Now that you’ve gotten down to the task of estate planning, you want to find the most qualified estate planning attorney for the job, but also someone who is caring and supportive, someone with whom you are compatible, someone you can trust. After all, you will be sharing some private details about your family and your finances, and estate planning will provide a financial road map for your future. Here are some important questions to consider as you speak to your potential estate planning attorney:
1. Does your practice focus primarily on estate planning issues?
In most cases, lawyers who concentrate on one area of the law get to know it in depth and understand its intricacies. Laser focus on one part of the law typically leads to mastery of established and new legislation and well-honed legal skills.
2. How long have you been in practice?
While new blood can add vitality and innovation to a law practice, nothing teaches competence like experience in the field. Whether you’re single or married, of moderate means, or high-net-worth, you want to work on your estate plan with a person who can handle any problems or complexities that exist in your particular case or that may arise unexpectedly.
3. Is your practice an inclusive one?
You will want the person you work closely with to be kind and accepting, ready to adapt to your personal needs, nonjudgemental, and discreet. Your estate planning attorney should be comfortable working with you whatever your marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, whether you or a member of your family is disabled, in rehab, or has an addiction.
4. In addition to seeing your credentials, do you have client reviews on your website that I can take a look at?
It is always helpful to hear directly from those who have worked with the person/practice you’re considering in order to get a firsthand report and another perspective.
5. Are you active in any professional organizations or forums?
Engagement in meetings and activities related to the field of estate planning keeps involved individuals at the top of their game and provides them with updates on what is happening in the estate planning community.
6. Can you provide me with an estimated cost of your estate planning services?
Any responsible estate planning attorney will be prepared to answer this question openly. Transparency about fees is a significant indicator of integrity. Whether you will be charged for billable hours or a flat fee, you have a right to know what to expect. Whatever the fee will be, have the attorney you’re speaking to explain the ways in which having an estate plan will save you money in the long run.
7. How do I feel about this person?
In the end, the most important question is the one that you will ask yourself. All the impeccable credentials in the world do not carry the weight of your judgment and intuition. In addition to coming to you well-documented and highly recommended, the estate planning attorney you choose should be a good fit for you in terms of temperament since estate planning is a collaborative process.
In Southeastern Massachusetts & on Cape Cod, Contact Surprenant & Beneski
We welcome your questions and concerns and are confident that you will find us to be kind as well as efficient and well-versed in all aspects of estate planning. Contact us by phone or through our website.