Ok, we're ready to get our act together and write our will, etc. like we should've months ago. How did you do it? Go to an attorney or online?
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I will be following this. Dh and I have failed to look into this because it is such a grim topic for us to stomach. I know that it is never a happy time for it, I don't know it just feels weird. Sorry I am not much help.
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I'm not giving legal advice (need to cover my butt), but I think you should talk to a lawyer. Many people who understand estate planning prefer setting up a trust because it doesn't have to be probated. Wills are, in my opinion, very flawed creatures..
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@LaineysMom: Ditto. Not legal advice (disclaimer) but a meeting with an attorney can save you a lot of money, stress, and worry in the end. Plus, good estate planners generally know all of the tax implications and work that in with your goals as a family.
@MrsRcCar: While it does feel a bit morbid, many clients say that they feel better after reviewing their assets and making a plan and knowing things are in place. -
We had an attorney draft an estate plan, living will/healthcare directive and a few other documents. The attorney was also really helpful in answering all of our questions like "what happens if..."
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We used an atty! A former boss of mine who we trust !
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we used an attorney as well. we used a lawyer referred to us by my husband's job - we pay $15/month for legal services. it is one of the options to choose when enrolling in our insurance plan. the whole thing would have cost us $2500 otherwise, with setting up the trust and whatnot, so you might want to see if your insurance has something like that.
ETA: i meant benefits, not insurance...ugh
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We also used an attorney. We asked one of DH's good friends back home who is a lawyer, but he suggested we use a local one since laws vary by state. He did say that it should run somewhere between $800-$1200 for the whole shebang -- wills w/ trusts, powers of attorney, guardians for LO, etc. If someone tries to charge more than that, they're fleecing you.
We just did the standard version. It was really quick and easy, and ended up being...$1,200 I think? We got the recommendation for the lawyer from our Financial Advisor.
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I just called our lawyer about this on Thursday! I would rather sit down with someone I trust (he knows my dad and handled the closing on our home) than a stranger online. However, I know he will help us with the cost since we have used him several times before and referred others to him. So that was definitely a deciding factor.
Are you doing just a will or a living will and other.medical directives? We haven't decided if we are going to do full estate planning or just a will at this point.
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DH's work has a legal plan we can buy in via annual benefits enrollment - it costs like $7 a paycheck and makes an attorney available to us for a lot of different things. I think if we got sued we could use them for that, but we used the plan for buying our condo and making our wills, which was really nice... might want to look to see if you guys have something like this in your benefits
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@LaineysMom: @indi: People who are recommending a lawyer... We don't own property, but we do have 6 figures (low) in savings. We were hoping to get by with just a DIY will until we buy property/ have more income in about 3-4 years. I'm not super worried about the money, just would want to be sure we had in writing who would care for our daughter. We can't really afford a lawyer right now (we try not to touch the savings, and are living on one small income currently)
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Quicken Will Maker. We don't own property or have any debt, so there really isn't a whole lot to our wills.
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@Silva: The small fee you would pay an attorney would be worth what it costs you from your savings. There are so many things that can happen to an estate after a death.
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We used the family lawyer. With DH's trust things were tricky.
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@MsLipGloss: I agree. Tax losses can be significant or complicated, and child guardianship can really get messy (esp. if there are "dueling relatives," for example).
@Silva: Call around to get pricing ideas, with a short summary of your info and goals (savings, add in property later, main issue is child's welfare). You can also see if there are local legal services, law clinics, or supervised law students who can do the drafting at a reduced cost.I am an attorney, but I'm not trying to drum up business for others, it's just that we often find that it takes more time and money to "fix" when a small initial payment would've saved the person/family a lot of future stress.
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@indi: thanks. What kind of lawyer do I look for? How might i find a reduced cost option like you suggested...just call firms?
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We used an attorney and I'm glad, but I wish we would have clarified pricing in the beginning and understood that EVERYTHING is billable. We ended up paying 1800 for a really straightforward "everything to each other, then everything to DS" / who is the guardian if we pass / medical directives set of docs.
Turned out we were billed for 20 minutes every time she wrote us a quick email or vice versa. which is fine, but at $200 per hour that means a simple dumb question or confirmation of when we were coming to sign cost us like 65 bucks! AGH! I don't fault her personally for that, but like I said..we should have clarified in the beginning so my husband would have saved his questions for google. lol.
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@Silva: An attorney that specializes in wills/trusts/estates (I'd browse online first to see the firms in your area, and ask friends/co-workers for recommendations). You can google "legal services 'your town' or 'your state'" and also call the closest law school to inquire as to if they have clinics for estate planning or can give you some resources.
And like @charlotte: pointed out, clarify with the attorney you're thinking of working with if it's a package price (these 3 docs for $X), billable hour ($X for each hour spent), or a combo of both.
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I wrote a post about this last year!
We went through an attorney.
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I'm not a lawyer, but do it yourself online stuff is often frought with holes and not specific to your state or situation. It's best to do it right using people trained to do this stuff!
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@Silva: an estate planning lawyer, one who specializes in wills, trusts, and estates. Property is only a part of estate planning, so my recommendation is the same.. Find a lawyer. You can call your local bar association to get a recommendation, or ask around. Your friends/coworkers may be able to refer you. Ask up front what their fees are and tell them what is important to you.
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I talked to my lawyer. I'd recommend that personally.
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Thanks yall, I'm contacting a few lawyers in our area. Wish we had a friend of a friend that could help us out but that is a drawback of moving all the time I guess!
@charlotte: eep that stinks! thanks for the heads up!
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@Mrs. Jump Rope: I am having trouble finding your post
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@charlotte: in general, unless you have a fixed fee worked out, that is how attorneys bill. Im guessing this advice wont help you now but you could always ask the the attorney bill in smaller increments or reduce the fees if you think they are unfairly charging you.
While I earn my living through billable hours I'm not trying to screw anyone over either.
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@MrsH: no, I totally get it! I wasn't upset with her..mostly my husband for emailing her followups. just wanted everyone to realize that every minute counts. and that sometimes those minutes may be rounded up.
I was SLIGHTLY annoyed that she billed us for a half hour two separate times that all she did was send us an email confirming when we were going to meet. two emails confirming an appointment I already had in my schedule and didn't request confirmation of shouldn't cost me 200 bucks. but whatever.
the worst part is we moved to another state so now we have to do it all again! maybe we will only converse via telephone this time to save a few dollars.
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@charlotte: yeah, I would have complained about the emails that is ridiculous.
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Estate attorney!!
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