Estate Planning

What to Expect From an Initial Estate Planning Meeting

It doesn’t matter whether you have prepared an estate plan with an attorney before or whether this is your first time considering doing so, it is critical to fully understand how important a personal connection to your lawyer can be to your success.

As I write this post, it’s easy for me to think about how simple speaking to a lawyer can be, (after all, I am one and I speak to people for a living about their lives, families, and issues) but the reality is that feeling comfortable with someone, especially someone you have just met in a professional setting, can be difficult.

My hope is that I can explain a little bit about what is involved in meeting with a local estate planning lawyer and maybe settle any nerves you may have about speaking with us about your estate plan and family. If you do decide to meet with us, I’ll share some details about how simple scheduling a quick phone call can be at the conclusion of this article.

Considering that we take a fairly unique approach to initial consultations with clients, our office is quite different from what you might have imagined or even seen on TV. In a traditional law office, you would be scheduled for a formal consultation in which you would be told about the wonderous achievements of said law firm and how they once prepared an estate for this person or that person.

In a traditional law firm consultation, it will be difficult for you to precisely determine what they will be doing or how it will assist you or your family. It will be difficult for you to know how much these documents will cost because the traditional law firm charges by the hour for estate planning. It will be difficult to know how long the process will take because you won’t get enough information about the “plan” they are trying to get you to agree to…

In a nutshell, traditional law firms are impersonal, stuffy, and expensive.

Now let’s compare and contrast those traditional law firms to ours. Prior to our initial consultation, we will send you a personalized estate planning questionnaire that will be helpful in orienting you to what information will be important to the process but also familiarize us as to what assets you are trying to protect. During our initial meeting with you, we will guide you through the information you have prepared so that we may discuss two things: (1) what your estate plan should look like and (2) exactly how much your estate plan should cost.

It never ceases to amaze me how often our questionnaire causes individuals and families to start thinking about what assets they actually possess. This is likely the reason why more than $58 billion of unclaimed property is held by state and federal agencies. It is regretfully common that assets are overlooked after someone passes away and those assets escheat to the government.

We understand that you and your family have spent countless hours working and saving to protect those you love and provide the lifestyle they are accustom to. This is one of the best reasons to sit down and speak with a local estate planning lawyer today. Whether you are creating your first estate plan or making some minor changes to an existing plan, it’s important to understand that this plan isn’t being made for you – it’s being made to protect those you love.

Should you decide to create an estate plan or even redo your existing plan, it is important that you understand your plan. Our initial consultations are truly an opportunity to become educated about what happens to your family and your assets after you pass away.

As morbid as it sounds, death is an inevitable part of life. It’s worth considering how your family will be affected after you pass and discovering a way to protect them even after you do. I’m pleased to tell you that a significant majority of our new estate planning clients report a sense of relief after meeting with us and frequently admit (behind closed doors) that they wish they had created an estate plan sooner.

That all said, we’d love to meet you and your family. We have an open house coming up in a few weeks and we would love to have you stop by and meet the team. I am including a link to register here. I hope you’ll join us.

If you prefer something a little less crowded, here is a link to our Client Relations Manager who can schedule an appointment for you to speak with one of our estate planning attorneys. I promise you won’t regret it.