Working with a Louisiana Estate Planning Lawyer from Start to Finish
Hiring an Estate Planning attorney can be a daunting task for everyone, even for experienced lawyers like me!
I’m going to give you my top helpful tips for what to expect when you're working with an Estate Planning lawyer.
Last year, I had the experience of hiring a lawyer for some matters beyond the scope of my practice. It was fascinating being on the other side of the legal desk because it gave me insight into an experience not many people have on a regular basis. I am grateful to know what it’s like to be both an attorney and a client, and think it’s important to share my insights with you!
I have experience in estate planning, business strategy, and building your own solo law firm.
I will be focusing mainly on the Louisiana estate planning process in this post.
However, you can apply these tips to most situations when you’re searching for legal representation. If you’re interested in learning more about my business strategy services, click here.
1. Schedule a consultation
A consultation will allow you to meet (or e-meet) your lawyer and start getting to know them.
You have to make sure that your lawyer is someone you feel comfortable with, someone you want to share things with. You have to trust and put confidence in this person and probably for a longer length of time. Especially with Estate Planning, you’ll be sharing personal information and relying on them to help you through frustrations and learn new skills.
To schedule a consultation, many lawyers have automated scheduling systems like Acuity or Calendly. I use Calendly.
So, you can simply schedule a strategy session, pick a time that’s best for you, and you’re all set.
Compassionate legal advice for Louisiana business professionals beginning the estate planning process.
Before the initial meeting, it’s important to organize your ideas, questions, and related materials.
My rule of thumb is that It is better to be over-prepared for this first meeting than under.
It’s vital that if you are going to pay for an initial meeting, you do your homework ahead of time. It’s helpful to look at the lawyer's social media, website, and reviews to get a sense of their personality and business practices.
You can check out my Estate Planning strategy session info page here, to learn specifics before you sign up for anything.
I encourage you to look at my website and check out my Instagram and Linkedin pages. and watch episodes of my live stream: Addie Prewitt Live.
Addie Prewitt Law discusses retirement estate planning laws for Louisiana Professionals.
Once you’re on the call, you’ll want to make sure to ask questions like these:
What type of experience do you have helping people like me?
What is it like to work with you?
What is your pricing structure?
Let’s say you’re working with a personal injury attorney, the lawyer will work on a contingency fee basis.
A contingency fee just means that the lawyer doesn't get paid unless you get paid. For most of my Estate Planning services, I charge a flat price. Although there are some services where an hourly rate is more appropriate.
Check out my pricing structure for estate plan design. Once we’ve met for a strategy session and discussed the details of your case, I’ll be able to give a personalized fee structure for our collaboration.
I want to make sure all potential clients know exactly what they’ll be paying before we start working together.
Bottom line: trust your gut when it comes to these initial consultations. It’s important that you feel comfortable and trust the lawyer you’re about to hire.
Want to pick my brain for an hour? I’m here to answer all of your estate planning questions.
2. The Conflict Check
Okay, so you’ve decided on a great attorney.
You’ve asked all the right questions and you feel good about this person’s ability to help you out through your situation. Now, it’s time to do the conflict check. This just means that you get everything out on the table, to make sure there’s no conflict of interest. In the Estate Planning process, this could mean:
If spouses are seeking services:
Each spouse knows they’re being represented together.
All information will be shared with all parties involved (each spouse and attorney).
Nothing is going to be kept from anyone during the process (all info about financial assets, debts, and properties will be shared with all parties).
If a child is bringing parents in:
It will be made clear who the client is (the parent or parents).
It will be made clear where all billing should be sent (to parent or child).
All parties involved are aware of the Estate Planning process.
Once these specifics have been discussed and agreed upon, your attorney will send some sort of agreement or engagement letter. This letter will lay out everybody’s mutual agreements, obligations, payment structure, what you can expect from the lawyer and when, and what they can expect from you within that timeline.
During this process, make sure to read all materials thoroughly and never hesitate to ask any questions you have.
It’s very important that this step be as clear as possible for everyone involved. I make sure that my engagement letter is as reader-friendly as possible because I know this can be a stressful stage in working with a new lawyer. I’ll invest the time to confirm that everyone feels comfortable before moving on to the next phase.
I encourage my clients to ask questions and I’ll make adjustments if needed.
3. Organize all materials and information
So, you’ve officially secured an estate planning lawyer!
During this next phase, the lawyer will be gathering all information they need to work on your case.
In the Estate Planning process, I’ll ask need-to-know things like:
Do you have property? Where is it? Do you have all the ownership documents?
Do you have debt? Where is it? How much? Do you have all the appropriate documentation?
Family history like children, spouses, ex-spouses, and extended family. Do you have dependents? Do you have children under the age of 18?
It can vary from client to client, but generally, folks looking to make an estate plan can count on needing some, if not all, of the following documents:
Last will and testament
Living trust
Beneficiary designations
Advance healthcare directive/healthcare power of attorney
Financial power of attorney
Insurance policies (health, life, car, home, etc.)
Proof of identity (social security card, prenup agreement, birth/marriage/divorce certificates, etc)
Titles and property deeds (car, home, boat, rental property)
Digital logins and passwords (yes, all of them)
Funerary instructions
It’s okay if you didn't have every bit of this information available during your initial consultation.
But, at this stage, you’re going to want to give thoroughly detailed information to your lawyer. You can save a lot of time (and money) by being prepared upfront, so make sure to gather these materials as best you can and as early as you can.
Let’s create an estate plan and get the peace of mind you deserve.
4. Discuss and Design your Estate Plan
Once the information is gathered, your lawyer will have the opportunity to look it over and prepare themselves for your case.
With my Estate Planning practice, I’ll take a look at all your information, ask you the questions I need, then schedule a face-to-face meeting where we can collaborate and design your estate plan.
Whether in person or over a video call, this meeting gives us the opportunity to do the following:
Discuss goals and prioritize them.
We’ll talk about different options to achieve your goals.
You can ask questions as they come up.
Start laying out the plan that’s best for you.
We’ll also probably discuss specifics like:
Whether trusts are necessary or desired
Executors
Trustees
Agents for powers of attorney (healthcare and financial)
This is when we collaborate to create the exact estate plan you need.
We can build your legacy, and ensure as much security for future generations as possible. I’ll go over different scenarios based on the planning goals we discussed earlier in the process.
I’m here to answer your questions, so be sure to ask them. Get in touch with me here, if you’d like to talk specifics.
5. Prepare the Estate Planning Documents
At this point in the process, we’ve discussed all aspects of your estate plan at length.
We’ve taken a deep dive into your specific situation and prioritized your goals. I will take that information and draw up the official legal documents that make up your estate plan.
At this time, I’ll typically put together a tutorial video for you, so you can familiarize yourself with each document and keep the recorded information for your records.
You’ll review the video, ask questions or make comments. If needed, the documents will be updated to be reviewed again.
Once the documents are ready to go, we’ll sign them to make them official and binding.
6. Signing Ceremony
You’ve reviewed all the documents, you’ve asked all the questions, and now you’re confident in putting pen to paper.
In Louisiana, the signing ceremony requires the presence of a notary (typically your estate planning attorney), two witnesses, and the client(s) to all be in the same room to sign the documents.
Once the documents are notarized, I create PDF files and give the original Estate Planning documents to you.
I will suggest how to keep up with the files and best practices for storing them long-term.
Here in Louisiana, it’s always good to incorporate inevitables like hurricanes, evacuations, and flooding into your long-term storage plan.
7. Let’s stay in touch
In the last year, I’ve hired an attorney to take care of a case that was outside of my scope of expertise. They did a great job, but I felt like once our engagement ended, so did our relationship. It was hard to get in touch with this lawyer once the final paperwork was signed. I just kept thinking, “what happens if this type of issue comes up again? Who will I call?”
It made me think of my own practice and how different I want my clients to feel, even after our initial Estate Planning work is over.
It’s important to me that my clients stay in touch. I want to see them, talk to them, and correspond with them. I hope they come to me when updates are needed and that they recommend me to their friends and family who are looking to create their own estate plans.
If you’re going to go through this process of hiring a lawyer and gathering all the materials and information, you might as well feel invested in a good, long-term legal relationship and have someone to go to when updates are needed or other issues arise.
Take Care,
Addie
I’m here to help you through the entire Estate Planning process from start to finish.
FAQ
Q: Which documents will I likely need to create a well-prepared estate plan?
A: It can vary from client to client, but generally, folks looking to make an estate plan can count on needing some, if not all, of the following documents:
Last will and testament
Living trust
Beneficiary designations
Advance healthcare directive/healthcare power of attorney
Financial power of attorney
Insurance policies (health, life, car, home, etc.)
Proof of identity (social security card, prenup agreement, birth/marriage/divorce certificates, etc)
Titles and property deeds (car, home, boat, rental property)
Digital logins and passwords (yes, all of them)
Funerary instructions
See what a difference an hour can make. It’s time to book your 60 minute strategy session with Addie today.
Are you a Louisianan interested in passing your legacy onto future generations with an ironclad estate plan? Book a 60-minute strategy call with me today! Find out more information about my services here.
Follow me on socials and I’ll answer any of your questions about estate planning and business law via Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube.
Listen to all episodes of Addie Prewitt Live on Soundcloud!