How to Choose the Right Attorney
Rule 1: Make sure you are comfortable with your attorney.
You are going to discuss the private details about everything you own and your relationships with all of your loved ones. So pick an attorney who makes you feel secure and heard! In my office, I rarely wear a suit. I sit with my clients at a table. We share coffee and water, and we visit about our families. We often show each other pictures of the kids in our lives. Dare I say, we also try to laugh and have some fun.
Rule 2: Make sure your attorney is designing a plan specifically for you.
If you want a one-size-fits-all plan, then you are better off finding one on the internet. It will save you money. It might not work when you need it, but neither will a simple form prepared by an attorney who doesn’t take the proper time and care to get to know your unique situation. For this reason, I spend a substantial amount of time with my clients. I guide them through the planning process. I make sure they understand the options and are educated to make decisions that will work for their loved ones.
Rule 3: Your attorney should require you to do work.
A good plan that is going to work when you need it is impossible to draft without your participation. There is approximately $988 million of unclaimed property in Missouri alone. Some of that ends up with the government because loved ones do not know it exists or how to locate it in the event of the owner’s death. Think this through in your head. What would it be like for your spouse or children to try to locate your property if something happened to you tomorrow (bank accounts, passwords, insurance policies, real estate deeds, car titles, investment accounts, safe deposit boxes, etc.).
At MK Legal Planning, we require our clients to complete homework before we will even meet with you so that we can go line-by-line and develop a specific plan for every single thing you own.
Rule 4: Make sure your attorney is planning for incapacity as well as death.
A will does NOT help you if you cannot make your own healthcare decisions or manage your own property. In order to make sure you are cared for throughout life and that YOUR wishes are honored, we must also develop a plan for incapacity. Incapacity is simply any time that the healthcare professional declares you unable to make decisions for yourself. We use tools like powers of attorney and trusts.
I tell my clients that my job first and foremost is to ensure they are taken care of while they are here and then we talk about the plan if anything is left when they are gone.
Rule 5: Your attorney should develop a detailed family emergency plan for minors.
Beware! Most attorneys simply draft a guardian nomination in a will and do not other planning for the care of minors. In my office, we develop a family emergency plan to ensure that the children in your life are never taken into the care of strangers and to ensure that the people you choose to care for them have the legal documentation and tools to do so temporarily and for the long term.
Rule 6: Make sure your attorney has process for regular reviews and updates to your plan.
We are humans. Once we complete an estate plan, we usually shove it on the shelf and hope we do not need it. However, failed plans can result in thousands of dollars in legal fees, stress, and emotional trauma. This is why my office recommends that you review your plan every 3 years. We build these regular reviews into our packages to ensure your plan will work when it is needed.
Most estate planning attorneys will fail to spend the time and effort necessary to develop a comprehensive plan that addresses all these issues. This means your plan could fail when you and your loved ones need it most.
If you are ready to take action to save your family from the costs, stress, and emotional turmoil of a failure to plan (or an outdated plan that fails when you need it), use the following calendar link to book your Estate Planning Session: https://mklegalplanning.as.me/estate-planning-session
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The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. This publication is for informational purposes. Nothing in this publication is legal, financial, or tax advice. MK Legal Planning recommends that you consult with an accountant or other tax professional in conjunction with an attorney to form an advisory team. This publication does not create an attorney-client relationship with the firm or its attorney. © 2019 MK Legal Planning.