The cost of estate planning depends on what you want to do and how much help you need. We know it can be emotional or scary to think about what might happen when you are ill, incapacitated, or die. Still, early estate planning can make life easier for your family when you can’t be there to manage things yourself.
Since 1977, the attorneys at Bolan Law Group have assisted families in making difficult decisions and planning for the unknown. You can trust our team to provide the service you need at a cost that works for you. You are probably wondering, How much does estate planning cost? There are several factors that will influence how much you might choose to spend on your estate plan.
What Are the Benefits of Estate Planning?
Estate planning involves documenting your wishes and assigning someone to handle your affairs if you cannot. Having a clear and specific plan for what happens when you die can save your family from the stress of planning your funeral and dividing your assets. A complete estate plan involves many important legal documents, including:
- Healthcare directives. These documents include living wills and healthcare powers of attorney. Healthcare directives state what type of life-sustaining care you desire and appoint a person to make healthcare decisions for you.
- Wills. This document will name an executor for your estate and describe how you want your assets distributed.
- Trusts. Creating a trust will authorize a trustee to hold your property and manage distributions to your beneficiaries.
- Durable general powers of attorney. This document appoints a person to handle your affairs if you are incapacitated.
These are only a few of the estate planning tools you might want to use. Estate plans can be tailored to anyone’s needs, so there are as many different types of estate planning strategies as there are people. Depending on your circumstances, you may need more or less legal assistance. For example, if you have young children, you may need to appoint a guardian to care for them after you die, in addition to creating a will and a healthcare directive. Whatever your needs, we can design a plan that meets them.
Types of Estate Planning Fees
There’s much more to selecting the right attorney than simply considering fees. You must trust your attorney’s experience and skill set and be able to talk comfortably with them. We will review our estate planning fees when you meet with us for your first consultation. Here is a quick overview of the three main types of legal fees.
Hourly Rate
If you have an estate that needs a lot of assistance and management, we may charge an hourly fee. That means you’ll pay a set price for each hour we work on your case. During your consultation, we’ll explain how long we expect to spend developing your plan and what you can expect to pay.
Flat Fees
For some estate planning documents, we charge a flat fee. For example, if you are single or married with no children, your documents might be simple for us to draft. In that case, we might offer a set fee for completing the document. During your consultation, we’ll review everything the flat fee would and wouldn’t cover.
How Much Does Estate Planning Cost: Factors That Can Add to Your Costs
The estate planning process is highly personalized and cannot be standardized. Your costs may go up or down depending on your estate’s complexity and the documents you need. For instance, a family with minor children will want to plan for legal custody, long-term medical care, and financial stability. But there are other circumstances that can make designing an estate plan more complex. Although creating the right estate plan for your situation requires an upfront cost, a poorly managed estate means your beneficiaries might not get as much from your estate as you wanted to give them.
Why Choose Bolan Law Group for Your Estate Planning Needs
You may find DIY estate planning forms online, but you can’t trust that they will do what they claim. Our skilled lawyers have decades of experience helping clients make sure their exact wishes are carried out and that their families are cared for.
Our Education
Improperly drafted estate planning documents may leave your family scrambling to carry out your wishes. At Blado Kiger Bolan, we stay informed about the latest developments in state and federal laws so that we can help you plan more effectively. Our skilled attorneys will always explain all of your options to you so that you can make an estate plan that best serves your needs.
Our Integrity and Experience
Our attorneys dedicate themselves to finding the most efficient legal solution for your situation. We focus on ensuring your estate plan works like you want it to work. We have over 50 years of experience handling estates of all different sizes and levels of complexity. Each one of our attorneys can provide high-quality assistance with estate planning as well as probate and trust matters.
Reasonable Fees
We offer reasonable hourly rates and can work with you to find a fee arrangement for your circumstances. Our attorneys work to find the simplest solution and never add services you don’t need. We never make things more complicated than needed to increase our fees. Expect to discuss fees at your initial consultation, so there will be no surprises.
Personal Attention
No matter how big or small an estate may be, we offer every client the personal attention they deserve. Our attorneys will answer all of your questions and address your concerns in a timely and efficient manner.
Contact Blado Kiger Bolan today to learn more about your estate planning options and to get started on preparing for the future.