What Can I Expect in My Estate Planning Consultation?

You’ve finally crossed that item off your household to-do list.  You’re going to meet with an attorney to discuss your estate planning.  What should you expect both before and after the consultation?

Before the Consultation — The Intake Questionnaire

Prior to your consultation with the planning attorney, you should expect to complete the intake questionnaire that asks for basic biographical information about you and your family.  It will ask for a snapshot of your family’s assets.  And it may ask you to begin thinking about important decisions, such as who you’d trust to make health care or financial decisions for you if you are unable to do so.  Why the importance of this questionnaire?  Every family is different.  While many estate plans may contain common documents, each family’s goals, objectives, and assets are slightly different.  This questionnaire is the first step in helping the planning attorney consider a plan that makes sense for you and your family even before the consultation.

Am I Bound to Work with the Planning Attorney?

The consultation is your opportunity to build a comfort level with the planning attorney.  There are plenty of planning attorneys out there.  It is the client’s prerogative to work with a planning attorney with whom they feel a sense of comfort and rapport.  If you haven’t researched the planning attorney’s qualifications before your consultation, feel free to ask those questions at the consultation.  Typically there is no cost or obligation for this initial consultation.

Am I Going to Hear Lots of Legal Jargon?

A good planning attorney will break down the legal concepts of estate planning into easy-to-understand concepts.  At BDBF, we start by talking about the basic documents of every estate plan and the purpose of each document.  We discuss the Advance Medical Directive, the Financial Power of Attorney, a Last Will and Testament, and the nomination of a guardian (for clients with minor children).  We also discuss how joint ownership and beneficiary designations need to also be considered as an alternative to a Will.

Depending upon your family’s resources (both the amount and the type), and your family’s goals and objectives, we may also discuss more complex issues, such as trusts and estate tax.

If there is a planning concept that the planning attorney doesn’t discuss but you want to learn more about, just ask!

Do I Have to Make My Decisions On The Spot?

No.  First of all, you do not need to make a decision to retain the estate planning attorney and move forward with planning at the consultation.  Many clients do make this decision but many clients want to talk about it at home.  No client should feel any pressure to retain the planning attorney at the consultation.

If you do decide you want to move forward with the planning attorney, you will likely move on to a deeper discussion, either in the same meeting or in a follow-up meeting.  This discussion will involve such things as selecting the individuals who you want to nominate for such roles as health care surrogate, financial agent, Personal Representative, and guardian for the children.  Rare is the family who comes to conclusions on each element of their estate plan in the initial meeting.  Most of our clients leave the consultation with “homework”—the remaining decisions to be made about their estate plan.

Will I Get Draft Documents That Day?

Some clients arrive at a consultation expecting to leave the consultation with signed estate planning documents.  This almost never happens.  Many decisions are made as part of an estate plan—frequently more than the client anticipates.  Moreover, document drafting takes time.  In a true emergency, occasionally same-day document creation can be possible.  In the more customary situation, the client consults with the planning attorney.  The client leaves the consultation with the remaining decisions to be made—the “homework”.  The clients consult and reach a consensus on these decisions and communicate all final decisions to the planning attorney.  The planning attorney then drafts the documents.  It frequently takes a few weeks between final decisions being communicated to the attorney and draft documents sent to the client.

Concluding Thoughts

Consulting with an estate planning attorney can be intimidating.  At Bulman Dunie, we do our best to make the process comfortable, even when talking about uncomfortable concepts.  If you are dipping your toe for the first time into estate planning or if you are looking to update your plan, contact Bulman Dunie estate attorney Jeremy Rachlin at (301) 656-1177, or jrachlin@bulmandunie.com.