Hiring an estate planning attorney
requires research, understanding, and sometimes some luck to find the right
fit. We strongly encourage that the
selection process include a preliminary telephone interview with the prospective
firm or attorney. During that interview, we suggest asking questions that
really help you understand their process and their services. Below are five
questions that we think get you the information you need in making your
decision.
(1) How
much do you focus your practice in Estate Planning matters? This
is important and often unasked question.
The answer to this question may give insight into how experienced the
attorney is in estate planning matters.
Arguably the best indicator of experience in a practice area is to
regularly practice in that area of law.
This question gives you a gauge for how often the attorney deals with
estate planning. It also gives you a
preliminary answer into how well the attorney can deal with more complex issues
of estate planning.
Some people
would encourage getting quantifiable data from the attorney. For example, asking questions like “What
percentage of your cases involves estate planning work?” While it would be nice to receive reliable quantitative
data on how often the attorney or firm handles estate planning matters, the
reality is that most people cannot accurately provide that information. Moreover, there are numerous factors
attorneys could use to provide that information, which would require you to ask
more questions to get a more accurate picture.
That makes these types of questions deceptively difficult to analyze and
evaluate.
Furthermore,
you should also make sure that you can understand their response to your
questions you ask. As Albert Einstein
said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Granted some concepts of estate planning are
complex, but an experienced attorney should be able to explain them to you in a
way that makes it understandable to you.
The goal of
this question is to determine whether it sounds like the practitioner works in
estate planning on a regular basis.
Having that information is crucial to process because you want someone
who will understand your goals and be able to come up with a plan to achieve
them.
(2) What
experience do you have with situations similar to mine?
No one situation is the exact same and it is important to understand
your unique goals and objectives. Not
all planning issues are ‘typical’. Often
there are differences between plans based on personal information and life
situations. Our goal is to be able to
tell you that we have experience handling situations similar to yours, or to
see that you get to someone that can. In
this way, we anticipate that we are serving you either way, either by doing the
work, or by referring the work to someone specializing in a highly specialized
area that can better assist you. You
don’t want to waste time needlessly searching for answers, and we don’t want
you to have to do that either. Since we have expertise with many different
types of estate planning issues, we also know who else is working in these
areas and has expertise as well, and we can help shorten your search.
Additionally,
some potential clients call in and say, this is what I want done. That’s great
(3) How
much would estate planning cost? Cost is an important factor; however, it is
not always the cost of doing the work that is most important, so long as costs for
estate planning seem reasonable for the work performed. Also, the actual cost of estate planning varies
based on what options or choices you make, and these choices can not be made
without first exploring and understanding your options. We seldom talk with clients that are already
completely informed on their options and needs in estate planning goals when
they call.
So, focusing mostly
on costs is a mistake, though cost is an important consideration. However in every case you should be apprised
of the cost to complete your plan before you have committed to do the work. At the same time you should know your options
too.
Our firm
generally provides an idea about costs in advance, but we can not provide
complete information about the type of plan before meeting with the client.
Unfortunately, a 10-minute telephone call isn’t enough time to provide a
definitive answer. But that is also why
we offer free consultation for estate planning clients before entering into a
contract, so we both better understand the clients’ needs before there is an
agreement for service.
Ultimately,
most firms will work with you to develop the best solution. Just make sure that you are clear in your
expectations on how much it will cost, and communicate your expectations after
you know your options and before you enter into an agreement for services. Also, it should be a written agreement.
One final note regarding costs, always
remember that most of the time the cost of not doing the work or doing
inappropriate work is more expensive than the initial costs of appropriate
estate planning.
(4) What
services are provided? This
is the flip side of the cost
question above. You have to know what is
included in the service. This, again,
requires that you know your options.
However, if someone provides a price for a ‘simple will’, and stops
there, you can be pretty sure this is not their area of expertise. They are not evaluating your needs, and as
such, they are not helping you plan your estate even though they may produce a
Will.
We think an
alternative way to think about this question is to ask “what is estate
planning”. We believe estate planning includes
a discussion that imparts knowledge to you.
After you have completed your planning you should understand what your
estate planning needs are, and what they are not. You also should understand what your role is
in your planning, and how to make changes or pursue your own protection inside
and outside of your estate planning documents.
So, an important part of the estate planning process is your
conversation with your lawyer. The
documents are important too, but these documents do not in themselves
constitute your estate plan; much of your plan is based on how you hold
property and how you direct transfer of property inside and outside of estate
planning documents. Sometimes the most important part of your plan is not
financial, but based on your relationships and responsibility for others.
As to the documents provided by us in
your estate plan, we believe in a holistic estate plan, and in the typical
situation without special needs and without a Trust this includes a Last Will
and Testament, possibly a Living Will, a Health Care Directive, HIPAA Waiver,
and Financial Power of Attorney. There are common variations that include other
documents, such as a pet trust or revocable trust, and sometimes changes in
ownership documents to complete your plan.
It is best to understand what you are
getting for your investment. We think your
investment should include a clear
understanding of the estate planning process, your options, and what is
reasonable to expect from us and required of you to accomplish your goals.
(5) What
can we expect in the future? Our
goal is to build a relationship with you through life. We don’t just focus on your current estate
planning needs; we also pay attention to your future needs. Goals change as life changes and we want to
help with those changes.
We strongly recommend
you “audit” your estate planning documents every 2 years, in the absence of
special circumstances, or even more often if there are special events or
life-changing experiences occur.
Every 3-5
years, you should sit down with an attorney and review your documents and your
goals. We are implementing a process to
help facilitate this review by sending letters and reaching out to remind clients
of these targets.
Some firms may
view estate planning as transactional deals, as a one-time thing - if you’re
interested in updating it, give us a call.
While that approach isn’t irresponsible or bad, our experience is that
this type of work is often outdated when it is used unless it is disciplined by
counsel’s active participation; we are working on developing a plan to provide
this as a regular part of our estate planning service because of the challenges
of dealing with outdated plans when they are used. End of life events are stressful enough without
aggravating them with outdated plans. Further,
the plan should be directed to also assist in other times of stress, such as
disability and other significant life events.
Summary: There is no magic question or
process to choosing an estate planning attorney. However, we advise in general that you look
at experience and conduct a short telephone interview to better understand your
fit with the prospective law firm. These
are five questions we suggest you ask. We
work hard to help you now, and to develop a relationship with you so that you
are comfortable coming back in 3 years, 5 years, or even 20 years.
The information contained in this entry is
general and should not be applied to specific legal problems without first
consulting an attorney.
© Copyrighted by Bale and Associates, Ltd. 592
Office Parkway, Suite B, Westerville, Ohio 43082. Phone (614) 895-5600. All Rights Reserved. March 12, 2015.Feel Free to visit our website to learn more about B&A
