How long will this take?

A common question is how long will putting together a custom estate plan take? Although the actual time varies based on a variety of factors (e.g., complexity of the plan, decisions about the plan, vacations, or illness, etc.), we try to follow these steps to navigate the process.

Step 1 – Our Initial Meeting. The initial meeting starts the process. To best use our time together, we send a questionnaire to help gather necessary information and help you begin to think about some of the many factors that affect your planning. During our meeting, we will discuss your goals and wishes. We believe your plan should be created based on your situation.

If there are any outstanding questions, decisions, or issues, we will work towards resolving those as part of our flat fee planning process. Our goal will be to send you draft documents to review that are as complete as possible within 4 weeks.

Step 2 – Draft Review. Within 4 weeks of you hiring us to help with your plan, we provide draft documents for you to review. Most clients still prefer to receive hard copies in the mail, although we do have a secure client portal that can be used to get the drafts to you.

In addition to the drafts, we include a detailed cover letter that highlights various aspects of your plan and helps simplify the legalese that is a necessary part of your documents. If there are questions or changes, you should contact us during the review process to make sure all questions are answered and help ensure a smooth signing conference.

The next step will be for you to either schedule the next meeting. If you are comfortable with your documents and feel ready to sign them, you will schedule the signing conference. Alternatively, you can schedule a review meeting with the attorney to go over your plan.

Step 3 – Optional Review Meeting. Because your time is valuable, this meeting is at your discretion. During this meeting, the attorney will review your documents and answer your questions. Provided no significant changes arise from the meeting, you will then sign your documents.

Step 4 – Signing Conference. Just as it sounds, this is when you will sign your documents. Similarly to a real estate closing, you will meet with our staff to sign all your documents; our staff will witness and notarize as needed. We keep a scanned copy of all your signed documents. You leave with your personalized plan in a convenient binder or folder, along with documents to help you organize your estate for your loved ones.

Step 5 – Post-planning. Some plans require work after the documents are signed. Most often beneficiary designations must be updated to coordinate with the new plan. If deeds were signed, we will work to have those recorded and return the originals to you. If necessary, we will remind you to update homeowner’s insurance.

If you do not have an estate plan, or need an old plan reviewed, please contact our office today to schedule your initial meeting.