The trusted folks at Kiplinger’s created a quiz called “Is it worth it?”. Should you pay a little extra upfront in hopes of saving money — or hassle — in the future? Or are you better off spending less and pocketing the savings now?

One of the questions asks if it is worth it to hire an attorney to create your estate plan. What was Kiplinger’s response? Take the quiz and see for yourself!

http://www.kiplinger.com/quiz/is_it_worth_it/

This is a great artcle this morning about the problems that can arise when individuals do not have the proper estate planning. It was written by Andrew Shain at The State. Mr. Shain explores the difficulties of having a lenghty probate, tax issues, leaving property to minors and other problems when one does not have the proper panning in place.

http://www.thestate.com/business/story/781165.html?RSS=business

I’m addicted to LinkedIn like most people are addicted to Facebook. LinkedIn is for networking professionals. It helps me build my practice while Facebook helps me… well, I’m not for sure what it helps me do. Anyway, a recent poster in a LinkedIn group I belong to wrote a post entitled “What You Should Ask Before Buying Life Insurance”. This got me thinking that a similar post about estate planners might be helpful. So here goes — some questions you should ask:

1. What do you charge? You’ll want to know HOW the attorney charges (hourly? fixed fee? other?), and HOW MUCH the attorney charges. The attorney can put this in writing in an engagement letter, BEFORE you hire him or her — that’s what most of us do upon request, for everyone’s protection.

Note that fixed fee isn’t necessarily better than hourly rate, but if your attorney DOES charge by the hour, you’ll want to ask how he or she handles small time increments. You do NOT want to be charged .25 hours for a five-minute phone call. I do not charge for every little phone call, but some do.

2. How much of your practice is devoted to estate planning? Estate planning can be complicated, and it’s something that requires ongoing effort, to keep abreast of changes and new ideas. When I see a Will or trust prepared by a general practitioner, or a document done by a bankruptcy lawyer as a “favor,” it usually stinks.

3. Will you be drafting my documents? If you are paying the attorney’s hourly rate for a period of time, then you should be getting the attorney’s expertise for the entire period. Ditto with a fixed fee situation. Don’t pay $300 per hour or its equivalent so that a paralegal can draft your documents.

4. What do you recommend, and why? One size does not fit all in estate planning. So your attorney should be able to tell you the advantages and disadvantages of any estate planning set-up (such as simple Will vs. pourover Will plus living trust). An attorney who tells you that “everyone” has a living trust, regardless of their asset level and personal situation, is a salesman, not an attorney.

5. What type of follow-up will you do? If you are creating a living trust, then that living trust needs to be funded (with ownership and beneficiary designation changes). Who’s going to do that? If the attorney does it, what’s the fee? If you are expected to do it, does the attorney tell you in writing exactly what you must do?

I hope this helps you in your quest to find the perfect estate planning attorney for you. Feel free to ask the tough questions to anyone-including me.