FAQ

Also important to note is that all of our fees are flat-rate, agreed to in advance, with no hidden charges, and will be discussed with you in detail at the complementary, no-obligation Planning Session. Payment is generally split into two halves; the first half of the fee is paid when you sign up for our services, and the second half is paid when you sign your estate planning documents. However, we can work with you if you need to be on a payment plan and stretch your payments out for longer. We also take credit cards for your convenience.

All that said – you still want a number! To get down to actual numbers, then, the answer, of course, is – it depends. Primarily, it depends on whether you are single or married, whether you have minor children (or severely disabled adult children), and whether your situation makes it important for you to have one or more trusts. Generally, as a ballpark, for a basic estate plan package, you will be looking at somewhere between $2,500 to $5,000, but it may be more (or less!) depending on your situation.

Additionally, we will throw out a cliché that is often true – “you get what you pay for.” If you go with a cut-rate, lowest-cost option for your estate planning, maybe a high-volume document prep service, or a lawyer who handles two dozen practice areas and doesn’t focus on estate planning – well, you’ll get what you pay for, only it won’t be you who faces the consequences – it will be your loved ones who are left holding the bag, trying to clean up the financial and emotional mess left behind by poor estate planning. The choice is yours!

If you need to drop something off in person, it’s always best to call ahead to see if someone will be in the office. If not, you can always slide documents underneath the door, or you can fax to 209-529-1076, or email documents to jrichardson@legalpathways.net. If you need to reach us and we’re not in the office, sending an email to Julie at jrichardson@legalpathways.net and/or to Kristi at knelson@legalpathways.net and/or Krislyn at kbrasiel@legalpathways.net is often the fastest way to get a response since we both get emails remotely and can respond even when we are not in the office. We sometimes can’t answer right away, but we make every effort to respond to inquiries within one business day.