Whether you have met with an estate planning lawyer before or it is your first time, it is important to understand how working with my law office is different from meeting with a traditional estate planning lawyer.
After reading this article, my hope is that you will be inspired to meet with me to better understand what your family needs you to have in place while you are living, so you do not leave behind a mess if you become incapacitated or when you die.
When you meet with me to discuss your estate plan, I help you make the wisest, most affordable, most effective, and time-saving plan for yourself and the people you love.
Meeting With a Traditional Lawyer
Given my law office’s unique approach to estate planning, an initial consultation with me is quite different from an initial consultation with a typical estate planning attorney.
A typical “initial consultation” would be a meet-and-greet-type of meeting, during which the lawyer describes the various legal documents you need to put in place and quotes you a fee to provide those documents. Outside of simply considering whether the cost of these documents fits within your budget, it will likely be quite difficult for you to know exactly what you need for your unique family situation, assets, or how to make the right decision. Deciding what you need based solely on the cost will likely lead to you receiving a set of documents that will not serve and protect your family or your assets when they need the most support.
Unfortunately, I have seen it all too often. You have the best of intentions to do the right thing and get a will or trust in place, but you either do not do it, do not complete it, or work with a lawyer who puts in place a plan that is little more than what you could do yourself online through an online document service. Then, you become incapacitated or die, and your family is left with a mess; they do not know where your assets are, they do not know who to turn to, your documents are out-of-date, and your loved ones are lost, confused, and grieving all at once.
I have designed an entirely different estate planning technique to support an entirely different reality – one in which you use the estate planning process to not only leave behind a plan for the people you love, but to make your life even better right now. Let me explain how I accomplish this with my clients.
A Unique Estate Planning Design Process
My entire estate planning process is designed to support you to make the right decisions for yourself and the people you love during your life and to leave a legacy of support and love to the people you care about most after you pass away.
To start, I offer an initial no-cost telephone or virtual consultation, during which you and I will get to know one another better so that you feel comfortable working together. You will give me insight as to who you are, what you own, and your family dynamics and I will educate you on how the law applies to you, your assets, and your family in the event of your incapacity or death. You will also learn more about me, both personally and professionally.
Following your initial consultation, I ask that you fill out a Family Wealth Inventory and Assessment worksheet that will likely get you more financially and strategically organized than you have ever been before. Additionally, you will be asked to choose what estate planning goals are most important to you, whom you want to serve as your trusted agents, and how you want to leave behind your assets and legacy to your loved ones.
After completing your Inventory & Assessment worksheet, you and I will meet in person or virtually for an estate planning design session. During your design session, you and I will create a plan for how to structure your affairs, how you would like to have your family supported, and how to keep track of and protect your assets after you pass. Further, I will guide you to choose the most affordable and effective planning solution for your life and the people you love, all with a clear understanding of the impact of your choices.
After your design session, I will draft your final estate planning documents and review them with you to allow for last minutes changes prior to your signing session.
Ultimately, my estate planning process will ensure your family never feels lost, confused, or alone during a time of grief. When you are finished designing your estate plan, my hope is that you will feel relieved, cared for, and clearer than you have ever been about how to make life choices that align with the legacy you desire to leave as a parent, business owner or professional, and as the CEO of your life.
Life and Legacy Planning
The investment of your time to plan now will save your family countless hours of heartache and work down the road, while also keeping your loved ones out of conflict and out of court. If you choose to work with me, you will get the peace of mind that comes with knowing you never have to make another financial or legal decision without my guidance again. If and when something happens to you, your loved ones will get the same type of trusted advisor, who will be there for them when you cannot.
Death is unavoidable, but you can make it far easier on the people you love by the choices you make now. Facing this reality allows you to make choices that will let you enjoy your current life even more. In fact, my clients often report a huge sense of relief after meeting with me, and they frequently say they wished they had created a life and legacy plan sooner. You see, I have discovered that estate planning is about far more than planning for your death and passing on your “estate” and assets to your loved ones – it is about planning for a life you love and a legacy worth leaving by the choices you make today.
As your Personal Family Lawyer®, I am specially trained to educate, empower, and support you to make the right decisions for your life and for the people you love. Furthermore, because your plan will be designed to provide for your loved ones in the event of your death or incapacity, I am not just here to serve you – I am here to serve your entire family.
In the end, your estate plan goes far beyond simply creating documents and then never seeing me again. My goal is to develop a relationship with you and your family that lasts not only for your lifetime but for the lifetime of your children and their children if that is your wish. All of this starts with by calling my office or visiting my website today to schedule your initial no-cost consultation.
I look forward to working with you to plan for you and your family’s future with confidence!
