also describe the multiple benefits of proper estate planning and offer other benefits such as:

• Evaluating and Specifying Property Distributions: Many clients do not understand the positives and negatives of certain intended property distributions. For example, a client may desire to leave his or her residence in trust for the benefit of one or more persons without providing how expenses relating to such residence should be handled going forward. Additionally, a client may not understand how certain beneficiary designations may affect an overall intended estate plan. Consultations with an attorney can help ensure that the many contingencies are appropriately addressed in order to protect the overall integrity of an estate plan.
• Establishing Mental Capacity: Many estate plan challenges are based on allegations that the client lacked the mental capacity to understand what they signed and executed or that the client was unduly influenced to make provisions in the will that do not reflect their own wishes. An attorney can help evaluate instances when capacity or undue influence may be at issue and can further provide neutral testimony about the capacity or undue influence in the event a challenge is raised against an estate planning document after the death of the client.
• Verifying Ownership of and Beneficiary Designations on Property: Occasionally clients attempt to bequeath property that they do not actually own outright or which they own alongside someone else. An attorney can help verify legal title to property and suggest any ownership or beneficiary changes that may be reasonable and necessary to effectuate the client's estate plan.

These are only a small sampling of the ideas generated when someone discusses their estate planning needs with an experienced professional. Remember the best laid plans can be disrupted if proper precautions are not taken to make sure that the various aspects of an estate plan are coordinated and adequately prepared.