Have you ever wished that you had access to a lawyer? (Part 1)

That is a question I had at one time. I could not envision that I would need a lawyer. Other than being able to say like the rich people do on tv, My lawyer will be in touch with you! That would only be a joke with a friend since, like I said, I didn’t think I would ever need a lawyer.

When and why might you need a lawyer? You are a law abiding citizen. You pay all your bills on time. You have car insurance and home-owners insurance. What could possibly happen that might make an attorney a valuable asset to you and your family.

The second and maybe more pertinent question is: How could I ever afford a lawyer. Only the rich people have lawyers, that’s what I thought anyway. Sure it would be great to have a lawyer on retainer, just in case anything ever came up. I wasn’t really worried that anything would ever come up.

Fast forward a few years. We start a small family business. We have always been interested in real estate, so we started buying property. My husband also was very experienced in the field of helping contractors win government work, so when he retired from his job, he added consulting to our family business.

One year we didn’t make a lot of money, yet somehow when preparing our tax return, it was saying we suddenly owed the government $12,000. We didn’t have that kind of money. We talked with an attorney and discovered that there was a law which brought that total down to somewhere around $2,000.00 if we had made only about $50 less that year. Then he suggested some deductions we might not have thought about. Sure enough we had missed something and we saved $10,000 because we talked to a lawyer.

Being able to speak to an attorney when you need one can really bring peace of mind and as you can see money savings. Watch for my next story about when and why you might need an attorney next time!