For Professional Advisors

The Estate Planning Team

     As an estate planning law firm, we work closely with other professional advisors, including Certified Financial Planner™ practitioners, investment advisors, financial consultants, insurance professionals, Certified Public Accountants and tax advisors. We believe the team approach provides our clients with the most comprehensive, realistic and effective estate plan. To that end, we strive to keep you informed and involved at all stages of the estate planning process.

The Process

• Step One: The Initial Consultation
       We offer all prospective clients a complimentary initial consultation. With the clients' permission, we encourage you to attend this initial consultation as well. If this cannot be arranged, we will seek the clients' permission to discuss their estate planning with you afterward.
       During this first meeting, we will provide a 30-minute, no-obligation consultation with your clients. After listening to your clients' needs, plans and goals, we will generally make some estate planning recommendations. Should your client retain our office, an additional one and a half hours will be spent designing the client's Estate Plan. If the situation is complex, we will ask for a follow-up meeting to present a summary and specific recommendations.
       After making our recommendations, we will quote a flat fee for design, drafting and implementation of the plans. Your clients then may choose to engage our firm by signing an engagement letter and making a 50 percent deposit; or they may choose to take some time to reflect before moving ahead.
• Step Two: Signing the Documents
       Should your clients choose to engage our firm at this point, a follow-up meeting to sign documents and begin implementation of the plan will be scheduled ... normally within two weeks. This meeting may be two hours as we will thoroughly explain the planning documents to your clients and to their family members if necessary. We also will explain the trust funding process — and at minimum provide funding instruction letters. Your clients may choose to engage our firm in this process, or prefer to complete the process themselves or with your assistance.
• Step Three: Follow-Up
       We have an extensive follow-up system, which we believe helps build stronger client relationships.

Resources

• Client Education
       Please visit our Resource Center for an online library of articles on issues related to estate planning. We have posted a number of articles suitable for use as hand-outs to your clients.
• Joint Marketing
       We are happy to work with you to speak to your clients or prospects on estate planning issues. Please call the office if you would like to plan a workshop.