Estate Planning Services and Fees
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Initial Consultation At the initial consultation, we will discuss a number of issues relating to your estate. We will discuss who you wish to have handle decisions about your health care if you are unable and who you desire to provide for in the event of your death. We will also discuss how you wish for your assets to be controlled if you become incapacitated. We will discuss whether you desire to transfer assets during your lifetime and if it is advantageous financially to do so. We will discuss how to take advantage of "mini-wills" such as life insurance beneficiary options, pension plan beneficiary options, paid on death and transfer on death options for accounts at financial institutions and what, if any, charitable interests you would like to see continue to benefit from your support even after your death. We will discuss who you want to see manage your assets in the event you cannot due to disability or death, and who will receive your assets when you die and what direction you want to provide for distributing those assets. We will discuss the options available to you and the impact of each option. We may discuss additional documents we must obtain from you or professionals involved in your financial planning with whom we need to consult. To help you organize all the information you need to create an estate plan that maximizes all of your options, we have prepared an extensive Estate Planning Questionnaire. Many of our clients have told us that gathering this information alerted them to important issues that could then be considered calmly and preemptively rather than in the stress of damage control. You can print out The McCall Moody Law Firm Estate Planning Questionnaire from this website or call for an appointment and we will send the Estate Planning Data Sheets to you. We charge a flat fee for the initial consultation and devote as much time as it takes to get a complete understanding of your situation and to help you understand your options. This fee is payable at the time of the appointment. We can guide you through the process of determining how you would like your legacy managed and who you desire to care for and benefit by those decisions. Please contact The McCall Moody & Gray Law Firm today to schedule an appointment to meet and discuss your specific circumstances and have your situation evaluated. Fees Our estate planning services are generally delivered on a flat fee basis. We have found that our clients prefer knowing the cost up front and that we are able to review documents, discuss options, consult with the clients' financial advisors and the client as often as necessary without the client ever being concerned about ever increasing legal fees. If you chose to have The McCall Moody & Gray Law Firm represent you, the initial consultation fee is credited toward the flat fee for your estate plan. We make it a point to explain our fees with each client before an attorney-client relationship is established. At the initial meeting we discuss your estate planning objectives. We then offer solutions to accomplish those objectives. The recommendations take into consideration all of your financial goals for your estate plan such as minimizing taxes; sustaining the desired standard of living; maximizing benefits for a surviving spouse; assuring sufficient liquidity; minimizing the costs of transferring your estate; preserving the value of your business and providing flexibility both in your lifetime and postmortem. Also taken into consideration are your non-financial goals for your estate plan such as maintaining privacy; maintaining the extent of control you desire; ensuring your dependents are cared for by the people you select and with the appropriate resources; accomplishing what you determine is a fair and proper distribution of your life's accumulations; and assuring a prompt transfer. If you have a certified public accountant or financial planner with whom you regularly work it is helpful to include them in estate planning discussions as estate planning involves consideration of the impact and integration of many taxes including income, capital gains, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Once all information necessary to effectuate the estate plan has been obtained, a final fee is quoted and an out-of-pocket cost estimate is given to you. Those fees and costs are confirmed in writing, and you are asked to countersign a fee agreement so that there is no misunderstanding about the services being provided and the fees being charged. Please contact The McCall Moody & Gray Law Firm if you would like to obtain more information about the fees we offer for specific services. To discuss your case with a dedicated will and trust lawyer, contact The McCall Moody & Gray Law Firm at 850-656-7753. |
