Kurt Lucien speaks with the Texas Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney, the one and only Leigh Hilton of the Leigh Hilton PLLC, in the latest episode of the Business Innovators Radio. In this up and close episode, Kurt interviewed Leigh about protecting the two most important things in a family’s life: Everything They Own and Everyone They Love. Leigh explained how her firm helps families with both these concerns. Leigh states, “as you know, estate planning is ‘who’ gets your stuff when you die, trying to think through how to have your family protected. Elder law is Medicaid and veterans benefits”. And she and her firm help them have the peace of mind that their family is protected in case something goes wrong.
Leigh explained how most people want to ensure that they protect everyone they love. They also want to make sure they protect everything they’ve worked all their lives to accumulate. She also explained the difference between a will and a trust.
When asked about the common misconceptions a family looking to protect their assets from divorce, creditors, lawsuits, and predators have about protecting the two most important things in their life? Leigh said the most common misconceptions people have is that they can do it themselves or that there are online programs that can work to make things easy.
And the hard thing about that, and the misconception is, it is cheaper in the short run, so they can save quite a bit of money by doing it themselves initially. But, it could actually end up costing their family thousands of dollars more in the long run because they may not cover things that need to be covered. She went on to say, for example, they may not realize in Texas; there are two types of probate. There’s one that takes two or three months and costs $4000 to $6000. There’s another type of probate you end up in if you don’t do the will properly, that can take over a year to do and costs $15,000 to $20,000. So by doing it themselves, they feel like they’re saving money, but they could very well end up spending way more in the long run.
When asked about the common fears regarding implementing a will or trust. Leigh responded that one of the most common fears, and it’s kind of an unusual one/ But people have kind of an irrational fear that if they put together a will or a trust, they’re somehow more likely to pass away. So they’re afraid if they admit their mortality by putting together a plan, that somehow that’s going to cause them to die sooner. And so I think that’s one of the reasons why people resist putting together a will or a trust.
Leigh went on to state, “another common fear is that with working with an attorney, you’re going to be nickel and dimed every time you call in or ask a question. And that’s why the attorneys at Leigh Hilton, PLLC do everything at a fixed price. So that way, you know going in what it’s going to cost you to put together the plan, and then in the future, if you have questions, you’re able to email them or call them, and there’s no charge for that. So you get the information you need to make sure your plan does what you want it to do”.
She also advised what to look for in an attorney for either estate planning or the elder law aspect; by saying, look for an attorney that does primarily estate planning and elder law. So you’re not going to want to work with an attorney whose focus is car wrecks and just works on wills every now and then.
Because if they do anything other than having a major focus in one area, they’re not going to be able to really dive deep into learning about what needs to be done correctly the 1st time. She explained why Leigh Hilton PLLC is the successful firm it is today – as everyone in her firm does a lot of continuing education throughout the years; they also belong to groups of other attorneys where they can expand on what they’ve learned about the various areas of law and how it could impact their clients desired results. The team spends hours making sure that what they do is what needs to be done and will work properly for the family; attorneys that do other areas of law also can’t possibly have enough time to dive that deep into it if they’re also focusing on other areas.
To listen to the entire interview head over to Business Innovators Radio.
About Leigh Hilton PLLC
Leigh Hilton PLLC is an Estate Planning and Elder Law Firm based in Denton, Texas with additional offices in Aubrey and Bartonville, serving the DFW Metroplex and Texas State as a whole. Areas of practice include: Estate Planning | Elder Law | Probate Law | Guardianships | Wills, Trusts & Estates
Location Info:
Leigh Hilton Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorneys
918 N Elm St Ste 100, Denton, TX 76201, Denton, TX 76201
+19403878800