What Is the Estate Planning Process?

Virtual Estate Planning

I understand that my clients have busy lives and that it can be hard to take off work, drive to a law office, find a place to park and then meet with a lawyer. The majority of our estate planning work will done virtually. I work with my clients to arrange appointments at mutually convenient times. I am also able to accommodate evening appointments on Monday, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you have a special circumstance, I will try my best to accommodate you at another mutually convenient time.

Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face meetings will be kept to a minimum. When face-to-face meetings must occur or documents need to be signed, I will wear a mask and use hand sanitizer before we meet.

The Mangus Law Firm estate planning process typically occurs as follows:

Initial Consultation

Our initial consultation will be a free, thirty-minute meeting with me held via Zoom. After scheduling the consultation, you will receive a short questionnaire that requests some preliminary information about you, your family and your property. You can fill out and submit this short questionnaire on your smartphone or computer. I will use this information to focus our conversation on your unique circumstances during our initial consultation. During our first conversation, I will provide you with some general information about estate planning and we will briefly discuss your estate planning goals. I will provide you with the price or the price range at the end of our initial consultation. I reserve the right to change the price or price range as circumstances dictate.

Hiring Documents

If you hire me to assist you with the design, drafting and signing of your estate plan, I will send you a Letter of Representation, Terms of Commitment and Estate Planning Price Agreement. You can also review and sign these documents on your smartphone or computer. I will send you a link to pay the invoice for the initial payment or full price of your estate plan. I accept credit cards, debit cards and checks; you will receive more information about payment methods when you review and sign the Estate Planning Price Agreement. Payment plans can be arranged.

Estate Planning Questionnaire

After you have reviewed and signed the hiring documents and paid the initial payment or the full price of the plan, you will receive an Estate Planning Questionnaire. The Estate Planning Worksheet asks you about your personal and family information; your values, goals and concerns; your advisors; your beneficiaries; your beneficiaries; your property, and those individuals that you want to act on your behalf when are unable to act for yourself or after your death. Again, you can fill out the Estate Planning Worksheet on your smartphone or on your computer. You can fill out the Estate Planning Worksheet at different times if it is more convenient for you. All information received from a client is strictly confidential. My firm takes every step possible to protect your privacy. The data submitted via this form is encrypted and secured using industry-standard 128-bit SSL encryption. After I have reviewed your responses to the Estate Planning Worksheet, we will move into the design phase.

Client Design Meeting

The Client Design Meeting will be held via Zoom. During the Client Design Meeting, I will give you additional information about estate planning. I endeavor to present this information in an easily understandable format and often use animated slides to convey difficult estate planning concepts. We will talk about your best and worst-case scenarios should you be unable to take care of yourself and your children or pass away. We will discuss your emergency contact system, and if you don't have one in place, then we will put one in place. We will talk about who you want to have the power to act on your behalf if you become incapacitated, when they get that power and how much power they have. We will discuss your medical care and end-of-life decisions and who you want to make those decisions. We will talk about how your property will be used to benefit you and your dependents during your life and after your death. We will talk about whether a will-, trust-, or wealth preservation-based estate plan accomplishes your goals for yourself, your family, your business, and your legacy.

After the Client Design Meeting, I will begin the first draft of your documents.

Document Review Meeting

During the Document Review Meeting, we will discuss the design of the plan and make sure that you understood how your plan works during any period of incapacity and after your death. Again, I use animated slides to help you understand your estate plan. After the Document Review Meeting, I will finish the second draft of your documents if necessary. If you choose to review your documents, then I will provide you with a watermarked PDF copy of those documents. If necessary, additional changes will be made after your review. The Document Review meeting will be held via Zoom.

Document Signing Meeting

The Document Signing Meeting will take place in person at your home or a mutually convenient location. You will formally execute your documents in front of two witnesses and a Notary Public. This meeting typically takes 30 to 45 minutes. After the Document Signing Meeting, I will retain your original, signed documents until I scanned the documents into a digital file. After I have digitally scanned the documents, I will share access to a folder that contains all of your documents so you can download each document and save them to your computer. You will receive your original documents in an Estate Plan Portfolio.

The estate planning process typically takes 4 to 6 weeks.