Fees:
We do not like to pay for services by the hour, just like everyone else. In cases where our services are more or less standard, such as preparing an estate plan for a married couple with a middle-class net worth, which seeks to leave the couple’s assets to their children equally, we have a fee schedule for these services since we have done this work many times and can predict how much time and effort it should take.
Contact us at [email protected] to obtain a fee schedule for our standard/typical planning services.
Other services, such as probating a descedant’s estate, preparing Federal estate and gift tax returns, administering a trust, pursuing a court-ordered guardianship/conservatorship for an incapacitated person, or preparing sophisticated estate plans that contain charitable bequests, having disabled beneficiaries, or require strategies to reduce the inevitable taxes, we have no way to predict the amount or sophistication of the work involved and must charge hourly.
How to pay us and when:
If you are a first-time client, we will ask you for a minimum retainer fee of $1,000 or up to one-half of the flat fee if we can quote you a flat fee. In these situations, we do not begin work until we receive the retainer. In flat-fee matters, we anticipate full payment of the flat fee no later than 30 days from the day we send the drafts to you or when you sign your estate plan, whichever first occurs.
In matters where we charge by the hour, we may ask for a retainer that must be delivered before we start work, and we may ask you to replenish it as we earn our fees. This is done on a case-by-case basis and usually only when we begin working with a new client. Since most of our clients have been with us for many years, they usually pay their fees as we bill them due to the mutual respect and trust we have built up over time.
We prefer to send invoices to your email address, which contains a link to pay your invoice online. If you desire to print your invoice and mail a check to our office or call the office with your credit card information, we are OK with that too. In some cases, we will accommodate clients with old-school paper invoices mailed to you, and you can send payment back.
Payments can be made in all of the traditional ways, including by check via hand delivery or U.S. Mail, and credit card payments can be made by calling the office. In addition, we have set up a new payment method that you can access by entering our payment portal found in the digital invoice you will receive via email or by clicking HERE to enter our payment portal.
