6 Steps to Finding the Right Estate Planning Attorney for Your Situation
Finding the right estate planning attorney can feel overwhelming and choosing the wrong one can cost you time, money, and peace of mind. In today’s Tuesday Triage, Jill walks you through six practical steps to help you identify the right fit for your needs, avoid common pitfalls, and trust your instincts throughout the process. Whether your estate is simple or more complex, these tips will give you clarity and confidence in choosing the attorney who can best serve you and your family. Here’s a summary of the tips Jill offered on today’s podcast.
#1: Ask for a Referral. Referrals from financial advisors, accountants, or trusted friends can be a great starting point, just don’t let them be the only thing you rely on. And remember, your friend’s estate planning attorney may have been perfect for their situation, but not for yours. You still need to do your own due diligence to make sure the attorney is the right fit for you.
#2: Match the Attorney’s Experience to Your Needs. Do you have a simple estate or a complicated estate? Most people will tell me they have a simple estate. And most of the time, they’re wrong.
A simple estate usually looks like this for a married couple: you’re happily married, you own everything jointly, if you have kids, they get along, no beneficiaries have special needs, you both have traditional jobs (you’re not business owners), and your estate doesn’t exceed the state or federal estate tax exemption. In short, you don’t need tax planning.
On the other hand, a complicated estate can mean different things:
From a wealth perspective: you exceed an estate tax exemption, meaning that you need tax planning, or you or your spouse owns a business.
From a beneficiary perspective: you have a beneficiary who requires a special needs or supplemental needs trust.
From a family dynamics perspective: maybe you’re divorced with minor children, you have a divorce decree with estate obligations, you’re remarried with kids from different partners, you own a family vacation home, or your kids don’t get along with each other, with you, or with your spouse. Even having minor beneficiaries adds complexity.
#3: Prioritize clear communication. Estate planning is full of jargon. You’ll hear terms like lapsed legacy, codicil and per stirpes. A good attorney cuts through all of that and explains things in plain English. You should leave a meeting feeling more confident, not more confused.
#4: Experience Matters. Experience really does make a difference. Unless a newer attorney is working closely with seasoned estate planners who can guide them, Jill generally recommends avoiding an estate planning attorney who has been practicing for less than two years.
#5: Look for a Clear Process and Transparent Pricing. A good estate planning attorney doesn’t just hand over documents and call it a day. They make sure those documents actually do something. That means ensuring your assets are properly titled in a trust, if that’s part of your plan, or that your beneficiary designations are set up the right way. The other piece of the puzzle is cost. Estate planning can be billed hourly or as a flat fee. But even if your attorney bills by the hour, after your initial consultation they should be able to give you an approximate quote.
#6: Comfort and Trust Matter. You’re going to be sharing some of the most personal details of your life — your money, your family tensions, your end-of-life wishes. That means you need an attorney you truly feel comfortable with. Ask yourself: Do I feel listened to? Do I feel respected? Do I feel comfortable with the timing and pace of the process? If the answer to any of those is no, that’s a sign this attorney may not be the right fit. Trust your instincts here — because comfort and trust are just as important as credentials.
Listen to the episode here:
