Your Personal Family Wealth Planning Session

Your Family Wealth Planning Session is designed to help you understand exactly what would happen to your loved ones under your current estate plan (or the state’s default estate plan, if you do not currently have an estate plan of your own) if anything were to happen to you. By knowing exactly what would happen to your family without further planning, you will be empowered to make the right decisions for them and create a plan that will fully meet all of their needs.

Immediately after scheduling your appointment, you will receive an email with a link to your Family Wealth Inventory & Assessment packet and other important information that you will want to review and complete prior to your consultation. You may also elect to receive this packet via mail, which you will receive approximately three days later in a Priority Mailer. We must have your Assessment packet returned to our office at least three days prior to your consultation either by mail, e-mail or fax. Feel free to call us at any time if you need assistance completing your packet or have any questions whatsoever. If you have existing estate planning documents, please make sure we have a copy in our office at least one week before we meet so that we can review the documents in advance.

Our initial meeting usually takes about two hours. This meeting serves two purposes:

1. To identify whether there is a good fit between you and the attorney who will become your “counselor for life”.
2. To educate you about the law and what would happen if you died with your current plan, or with no plan at all.

Assuming that you and your attorney determine that there is a good fit between our firm and your family AND that you can benefit from our services, you and your attorney can work together to design a plan for your family right away.

Once you and your attorney have completed the design of your plan, you will schedule a convenient time to sign your documents, typically four weeks after your initial meeting date. During this time, we will collect any missing information from you and draft a plan that will accomplish your family’s goals. We will also create an asset spreadsheet and funding toolkit that will help ensure your plan works for your family when they need it most. Once you sign your documents, your assets and your family will be protected as discussed during your design meeting.

We also verify that all your asset transfers are moving forward on schedule and review your asset spreadsheet with you to ensure all of your questions are answered. Of course, if they are not, we are always available to answer your questions at any time in the future. And, there’s never any charge for that.

At our third and final meeting during the Planning stage of our relationship, we will guide you to pass on more than just your financial wealth. We will discuss issues such as who you are and what is most important to you, and other intangible, spiritual matters. We have developed a tool that helps you to pass on your intangible wealth right along with your financial wealth.

We see this as only the beginning of our relationship. You may make changes to your planning documents at no charge for up to 90 days after you sign your documents. Additionally, we send letters to all of the important people you have named as health care agents, trustees and guardians letting them know just what to do if something happens to you – including to call us, as we’re here for your family!

After the Planning phase is complete, the maintenance phase of your plan will begin. At no additional charge, we will review your plan at least every three years and keep you informed at least monthly about changes in the law and about other issues that affect your family and your wealth. And, if you participate in one of our maintenance programs, you will have an opportunity to review your plan on an annual basis, and we will provide your family with a number of other valuable services.

Finally, we are always here for you and we don’t charge for phone calls, faxes, or emails. We want to speak with you and serve as your lawyers for life, regarding estate planning and other legal matters.