We’ve had a lot of people ask what estate planning entails. They want to know what information is required, how long it takes and how many meetings are included. This post will explain how full-service family estate planning is handled at RTY LAW.
- You call us or we call you. Almost all of our clients come from referrals. Most of those referrals stem from happy clients telling friends and family. Other referrals come from professionals who trust us, like accountants, financial planners, and insurance men and women. Most of the time you call us, but sometimes our past clients or trusted professionals will ask us to call you.
- We set an appointment and send you an Estate Planning Intake Form. This form looks daunting, but it isn’t that bad. It covers basic information that we must have to create a firm foundation for your family estate plan. The form covers family history, banking, credit, loans, property, stocks, and other assets. If you have any trouble with this form, we are always here to help. We do ask that you complete it to the best of your ability before the initial consultation.
- The first consultation lasts about an hour. An attorney, like myself, will ask you questions and listen. We need to hear your feelings, stances and opinions on family and finances. We get to know you and expose important information that allows us to draft well informed documents regarding your estate. At the end of the first meeting if you trust us and want us to handle your estate plan, and if we want to handle your estate plan, we will quote you a flat fee and present you with an agreement. If you don’t want to work with us, all you owe us is a handshake. If you do want to work with us, you sign the agreement and pay the full fee and we get started on your family estate plan. The fee will go into our trust account, and we will draw down on it as we finish stages of the plan.
- The drafting and funding of the plan takes about 60 days. During that time you will meet with an attorney in person or over the phone three to four more times. Sometimes you will have to provide documents like insurance policies and retirement plans. Sometimes if you want us to, we will meet with your extended family. Once a draft of your estate plan is completed, we will meet with you to go over it and to give you a copy. We ask that you look over the copy entirely to make sure that the plan meets your requirements.
- The final meeting is the signing. At this meeting you will be presented with two copies of your family estate plan. We will have you sign all the associated documents and they will be witnessed and notarized. You will leave with a nicely bound estate plan, and we will keep one signed copy. A few days later you will receive an electronic copy of all documents on a CD so you can make copies and distribute your plan to family as you see fit.
- At this point many other firms would send you on your way with instructions on how to “fund” your plan. We do not do that. We take care of all funding of estate plans, including transferring real estate into the name of trusts, changing beneficiary designations on annuities, insurance policies, retirement accounts and all other necessary accounts.
- You will not be asked to pay any additional fees associated with your estate plan. Many firms charge filing fees, copy fees, accounting fees and any number of other fees. Once you pay your flat fee with us, you will not be asked to pay additional fees.
If you are interested in estate planning contact your Tulsa, Oklahoma Estate Planning Law Firm for the highest level of professional service.
