Our Estate Planning Roadmap

After you schedule your first contact (a 15-min complimentary phone or video conference) we will invite you to complete a brief online questionnaire. Your responses help us understanding you high-level goals, main concerns, and areas for exploration. After this strategy session has concluded, and if there is mutual agreement, we will proceed to the next step: You will receive an engagement letter along with a legal services agreement with an advance fee arrangement. The advance fee will be discussed during the initial meeting and will go into a lawyer trust account (IOLTA). By law, unearned fees must be promptly returned to you, and for simple estate planning needs a refund is likely.

Prior to the Design Meeting we will send you a detailed questionnaire and forms which we need to recieved at least five working days prior to the agreed upon date for the Design Meeting. If you require more time to gather information or documents, we can always reschedule. The Design Meeting is crucial to developing a highly personalized estate plan; will last about two hours; and is usually done in person. Our attorney, Bryan Thompson prefers to meet with local clients in their homes or any mutually agreeable place, including his home office in Oakland. The service area for meeting in person is Alameda County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Contra Costa County, and Northern Santa Clara County (essentially the City of San Jose).

During the Design Meeting we will review reasonable alternative approaches that can accomplish your estate planning needs and qoute you the associated flat fees. You will then decide how to proceed. In the unusual case that you paid an advance fee, we held a Design Meeting, but you do not want to proceed further, we will charge you an hourly rate of $300 for the time spend with you and refund the balance of the retainer fee.

Prior to the Drafting Meeting we will contact your financial, real estate, tax, and spiritual advisors, of course with your permission, if needed. We will then draft the documents for your estate plan and send them to you in advance of the Drafting Meeting. This gives you a chance to review them if you’d like, but the detailed point-by-point review will occur during the Drafting Meeting. We will discuss any revisions you would like to make and after the meeting prepare the revised documents. This meeting does not necessarily have to be in person and can be done by videoconference (Zoom).

The Signing Meeting generally requires the presence of witnesses. Our attorney is a Notary Public and as such this signing meeting can occur at your residence, a mutually agreeable location, or at the attorney’s home office.

We will reach out to you at least once every other year with a very brief questionnaire which will determine if any modifications are recommended. Note: All reviews are complimentary, but any modifications require a drafting fee to be determined at the time.