ESTATE PLANNING INFORMATION PACKAGE

For complete transparency, this Estate Planning Information Package is also your estate planning agreement. I agree to provide you a Trust, Will, Power of Attorney and Advance Care Plan if selected on the Questionnaire below. To begin your estate planning, complete your Estate Planning Questionnaire below and bring it to our planning appointment. For efficiency sake, I suggest you call and make an appointment before you complete the Questionnaire.  By giving me this completed Questionnaire to me, you retain me for the work chosen. At the planning appointment, we will fine-tune your plan and set a time for an appointment to review and sign your documents. I will prepare your documents within a few days and provide them at your review appointment.

How much will your estate planning package cost? There is a base charge of 1-2 hours for the trust document that depends on its complexity, plus a charge for the time it takes me to advise you and complete your documents.  My average fee is $1,800.00 for a revocable living trust package.

I advise clients against using a simple will in most cases, for the reasons expressed in this document, but my minimum fee for a simple will package for an individual or couple is $600.00. If they have minor children the minimum fee is $900.00. Tax planning adds $500-$1,000 to the cost of any package.

Payment is due when I provide you your estate planning documents at the review appointment. However, if you delay the process after our planning meeting, I reserve the right to bill you monthly for time spent.

YOUR ESTATE PLANNING QUESTIONAIRRE

General information

1. Your name to use in documents:

Birthday:

Social security no:

2. Your address & phone numbers:

3. Name of your spouse, if any?

Birthday:

Social security no:

4. Names of your kids (if any)?

5. What is the approximate value of your estate. Please list the owner (husband, wife, joint) cost and market value of each category of assets (securities,  real estate, bank accts, businesses, collectibles, IRA’s, retirement plans 401(k)’s, and other assets.

It is unnecessary to list individual investments or account numbers.

5. Please list the face value of of life insurance.

Warning: Certain items bypass your Will and Trusts unless made payable to your estate or trust. These include property owned jointly with right of survivorship and items that is payable on death (POD) to other persons, such as life insurance, bank or brokerage accounts.

Power of attorney

7. As part of your estate plan, we advise you to use, a power of attorney, which authorizes a person you select to handle your legal affairs, usually your spouse or relative.

[  ] I want a POA.

[  ] I authorize my spouse:

[  ] I instead authorize:

[  ] I next authorize:

Advance Care Plan

8. An ACP allows you to name someone to make your healthcare decisions & and to tell your care giver to withhold specified health care if your health is seriously impaired.

[  ] I want an ACP.

[  ] I authorize my spouse:

[  ] I instead authorize:

[  ] I next authorize:

YOUR WILL

[ ] I want a Will.

9. If you have minor children, who would you name as guardian(s)?

10. Most persons give their tangible, personal property (property you can touch, other than real estate) to a spouse, if living, and if not equally to living children.

[  ] O.K. [ ] other preferences:

11. Do you wish to dispose of your remaining property (real estate, securities, bank accounts), in a similar way?

[  ] O.K. [ ] other preferences;

12. Name any charities you’d like to help.
13. Executor: I suggest your spouse:

[  ] I name my spouse as Executor:

[  ] I instead name as Executor:

[  ] I name a successor Executor:

[ ] If your Executor is a nonresident, name a resident Co-Executor:

YOUR REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST

[ ] I want a Revocable Living Trust (RLT). Ask about revocable living trusts.

14. We normally suggest that a Trust benefit your surviving spouse while alive, then your children:

[  ] O.K.           [ ] Other:

15. If no living spouse remains, we normally suggest equally dividing a Trust among kids.

[  ] O.K.           [ ] Other:

[ ] Check here if you have any beneficiaries who have special needs, particularly if you anticipate that you may need to maximize that beneficiary’s access to governmental benefits such as Medicare or protect the trust assets from governmental or other claims.

16. If a beneficiary dies before you or before receiving his final distribution from the Trust, write “1,” “2” and “3” in brackets below, to indicate order of preference, or describe preferred distribution:

[ ] Shift deceased person’s share to other beneficiaries.

[ ] Distribute share to deceased person’s issue (children, grandchildren, etc.).

[ ] Distribute share to your heirs.

[ ] Other:

17. I suggest that your Trustee have discretion whether to pay income or principal to a beneficiary

[  ] O.K. [ ] other preferences:

18. When ending the trust, your Trustee may pay each beneficiary a share of his Trust property at a certain age or ages. Using the following example, indicate your preferences in the brackets (you don’t have to use three distributions):
19. When a beneficiary reaches age [____?] (For example, 22), the Trustee distributes 1/3 [____?] to the beneficiary.
20. When a beneficiary reaches age [____?] (For example, 25), the Trustee distributes 1/2 [____?].
21. When a beneficiary reaches age [____?] (e.g., 30), the Trustee distributes the remainder.

TRUSTEES

22.  Name your Trustee:                                                                                                Co-Trustee:

Co-Trustee:

Successor Trustee:

23. Ask about special considerations regarding IRA’s and retirement plans.

24. Do you have any charitable desires?