Estate planning: Attorney or CPA?

Question

Recently I had to deal with some shenanigans surrounding a 401(k) rollover, which required me to consult a CPA to straighten out. I was very pleased with his knowledge and helpfulness, and offered him my tax prep business for the upcoming tax season.

However, when I mentioned that I also need to setup a will, I started getting moderate-pressure sales tactics to let him do my estate planning as well. My situation is pretty simple (little net worth, no kids yet), but I always presumed that estate planning was a probate attorney thing rather than an accounting thing. Am I mistaken in that presumption... is a sharp CPA a perfectly reasonable option for basic estate planning?

P.Schuman · Accepted Answer

came across this old thread from a couple of months ago concerning Estate Planning...

So - to get grandma & grandpa and their assets in order, what exactly is required of a person for Estate Planning ? I would think it would be more of the bean counter 1st, to see what you have and how to hold onto it, and then 2nd setup the vehicles with the legal papers...

In summary - my thoughts -

1st get all the bean counter info straight 2nd get all the paperwork & vehicles setup to make it happen

Tad Borek · Answer

This was an odd thread, I don't know why a CPA would even be an option because so little of it has to do with taxes.For your grandparents...how big is their estate?-Tad

P.Schuman · Answer

my thoughts were to first get all the assets accounted, then streamline what they have - making sure things look ok - and then setup the legal issues to handle those existing assets ?

BTW - for estate planning - are things like Trusts merely umbrellas to contain/admin existing assets ? ie - can various investments be transferred to a trust, or what ? like existing mutual funds, stocks, homes, condos, cars, etc

Estate planning: Attorney or CPA?

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