the Price of Estate Planning Services

Before leaving the country, I wanted to have my estate planning documents drawn up. I had heard of a law firm that could be trusted and called them. My husband and I met with one of the head partners at the firm. He informed us of his fees after finding out what we needed done. Included in the fees were our recording fees with the courthouse, his time, his assistant's time, and the cost for the paperwork to be drawn up. After we left, they began working on the wills, powers of attorney, health care surrogate, etc. Within one week we received rough drafts of our paperwork. We did not have any problems with it and called to schedule a second appointment. At the second appointment, we had to go in, go over all of the paperwork to make sure we understood what we were signing, and then execute the documents. The entire second meeting took about an hour. At that point we had the option of keeping our original documents or storing them in their fireproof safes for no extra charge. The originals were welcome to be picked up by us at any time or faxed to us if the need arose.

Overall, we were impressed with the services offered. We waited until a month before we left on our trip before we realized we should have these documents ready just in case. Several friends told us it took them months to get their documents. Ours took about two weeks. When we called, the attorney immediately tried to work us in, undestanding our rush. He quickly and efficiently prepared the documents. When we needed to sign, they got us in and out of the office quickly. The offer, which we accepted, to protect our documents in a flame-proof safe was an extra added bonus that we did not expect. In our first meeting, as the attorney went over our fees, we were able to see exactly where the $500 fee came from. He showed us his hourly rate, the time it would take him to finish our documents, and all the associated fees. We had the option of paying him an hourly rate, but we knew it would end up going over. The cheaper way to do it, for us, was to take the flat fee rate. Then if we needed documents edited or took longer than the allotted meeting time, we did not have to worry about paying more than we expected.

Find a lawyer you trust. Even if you have never met the person before, there are some people that you can immediately form an opinion about. Ask friends who have had their documents prepared. Find out what they liked, did not like, and how much they paid.

Get your documents prepared now. Do not wait until you are leaving or have a disease. It makes it so much easier for your family if somethng happens to you.