Before Hiring an Estate Planning Lawyer, Understand the Difference
Yael Lazar, Esq.
Many estate planning attorneys take a “one-size fits all” approach with their clients; they try to work with as many people as possible in a short period of time. The issue with this is that the client is left with an impersonal experience. In addition, this way of planning can lead to unintended results for the client and their family.
When lawyers do not take the time to listen to and consider your family’s personal circumstances, the result is that your Will & Trust Documents do not end up reflecting what your family really wants to have happen. Usually there is no review or updating, so the plan quickly becomes outdated and does not work when your family needs it most.
Even though you may pay less up front to get a standard set of documents (or even documents that are customized for your family), things could end up costing you much more in the long run. Plus, you leave your family at risk of having to deal with an expensive, unnecessary court process during a time of tremendous grief.
If all you want is a set of legal documents, there are plenty of online resources you can use to create them, or you could go to a traditional estate planning lawyer. If you want to be sure that your legal plan will work when you and your loved ones need it most, Estate Planning Angel is right for you. If what you want is to know you’ve got a plan in place that will make things easy for your loved ones no matter what happens, you will find all the care and support you need with us.
Here are some of the ways we are different from most estate planning lawyers:
- All of our fees are fixed fees agreed to in advance, so there are no surprises. At our initial meeting, you will choose the level of planning and the fee that works best for your family.
- We keep you informed and make sure your plan works; we don’t just prepare a set of legal documents for you and send you on your way. We make sure that your assets are owned in the right way, and that your kids’ well-being is properly planned for. We ensure everyone you’ve named in your plan knows what to do if anything happens to you.
- We review your plan at least every 3 years and annually through our Family Wealth VIP Membership program. We foster an ongoing, lifetime relationship with our clients. Throughout your life, things change; you change, your assets change, your family changes, the law will definitely change.
- We have a whole team in place to answer your quick questions and make the planning process easy and painless for you and your family. We have a process for helping you make sure that your assets are titled in the right way, both now and over the course of your life.
- We help you get your legal and financial house in order by helping you make smart choices about things like buying insurance, saving for college, and retirement planning so you never spend more than you have to or get taken advantage of by unscrupulous sales people.
- Legacy Planning. We believe that planning is about much more than just the transfer of your financial wealth. With all of our plans, we include a process to help you transfer your most important personal wealth to your loved ones, including your intellectual, spiritual and human assets.
Before you engage an estate planning lawyer to help you plan for the well‐being of your money, your family and your life, there are questions you need to ask. You need to make sure that the estate plan you put in place will really work when your family needs it and won’t lose value after you are gone.
Don’t let a set of legal documents become false security that keeps you from doing what’s best for your loved ones.