Estate Planning Fees
How much do you charge for estate planning documents?” or “How much does a will cost?” These are the most asked questions of estate planning attorneys. Fees generally are less than you fear but more than you wish to pay — but hey, you’re not buying a flat screen tv here. It really IS about your family’s security, and estate planning costs are a significant financial commitment for most clients.
Wherever possible, however, we try to charge a predetermined or “flat” fee that 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. But note that I said “whenever possible.” In many years of experience I have encountered a wide variety of situations: Clients are both old and young; married to the same person for many years, or divorced three times; wealthy and very poor; come from dysfunctional families or have a close-knit family, etc. Estate planning is the process of evaluating your specific financial and family circumstances and preparing appropriate documents that will comply with your dispositive wishes and minimize taxes.
Because of the variety of persons and situations, I tell clients that after the initial consultation, I will be able to evaluate their needs and answer the question “How much will it cost.” Although we have standard estate planning fees, situations that do not fit neatly into these “Plans” will require a different fee quote.