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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Gratia Schoemakers
      • Community Outreach Program
    • Testimonials
  • Virtual Services
  • Estate Planning
    • Estate Planning Basics
    • Last Will and Testament
    • Revocable Living Trusts
    • Durable Power of Attorney
    • Medical Power of Attorney
    • Living Will
    • Family Estate Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning & Asset Protection
    • Kids Safety Plan™
    • Business Succession Planning
    • Guardianship
      • Guardianship Planning
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Legacy Preservation Planning
    • Asset Protection
    • Trusts
    • Pet Trusts
    • Gun Trusts
  • Probate
    • Texas Probate Guide
    • Probate of a Will
    • Texas Affidavit of Heirship
    • Texas Small Estate Affidavit
    • Texas Heirship Determination
    • Texas Muniment of Title
    • Trust Administration
  • Family Law
    • Divorce
    • Collaborative Divorce
    • Mediation
    • Custody / Visitation
  • Blog
  • FAQs
    • FAQs – Videos
    • FAQs – Estate Planning
    • FAQs – Beyond Money in Estate Planning
    • FAQs – Divorce and Estate Planning FAQs and Myths
    • FAQs – Estate Planning for Newlyweds Myths and FAQs
    • FAQs – Estate Planning for Young Adults
    • FAQs – The Estate Planning Cast of Characters
    • FAQs – Expecting an Inheritance
    • FAQs – Myths and FAQs – Planning for Conflict Prone Families
    • FAQs – New and Expanding Families
    • FAQs – Pet Trusts
    • FAQs – Probate
    • FAQs – Standalone Retirement Trust Myths and FAQs
    • FAQs – Trust Modifications
    • FAQs – Unwinding Obsolete Planning
    • FAQs – Why You Want to Avoid Probate
    • FAQs – Year-End Planning Myths and FAQs
  • Contact
    • Virtual Estate Planning Login
    • Client Portal

3 Ways to Minimize Estate Planning Fees

July 16, 2018 By Gratia P. Schoemakers, Esq.

3 Ways to Minimize Estate Planning Fees

Today, it is impossible to put together even a simple estate plan without the assistance of an experienced estate planning attorney.  Why?  Because estate planning laws vary greatly from state to state and these laws are extremely convoluted and constantly changing.

One wrong word, one missing signature, or one procedure not followed to the letter of the law can partially or completely invalidate a Last Will and Testament, Revocable Living Trust, Advance Medical Directive, Living Will, or Durable Power of Attorney.

Give yourself more control of your financial future

Though attorney fees may feel expensive, they’re actually not when viewed in light of the service and protections provided.  In fact, estate planning fees are best viewed as an investment, not an expense.

All that being said, here are 3 simple things you can do to keep the legal costs of setting up and maintaining your estate plan down:

  1. Be Prepared – Before you meet with your estate planning attorney, do your homework.  Understand what you own, what you owe, who you would like to inherit what, and who should be in charge of managing your estate if you become mentally incapacitated or after you die.  Then, after your estate plan is up and running, to make changes to your estate plan, make a detailed list of what the possible changes should be and forward it to your attorney for comments and questions.
  2. Keep it Simple – While a simple estate plan will be easy and straightforward for your attorney to draft and maintain, a complicated estate plan will be difficult and time consuming.  This usually means that a complicated estate plan will cost more.  Keeping it simple will not only help minimize the legal fees while you are alive, but also the costs of settling your estate after you die.
  3. Join Your Attorney’s Estate Plan Maintenance Program – Some estate planning attorneys offer a regular estate plan tune-up for their clients at a reasonable fee.  This program will force you to think about your estate plan once a year or every few years depending on the terms of the attorney’s maintenance program.  Maintenance programs help you keep your estate plan current with changes in the law, your attorney’s experiences, and your life, family, goals, and assets.  Estate plans only work if they’re up to date.

If you would like to create or update your estate plan, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk.

Filed Under: Estate Planning, Wills, wwPROBATE Tagged With: Cost, Estate Plan

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