Cost of Estate Planning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your employer offers the MetLife legal benefit then you can use that to get all your estate planning done for cheap. It costs about $20/month but you can cancel when you're done

Yes it’s a good and cheap benefit. But they have a real shyster in Bethesda who they have in the plan who they referred us to. We ran from him. He gave us what felt like a total sales pitch under the guise of a Zoom consultation. It felt like a timeshare presentation to use a trust.

Who was this? My legal insurance sent a ton of names and I don’t want to call up this guy.

[Anonymous]

Be sure to keep your CPA and or Financial Planner in the loop. There are tax laws that impact your estate planning.

[Anonymous]

Ours was on the pricier end (6400 all in, at 275/hour). This involved a fair amount of time discussing and trying to figure out what we wanted to do, plus the usual paperwork (poa, etc) plus 2 wills and 3 revocable trusts since we have a blended family and various assets (one trust for inherited assets, and then A/B trusts). While it was expensive, it was well done by a well regarded firm and it seems pretty comprehensive and clear. I have had to help my mom redo a very poorly written will and trust for 3k, and probate is expensive, so do it right the first time. They also made it very easy to retitle thigns in the name of the trust (they did our home, and provided clear instructions for our accounts, etc).

[Anonymous]

Ours was awesome - we’re not in the DMV anymore but outside San Francisco. Here (I assume similar in DC) we did it last year for a flat fee of $3,500. Powers of attorney, medical directives, wills, revocable trusts, temporary guardians in case of incapacity, and a free review / revision every 3 years. We have about $3.5 million in assets and it was really stressful to me that we hadn’t done this.

[Anonymous]

Any recommendations for someone in MoCo who can do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t need a living trust. It’s a money grab by the estate planning trade. It’s fine to direct the establishment of a trust in the event you die with minor children, but putting all your assets in a living trust is generally an unnecessary complication in life. Don’t let the attorney convince you that it is necessary to avoid probate because that is “such a long and expensive process.” That is also generally not true.

Hold on a minute. My in laws set up a living trust at my spouse's suggestion and it made things very, very easy when they passed, I totally disagree with you on this. Probate may not always be "long and expensive," but it is definitely longer and more expensive than having a trust -- and it's also a public process. Some folks value their privacy.

People who say it is not necessary have never been through the probate process. Trusts also help protect assets from lawsuits, help protect your heirs' assets in case of divorce, and help you distribute assets on a schedule. Lots of upside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t need a living trust. It’s a money grab by the estate planning trade. It’s fine to direct the establishment of a trust in the event you die with minor children, but putting all your assets in a living trust is generally an unnecessary complication in life. Don’t let the attorney convince you that it is necessary to avoid probate because that is “such a long and expensive process.” That is also generally not true.

Hold on a minute. My in laws set up a living trust at my spouse's suggestion and it made things very, very easy when they passed, I totally disagree with you on this. Probate may not always be "long and expensive," but it is definitely longer and more expensive than having a trust -- and it's also a public process. Some folks value their privacy.

People who say it is not necessary have never been through the probate process. Trusts also help protect assets from lawsuits, help protect your heirs' assets in case of divorce, and help you distribute assets on a schedule. Lots of upside.

Yes, but can't you avoid probate by doing a Transfer on Death Deed for real estate, and making bank accounts/brokerage accounts either jointly held with kids, or named beneficiaries?

I think the point is that if you understand how do those things, and don't have complicated finances/holdings, the cost of setting up a trust isn't necessary. But yes can be very helpful if you want to avoid the paperwork hassle of doing it on your own.

[Anonymous]

Let’s say you live in MoCo and have a house appraised at over $1M. Not too out of the realm of possibility.

If you don’t have a trust, we can agree that probate might not be super complicated if everything else has beneficiary designations.

But if that $1M house goes through probate, the court cost would be $2000 alone, with about $250 in fees for the legal notice and bond on top of that.

So not using a trust would carry, at a minimum, a $2250 cost.

Figure that into the analysis when comparing the cost of using a will vs using a trust.

[Anonymous]

I'm so glad that I found this as I have been looking for an estate attorney. I'm a single parent with 1-1.5 million in assets, 1 child (teen), 1 owner occupied property and was quoted $7500 which sounded excessive. Can anyone recommend someone good and decently priced in DC? I come from a family that usually has to raise donations to bury people and I do not want to pass along that dysfunction or stress to my kid.

I'm a Fed, so have a TSP, Roth IRA, 529, a meager amount in a Schwab account, a 2 term life insurance policies.

[Anonymous]

That’s what we paid, but our NW is higher, not sure that matters. Including the price for 2 recorded deeds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t need a living trust. It’s a money grab by the estate planning trade. It’s fine to direct the establishment of a trust in the event you die with minor children, but putting all your assets in a living trust is generally an unnecessary complication in life. Don’t let the attorney convince you that it is necessary to avoid probate because that is “such a long and expensive process.” That is also generally not true.

In Maryland it is at least in my family it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We paid a solo practitioner almost $5000 I believe.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so glad that I found this as I have been looking for an estate attorney. I'm a single parent with 1-1.5 million in assets, 1 child (teen), 1 owner occupied property and was quoted $7500 which sounded excessive. Can anyone recommend someone good and decently priced in DC? I come from a family that usually has to raise donations to bury people and I do not want to pass along that dysfunction or stress to my kid.

I'm a Fed, so have a TSP, Roth IRA, 529, a meager amount in a Schwab account, a 2 term life insurance policies.

Just make sure you have your kid as your beneficiary on all accounts. That way, the money would pass directly to them if you die.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is 15. Is it best to set up a will/trust now or when she turns 18?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is 15. Is it best to set up a will/trust now or when she turns 18?

You should have something in place now. You can always modify it down the road but probably not at 18, maybe 25 or 30.