Episode description
Episode description
In this episode of Repair the Roof, Attorney Ted Gudorf talks about how to select an estate planning attorney, outlining the eight questions you should ask when hiring one, and why you should ask them.
The first thing to ask is, Are you a board-certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law? The process is fairly extensive and so many attorneys aren’t certified. The second question should be, How do you charge for your services? Some charge hourly, which can quickly build up in cost, where others charge flat fees. This is important, especially as it can often be difficult to estimate how long the process will take, which leads to the question, How long does it take to put a plan in place and How many hours will this take? The next question is, What is your process? This helps clients understand what to expect. Then, ask, Do you support the estate plan by helping with retitling of the assets? Retitling of assets is often called funding, and many firms do not assist in asset alignment and funding and titling. In addition, you should ask, Will you support our family, if and when we need to go to a nursing home? Another question that should be asked is, How many of these plans have you done? This helps get an understanding of where their experience is.
Key Topics:
- Introduction (00:05)
- Board-certified specialist (01:40)
- Pricing and length (04:02)
- Timing (05:20)
- Process (06:23)
- Retitling of assets (07:59)
- Support of family (10:10)
- Experience (10:57)
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