FIVE STEPS TO HAVING A COMPLETE ESTATE PLAN 

• First Meeting.

The first meeting will last 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the complexity of your situation and the recommended estate plan. We will (i) discuss your planning objectives, (ii) consider the effect of estate taxes, if any, (iii) determine if trust planning is appropriate for children or other beneficiaries, (iv) address the advantages of minimizing probate administration with funded revocable trusts ("living trusts"), and (v) discuss the best persons or institutions to serve as executors under your wills, trustees under your living trusts, guardians of your minor children, and agents under your financial and medical powers of attorney. Using charts or diagrams for illustration as necessary, we will present an overall estate plan recommendation. The plan will include the suggested ownership of certain assets and beneficiary designations for life insurance, annuity policies and retirement accounts. After the plan has been discussed and your questions answered, we will quote a fixed fee for the estate plan. For more information on our billing practices, click the Fees and Billing icon. If the proposed fee is agreeable, we will begin the drafting process.

• Draft Documents.

Our goal is to send draft documents to a client within two weeks of that first meeting. The drafts will be forwarded to you with a summary explaining technical provisions or legal terminology. After you review the documents, we will schedule a second meeting to discuss the documents together. In many instances, our clients are ready to sign the documents at that second meeting, after a few questions have been answered or changes have been made.

• Execution of Original Documents.

After the draft documents have been reviewed and appropriate changes made, the documents will be prepared for execution. It is our policy to supervise the execution of the documents at our office to ensure that all legal formalities are observed. We will prepare and mail to you a binder containing your estate planning documents. We will enclose our invoice with the binder.

• Follow Up Measures.

For many of our clients, a great deal of the wealth they will pass on to their loved ones will consists of the proceeds of life insurance policies and retirement plan accounts. For clients with estate tax issues, it is often necessary to retitle real estate or investment accounts after the execution of their estate planning documents. Therefore, we include a comprehensive letter to our clients containing a summary of our recommendations regarding the correct beneficiary designations on life insurance policies and retirement plan accounts. We will also include suggestions for assets retitling, where appropriate. We are available to assist you with any follow-up measures we recommend.