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First- attend the Peace of Mind Planning Session. Before the meeting I’ll send you a document to complete online so I can learn a little more about you and be ready for our meeting. If you want to move forward, I’ll send you an engagement letter and invoice.

Next we’ll have a “Estate Plan Design Meeting.” We will go through the documents you provided and our discussions, and design the framework for your estate plan. It should take around 2-3 weeks for the drafts to be sent to you, and then we’ll discuss any changes you may want.

Then- its “Signing Day”, which should occur about a month or so after our “design” meeting. All documents will be properly signed, witnessed, and notarized per Florida law. We can do it at my office or schedule a convenient location. After all is signed, your estate is “secure” and you can contact me whatever you want to discuss it.

No- I will not. No social security numbers or tax returns. We will need information about your assets if you want to properly secure them, such as your house, cars, brokerage accounts, etc.

Yes, we will include documents such as:

Powers of Attorney- you can appoint someone to manage your affairs if you become incapacitated (ie: pay bills, manage businesses, etc.)
Health Care Surrogates- you can appoint someone you trust to manage medical decisions.

Living Wills- you appoint someone to make certain “end of life” decisions and Living Wills.

In addition, we will discuss who would take care of your children if something happened to you.

Probate is a court process that must be followed if someone dies without a will.

BUT- your estate will also have to go through probate even if you HAVE a will.

The judge would determine who your “heirs” are, and what happens to everything you own. Even if you used a will to write down all your wishes, a judge still needs to review the will and “admit” the will- so either way- its going to Court.

The only way to avoid probate is to have a living trust.

Time- Probate can take a long time, from 10-12 months to several years.

If you appointed someone to take care of your family, they won’t get the money or access to anything else quickly – someone has to go to court and ask the judge, and that take times and expense.

Its expensive. It can consume 3-5% of your estate or maybe more.

Since probate goes through the courts, all of its is public, so anyone can get information about what you have, and what you did with it. If you value privacy for your family, then avoid probate.

That’s a big myth. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, if you are single, married, or if
you have any kids.

Estate planning is just making sure that your assets go to who you want, and making it as easy
as possible on your family.

Great question! I have yet to meet a parent who actually wants their kids to inherit a big lump sum on their 18th birthday (which is the age you are legally entitled to inherit). Yet that is exactly what will happen if you don’t get an estate plan saying otherwise. The good news is that with a trust, you can choose a later age for your kids to inherit – say 25, or 30. You have lots of options. We’ll discuss them at your Peace of Mind Planning Session.

No. I am licensed in Florida, and estate planning laws vary by state. However if you need a “referral” to an attorney in another state I should be able to assist.