Becoming an estate planner is one of the brightest career options for any aspiring law student. Being an estate planning attorney, you have to perform tasks apart from attending hearings for the clients. You will undergo continuous legal education throughout your career. You will deal with different situations to protect the assets of your clients. If you are among millions of those law students who wonder how to become an estate planning lawyer, today, we are here with some help. Before we jump into the procedure of how to become an estate planner, let’s find out what an estate lawyer means.
What is an estate planning lawyer?
Estate planning is one of the exciting fields of law studies that offer impeccable career opportunities to students. An estate planner will practice law that includes the planning of real estate of the client. He ensures that it passes on to the safe hands if the client cannot communicate his wishes due to health issues or has passed away. Below are some of the vital roles that an estate planning lawyer will play for his clients:-
- To create the wills and trusts for their clients as per real estate laws.
- Organizing the transfer of assets as per the estate plans of the client.
- Helping to minimize the taxes imposed on the property of the client.
- Ensuring the execution of your will and health directives during incapacitation.
- Handling of retirement plans, life insurance policies, and charitable contributions.
Steps to become an estate planning attorney?
Many people often wonder how to become an estate attorney. If you are one among them, we have a full-proof guide that can help you to become a successful estate planning lawyer in the region. To become eligible for practicing real estate law, you need at least seven years of education after completing high school. Let’s divide each phase for better understanding:-
- Undergraduate degree – Before you seek admission to any law school, you need to complete your undergraduate or graduate degree. It can take around four years to complete this degree. You do not need to choose specific subjects but, selecting the ones related to the subject areas of law is wise.
- Appear and pass LSAT – LSAT refers to the law school’s admission test essential for admission to any law school. If you aim to join the top law schools in the country, watch out for your performance during this exam. The majority of law schools consider the marks obtained in this teat as the base for financial aid and scholarships for the students.
- Earn a Juris Doctor Degree – Earning a Juris Doctor law degree from an ABA-accredited law school is one of the basic requirements to practice as a lawyer in the USA. It will take around three years to complete this degree. If you are taking up a hybrid or partime course for estate law classes, it can take about five to seven years to complete.
- Pass the Bar Exam – Before you start practicing as an estate planning lawyer, you need to pass the Bar Exam. The formats for this exam can differ from one state to other. In most states, you need to pass two exams called the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) and the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) in the bar.
Starting a practice as an Estate Planning Attorney
Once you complete the above steps, you can start estate planning as per federal and state laws. Before you work with individual clients, it is beneficial to join or work with a law firm to gain more exposure to this law field. You can also choose to enroll in Masters of Law degree to add extra weight to your professional resume. Stay updated with changing laws and gain knowledge from a variety of case studies. It will provide you best direction to becoming an estate planning consultant.