Four Levels of Estate Planning
We offer four levels of estate planning – each package highly customized to meet your unique family situation, assets and personal values, goals and objectives. From starter plans primarily for families with young children and little in the way of financial wealth, to more robust plans for well-established families who want to avoid probate, provide asset protection and eliminate or minimize estate taxes, we offer estate planning levels to meet your needs, goals and objectives. Our estate planning fees generally range from $1,200.00 up to $8,500.00 on the high end for an extensive estate plan.
Family Plan
For the family who wants to take care of basic estate planning needs and is not concerned about avoiding probate. You’ll gain peace of mind knowing we are here to help you navigate the system during your lifetime and help your family after your passing.
Trust Plan
For the family who wants to avoid probate and gain total assurance and peace of mind knowing that in the event of their death or incapacity, all assets will be transferred to heirs with the most ease and convenience possible in the privacy of our office.
Wealth Plan
For the family who wants the total assurance and peace of mind of the “Trust Plan” as well as the added comfort of knowing that all assets transfers are taken care of by our office. We do all “funding” for you.
Legacy Plan
For the family who needs more than the foundational planning of the first three levels. Clients choosing the Legacy Plan may have advanced planning needs involving complicated estate tax or asset protection issues.
Our Estate Planning Packages Are NOT One-Size-Fits-All
The Tangible Value
If all you are looking for is a low-cost set of legal documents, there are various online resources available to you, or you can choose a traditional estate planning lawyer.
The issue with those “plans” and “services” is that they are most often provided as a “one-size-fits-all” plan that does not take into account your unique family situation, asset portfolio, personal values, or goals and objectives. In many unfortunate cases, they are not legally sufficient and the documents are not legally upheld. Even worse, they will be upheld but will have dire consequences that you didn’t know would take place – such as your 18-year-old getting a check for $500,000 or your son-in-law getting 1/2 of your daughter’s inheritance in a future divorce.
There are 1001 ways in which this process can go wrong, and only one what in which it goes well – that is having a comprehensive estate plan done right.
If you want peace of mind knowing that you have a plan in place that has been custom designed for your family that will make things easier for your loved ones no matter what happens, then the Socius Law Firm is the right choice for you.
All of our fees are fixed and agreed to in advance, so there are no surprises. And you can choose the level of planning/estate planning package that works best for you and your family at our free Initial Planning Meeting.
The Intangible Value
Stories of families being split apart by arguments over estates are far too common. And most do not involve large estates. The problem is that often people think that since they have a Will everything is taken care of and all the details will work themselves out.
Horror stories about poor estate planning are endless. From the “lost Will” – to missing specific distributions in the Will because “everyone knows he was supposed to get the china” – to the new bride, who wants everything, that no one knew about. If you could talk to these individuals, I am sure that they would all say that fighting amongst their loved ones is the last thing they would ever want. Unfortunately, they didn’t know how to plan in a way that would have prevented conflict or at least minimized it.
At Socius Law Firm, we can’t promise that your family will not argue. What we can promise is that your family will not argue because your wishes are not properly spelled out in a comprehensive estate plan.
And while it may be customary to describe an estate plan as a list of documents, when choosing the Socius Law Firm, you are not just “buying paper.” Instead, you are retaining an attorney who will craft a plan that your family must live with after you are gone; you are choosing a trusted advisor whom your loved ones will depend upon at their most difficult times; and you are creating a relationship with an attorney that should last for life.