What Should You Ask Your Estate Planning Attorney?

Description

The professionals at Bellomo & Associates conduct free, educational workshops on a regular basis so that you can make well-informed decisions that protect your home and other assets. Your choice of legal counsel is an important factor in that decision-making process, so we want to help you answer a question we often receive: What should I ask my estate planning attorney?

Your host, Jeffrey R. Bellomo, the founder of Bellomo & Associates, is a licensed and certified elder law attorney with a master's degree in taxation and a certificate in estate planning. He explains complex legal and financial topics in easy-to-understand language.

Key Takeaways

01:10 – What percentage of your business is dedicated to estate planning and elder law?

Determine whether the attorney is a specialist or generalist
The law is so complicated now, especially for estate planning and elder law, that a generalist cannot stay current with best practices

04:22 – How often do you update your documents (templates), i.e., trusts, wills, powers of attorney, etc.? Do you use legal document software or do you watch the industry to determine when updates to your documents are needed?

Changes in federal and state law necessitate frequent updates to templates, typically multiple times per year
The templates must be able to accommodate detailed customization to ensure maximum effectiveness for each client

08:52 – Do you provide for standby special needs trusts? Understated age trusts?

Estate planning should account for contingencies
Anything can happen

19:05 – Does your power of attorney (POA) provide for unlimited gifting? Does it allow for asset protection planning, asset preservation, and Medicaid planning?

Unlimited gifting can result in theft or misappropriation
Housing the original documents with an attorney can help safeguard assets

23:13 – What do you charge for updates to documents? Will you contact me if the law changes? How are fees determined on the back end?

Annual maintenance fees can provide for multiple changes and ensure documents are always current
Maintenance fees can vary widely whether based on flat rate, percentage of asset value, etc.
Back-end fees are for estate or trust administration

26:59 – Will you act as the attorney AND the executor of the will? What are your fees?

Separating the attorney and executor roles (ideally, with individuals from different law firms) increases oversight
Some attorneys, when performing both roles, will charge full rates for both