How much should an estate plan cost? Well, the answer is not as clear as you may think, so stay tuned to find out the answer. Hi everyone. My name is Pantea Fozouni with Palm Desert Law Group and today we’re going to talk about how much should an estate plan cost.

This is one of the first questions that people think of and so, I really wanted to talk about it. Unfortunately, the answer isn’t as clear as you might think that it may be. I know everyone sees these advertisements for these document preparation services, talking about doing a little base plan, $750, or do an entire estate plan for $950, cut out the lawyers, we don’t need them at all.

So a lot of people see these things and think, wow, that’s a great deal. It’s just a bunch of documents, so who cares who prepares those documents, or a lot of times people go to attorneys who will charge ridiculously low prices, $1000 bucks for a will-based plan or $1,500 for a trust and all of it.

And so, people think, oh, it’s just a bunch of documents. What difference does it make who’s preparing, how much it costs? It’s about the cost. Unfortunately, today’s age you get what you pay for and unfortunately most of the time those documents that are prepared either by a document preparation service or by an attorney who is just focused on documents, you are not going to get a plan that’s really going to work for you and your family when you need it most.

Instead, what you need is to have a plan that’s drafted and created specifically for you and your family taking into consideration all of the things that are different about you and your family. In my office, at Palm Desert Law Group, we start the whole process with a two-hour Family Wealth Planning Session, so even before you come in you’ve got some homework to do so that before we meet, I already have at least a little bit of a sense of what’s important to you, who the players are in your family.

Then during that two hour session we go through talking about your family in particular, then we talk about probate, we talk about the numbers so that you know exactly what would happen for you and your loved ones if something happened to you that day.

And then after that, that’s when we come up with a plan of how to avoid the things that you want to avoid. No two families are exactly alike, therefore no two estate plans should be exactly alike. Really that customized plan is what you need.

Now here in my office, our plans range anywhere from $2,000 over to $8,000 but again, you get to pick your fee based off of what is important for you and what your family needs. So that’s the answer to today’s question of how much in the estate plan costs.

As I mentioned it’s not as easy as most people think it is, but hopefully this video can help you to ascertain what you need in the future. Again, my name is Pantea Fozouni with Palm Desert Law Group. I’d be more than happy to talk to you, whenever you’re ready, about your family’s particular needs, as well as any other questions you have about estate planning. So we’ll talk next time. Thanks.

This article is a service of Pantea I. Fozouni, Family Business Lawyer®. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. Go online today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.