OUR PROCESS
Initial Meeting:
Our Initial Meetings are always complimentary. We believe that the time spent during that first meeting gives us the opportunity to get to know you, and it gives you the opportunity to decide whether we are the right fit for you. We will review your assets and ask some questions, but we will also listen to you. And you will have the opportunity to ask questions and get answers. Much of the time will be spent learning about you, your family, your goals, and your values. Good estate planning goes far beyond learning who gets what and simply generating some documents.
Once we have learned about you and your loved ones, we will explain some of the most important aspects of estate planning and the law. Although the legal aspects of estate planning can be complex, it is our job to explain these concepts in a way that makes them meaningful and understandable. If you choose to retain our firm at this meeting, we will schedule a follow-on meeting to create an estate plan customized to meet your specific goals, concerns, and objectives. We will also quote you a fixed price for the design, drafting, and implementation of your estate plan.
Design Meeting:
In the days between the Initial Meeting and the Design Meeting, we will be busy creating a framework for your estate plan. We understand that the most important part of planning is making sure that your loved ones are cared for and protected when you can no longer do so. That’s why when we meet, we will take the time needed to provide you with an estate plan designed specifically to meet your specific goals, needs, and objectives. This meeting also provides you an opportunity to ask questions, to gain clarification, and to learn more about how your estate plan will benefit you now and in the future.
Signing Meeting:
Approximately three weeks after the Design Meeting, you will return to our office to sign all the documents that are a part of your customized estate plan. At this Signing Meeting, we will review the documents with you, explaining how each document fits in your overall plan and how they work together to meet your objectives. At this point, you will sign each document and begin the process of putting your estate plan to work for you.
Asset Alignment Meeting:
One of the most critical aspects of estate planning is verifying that your assets are properly aligned with your plan. Once you have submitted forms to financial institutions requesting that they "re-title" assets in the name of the the trust and have completed beneficiary change forms for other assets, you hope that those institutions actually do what you've requested. During the Asset Alignment Meeting, we review with you what has been done and whether you have received verification that the changes you requested have been completed. This can be a daunting task, but it is critical to ensure that the trust is effective. We offer a lifetime planning service that can handle this part of the process for you.