Annual Maintenance

Your estate plan is a snapshot of you, your family, your assets and the tax laws in effect at the time it was created. All of these change over time, and so should your plan. It is unreasonable to expect the simple will written when you were a newlywed to be effective now that you have a growing family, or now that you are divorced from your spouse, or now that you are retired and have an ever increasing swarm of grandchildren! Over the course of your lifetime, your estate plan will need check-ups, maintenance, tweaking, maybe even replacing. So, how do you know when it's time to give your estate plan a check-up?

Generally, any change in your personal, family, financial or health situation, or a change in the tax laws, could prompt a change in your estate plan. However, getting into a routine for reviewing your plan offers you the most security. I offer my clients a plan that enables them to contact me throughout the year without incurring incremental charges for each few minutes spent talking with me. Rather, we agree that signing up for the "Ahead of the Curve" Annual Maintenance Plan compensates me for taking the time to review their plan for needed changes in the law or strategies. In addition, we meet to find out how personal life changes may need to be reflected in new documents, to review how assets may have changed during the year, and to be sure that the trust is fully funded. I also like to encourage clients to attend one of the seminars that I do througout the year to keep educated about the planning process.

Each year my "Ahead of the Curve" Annual Maintenance Plan may change. You may contact me to find out how it works.

The Program includes:

• Reasonable phone and email access without further charge;
• Review of your estate plan prior to meeting with you;
• Meeting with attorney to discuss changes in your life, your assets, or the law;
• Review of whether your trust is fully funded, if applicable;
• Any necessary follow-up meetings to review and finalize modified documents;
• Updated HIPAA Authorization and Powers of Attorney per person, if needed;
• Complimentary word processing changes to revocable documents, including possible changes to your fiduciaries and beneficiaries;
• Complimentary participation of your choice in one of my trimester workshops:
• Understanding Your Family Members’ Behavioral Styles
• Fundamentals To Your Estate Plan
• Understanding Aging and It’s Interrelationship with your Plan
• Annual renewal of your Docubank™ emergency healthcare directive card, if needed.

The following items are NOT included:

• Upgrades or additions to your plan that involve new or different sub-trusts, trusts, separate business entities or other additional estate planning. If enrolled, these trusts or business entities will be billed separately but you will receive a 15% discount of such items from my standard rates.
• Costs incurred such as express mail or priority mail charges and filing and recording fees.
• Other attorney time which includes matters which are unrelated to your current estate plan.