The Estate Planning Process

If you are like most people starting the estate planning process, you probably don’t have a full understanding of what is involved.   Common questions include:

1. What do I need to bring to the initial meeting?
2. How much will the estate plan cost?
3. What type of estate plan do I need?
4. How long does it take to complete the estate planning process?
5. What do I have to do after my estate plan is created?

We will answer these common questions and more below.

The Initial Call to Our Office – The Hardest Part!

Most of the time, the hardest part of the estate planning process is taking the initiative to get started.  Whether you were referred by an existing client, another professional or found us online, the hardest part is just getting started.  I get it.  It’s not something that seems overly enjoyable, however, I like to think it can be.  I tell my clients all of the time, my favorite part of my job is meeting clients, getting to know them and understanding their wishes.  Now, we won’t get there with an initial phone call, but it gets the ball rolling.  Our initial call is designed to accomplish a few things:

1. Gives us an opportunity to introduce ourselves;
2. Understand your general goals;
3. Confirm if we can be of assistance; and
4. Find a good time to sit down and discuss further.

Before Our First Estate Planning Meeting

Once we’ve confirmed that we can be of assistance, we’ll email or mail you an intake form that is applicable to your specific situation.  The purpose of the intake form is to obtain some basic information about you so that we can maximize our time together during our first meeting.  It is purposefully lacking any substantive questions regarding your estate planning because those issues will be discussed when we meet.  We will also send you directions to our office and confirm our meeting time.

The Estate Planning Meeting

Any attempt to outline the specifics of each estate planning meeting would be virtually impossible.  The estate planning meetings are designed to have a flow.  If the estate planning attorney is using an outline to conduct the initial meeting . . . run!  I say that because you can’t really understand how to draft an estate plan with a checklist or outline.  It’s the same reason why Legal Zoom or other computer-driven systems haven’t been able to properly draft estate plans.  Nevertheless, there is some basic structure to most estate planning meetings.  They are as follows:

1. Going through your intake form to better understand who you are, beyond what is written on paper;
2. Explaining estate planning concepts  and how those concepts are applicable to you, generally;
3. Design your specific estate plan by discussing the pros and cons of various options;
4. Provide you with a flat fee quote for the estate plan design you have chosen; and
5. Decide if you want to move forward with using our services to draft your estate plan.

Estate Planning Drafting

It will take us approximately 3 weeks to draft your estate plan.  Why 3 weeks?  Any well-designed estate plan will be unique and specific to your family and your assets.  Custom drafting takes time.  We also have at least two sets of eyes reviewing every estate plan before sending drafts to you.  During this 3 week period, you also have time to make adjustments to your estate plan or make final decisions on any pending issues from our initial estate planning meeting.   The drafts will also include summaries of each document and a summary of your estate planning wishes.  In addition, we prepare trust funding documents, which we will discuss further below.

Reviewing Drafts

After sending you drafts of your estate plan, you have the opportunity to review the documents to ensure they express your wishes properly.  The summaries included with the drafts will help you navigate through each of the documents.

Signing Meeting

The day is here.  You have reviewed the estate plan, made any final adjustments, and are ready to sign the estate planning documents.  You will need to bring your ID so that many of the documents can be notarized or witnessed.  After we make copies for our records, we will send you the original estate planning documents, along with a flash drive with an e-copy of your estate plan.

Funding Your Trust

Just when you thought you were done, in comes the most important part of estate planning, trust funding.  This concept is better explained in person, but essentially once your Trust is executed, we need to transfer your assets to your Trust.  This final step is extremely important because, without proper trust funding, your estate plan will be ineffective.  One of the many differences between our firm and other attorneys or online software is that we assist you with transferring your assets to your Trust, including real estate, business interests and financial accounts.