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Fee Schedule for Estate Planning
Documents
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Estate planning
costs are a significant financial commitment for most
clients. Wherever possible, I try to charge a predetermined
or "flat" fee for the Basic Wills below, which takes into account the time spent in
an initial conference with you as well as later conferences, whether in
person or by phone, and the necessary time to draft and revise all
documents. This fixed fee is usually set at the end of the
first conference. If it requires more than one conference to settle on
a plan, then you will be charged on an hourly basis until we have
agreed on a plan.
Complex
Will fees listed below are minimum fees, based on an hourly rate
of $225, but in most cases also will be the total fee.
Complex
estate plans listed below are based on an hourly rate
that will be quoted at your initial conference. A retainer
fee is due at the time of employment; the balance due when documents
are signed.
All estate
planning services INCLUDE drafting of a HIPAA-compliant Durable Power
of Attorney for Health Care and Durable Power of Attorney for Property.
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| Service |
Fee |
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Initial
consultation
|
NO
CHARGE |
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Wills for
single persons
Basic Will
Complex Will
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$250
$500
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"Basic Wills" leave your entire estate to one or more persons, and do
not include specific bequests (except for general bequests of tangible
personal property), or trust provisions.
"Complex Wills" contain non-tax trust provisions and/or a significant number of
bequests. |
Wills for
married couple
or domestic partners
Basic
Wills
Complex
Wills
|
$500
$950
|
"Basic Wills"
leave
your entire estates to one or more persons, and do not include specific
bequests (except for general bequests of tangible personal property),
or trust provisions.
"Complex Wills"
contain non-tax trust provisions for your spouse and/or children and/or a
significant number of bequests. |
Basic Revocable
Trust
|
Single person:
$1,500
Married couple:
$1,750
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Includes a
probate-avoidance trust agreement,
"pour over" Will, and deed to transfer real estate (additional fee for
more than one deed). Most families do NOT need a revocable trust plan,
despite the many seminars that promote such plans; I will explain the
pros and cons. |
Complex Estate
Plan for
married couple/domestic partners
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Will plan:
$1,500-$2,500
Trust plan:
$2,000-$4,000
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If your estate
exceeds $1,000,000 (including your pension and the proceeds
of life insurance), you may want to create an A/B plan,
consisting of a marital gift and a bypass trust to minimize the estate
taxes due after the death of both spouses, and/or to defer state estate
taxes. (This requires that each spouse have sufficient assets to fund
the bypass trust.) I'll
take the time to explain how this plan works, and help you decide if
it's right for you. |
| Irrevocable
Life Insurance Trust |
$2,000 |
Although life
insurance is generally exempt from income tax, it's still subject to
estate tax. A life insurance trust can avoid both taxes, generating
potentially enormous savings. |
| Irrevocable
Living Trust in conjunction with any estate plan above |
$950 |
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| More complex
plans |
Variable |
The list above
includes only a few of the possible estate planning techniques. I would
be happy to explain my fees for other plans, including qualified
personal residence trust, family limited partnerships, charitable
split-interest trusts, and other arrangements.
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| Note:
The pricing for all documents includes only the drafting and signing of
the initial document. Clients will be charged additional fees
for any changes (codicils) or amendments made after the
document has been signed. |
We offer quality legal advice for standard issues and situations at a
predetermined, flat fee in the following areas:
