ESTATE PLANNING INFORMATION PACKAGE

To begin your estate planning, first review Revocable Living Trusts and then complete your Estate Planning Questionnaire below and bring it to our planning appointment. This Estate Planning Information Package contains your estate planning agreement below.

YOUR  QUESTIONNAIRE

You will find the terms of our agreement at the end of this questionnaire.

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 and ages 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. For example: your securities, your real estate, bank accts, businesses, collectibles, IRA’s, retirement plans 401(k)’s, and other assets versus the same owned by your spouse, versus anything owned jointly with survivorship.

It is unnecessary to list individual investments or account numbers. 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 are payable on death (POD) to other persons, such as life insurance, bank or brokerage accounts.

6. Please list the face value of life insurance.

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.

12. 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 government 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):
    1. When a beneficiary reaches age [____?] (For example, 22), the Trustee distributes 1/3 [____?] to the beneficiary.
    2. When a beneficiary reaches age [____?] (For example, 25), the Trustee distributes 1/2 [____?].
    3. 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. If you have an IRA or retirement account, it is generally best to make your spouse the beneficiary, followed by your adult children. If you want a share of such an account to go into trust, immediately let me know so we can discuss tax consequences.

24. Do you have any charitable desires?

OUR AGREEMENT

I agree to provide you the documents selected on the Questionnaire. For efficiency sake, I suggest you call and make an appointment before you complete the Questionnaire.  This completed Questionnaire becomes our agreement. 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 each 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 $2,000.00 for a revocable living trust package.

I advise clients against using a simple will in most cases, for the reasons expressed elsewhere on this site. Clients with minor children or other family members requiring a trust, a will would cost roughly $1,000.00.

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