You’ve made your appointment to get your estate planning done and you want to make sure that you cover all the bases with your lawyer. What should you ask her?
Your conversation should include a discussion about wills, trusts (although they are not needed in most cases, you might be one of the persons who should have one), health care directives that appoint someone to act as your health care representative and gives your doctors some guidance on what procedures you do and don’t want done, and a durable power of attorney which allows your agent to manage your personal affairs (such as taking care of your banking, signing any legal documents, paying your bills).
You would also want to talk about estate taxes, both federal and state. The federal limits went up in 2009 to $3.5 million that you can leave to your heirs without paying estate tax. However, the state estate tax is still $675,000. If you have some equity in your house, a retirement plan and some mutual funds, you could be over the state limit and might need some tax planning.
You should be prepared to talk to your lawyer about all of your assets and how they are titled. Is your house in joint tenancy or a tenancy by the entireties? Do you have separate or joint bank accounts? Do you have Payable on Death designations on some of your accounts? Your attorney will want to know these things.
Do you have minor-aged children? Your attorney will discuss guardians with you. You hopefully know whom you want to name as guardian, but your lawyer may have some thoughts on whether to name a couple or just part of the couple, how many back-up guardians you should name, etc.
Do you have pets that you want to provide for? Ask your lawyer about how to accomplish your wishes. She should have some suggestions for you.
You should have a good idea of how you want your estate distributed. Your attorney can give you some strategies if you can’t think of how you want to accomplish a specific goal.
Finally, ask about the fees involved with the drafting of your documents. You should not pick a lawyer based on who is the cheapest or most expensive, but the lawyer should explain whether she charges a flat fee (and how much that fee will be) or whether she charges by the hour (maybe you have a lot of existing wills, trust documents, divorce agreements and other legal documents to review before the lawyer can start creating the best estate plan).
Other questions may come up during your meeting with your attorney. It might be a good idea to bring a pad and pen with you to jot down your questions and to write down the issues that you need to follow up with that arise during the meeting. If you aren’t comfortable with the lawyer you are meeting with, ask around for the name of another lawyer. Your estate planning lawyer should be your lawyer for a long while and you want to feel that you can discuss anything with her.
