Peace of Mind
Your McDonough Law Firm Estate Planning Experience
We understand that you might be nervous, overwhelmed and/or unsure about hiring an attorney to do legal work for you – the cost, legal language you might not understand, time concerns, communication etc.
By understanding the process, knowing how much it will cost in advance and being aware of what is at stake, we hope that this will ease your worries or concerns.
We are personable, attentive, patient and we listen… We are here for you. Here’s what you can expect from the estate planning experience with McDonough Law Firm and Janet McDonough.
At your first appointment, you will meet directly with Attorney Janet McDonough, who will:
review your asset documentation,
determine how title is currently held,
discuss your estate planning goals with you (such as avoiding probate, avoiding conservatorships, avoiding guardianships for minor children or beneficiaries),
discuss what is involved with the administration of your trust during your lifetime and after your passing.
review, analyze and discuss your beneficiary choices and explain the options for distribution of your estate including continuing trusts for children, if applicable.
Discuss your alternate beneficiary choices and thoroughly think through the “what ifs” for survivorship scenarios (this is important!).
Discuss your choice in successor trustee and alternates. Discuss special trustees for special assets.
Discuss other options for customizing your trust and estate planning documents including choices for the trustee’s powers and administrative provisions.
Discuss your options for beneficiary designations for your retirement plans, life insurance and annuities, if applicable.
Discuss the charges for legal services and the terms of the attorney-client relationship
Discuss any other matters that are relevant to the work to be performed.
At your 2nd appointment, you will meet directly with Attorney Janet McDonough, who will have drafts of all of your documents. She will go through each document and explain the terms and provisions and how the document is used. She will use your current assets to go through how trust administration will go if you were to pass away suddenly in your current situation. The legal documents will be:
Schedule of your Assets
Revocable Living Trust with your trustee, beneficiary and post death administration provisions
Trustee’s Certification of Trust (legal document for trustee (you) to do business on behalf of your trust.
Pour Over Will - names your trust as your beneficiary (of everything that is not transferred to your trust or is not subject to a beneficiary designation)
Durable Statutory Form Power of Attorney (financial) – covers non-trust assets and issues
Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare and Advance Healthcare Directive (covers end of life decisions and choices for healthcare decisions if a doctor determines that you are unable to make those medical decisions for yourself.
Proposed Beneficiary Designations with attachments for your Retirement Plans
Proposed Beneficiary Designations for your Life Insurance Policies
Other documents as applicable to your situation
At your 3rd appointment, you will meet directly with Attorney Janet McDonough, and her Paralegal. The original, finalized documents – trust, schedule of assets, pour over will, powers of attorney, trustee’s certification of trust, deed, preliminary change of ownership report, and related documents - will be printed and ready for your signature. During the 3rd appointment, you will review the final documents in full prior to signing them, and any corrections can be made at that time or you may need to set up a 4th appointment. There will be a Notary present who will notarize your signature on all documents which require a notarization. The Paralegal and Janet will be witnesses to your will.
The Paralegal will prepare all original signed documents and secure them in covers for protection. She will make copies of all signed documents and organize them into a portfolio/notebook with explanations and instructions for the use and function of each document. You will have a trust funding checklist (created from your schedule of assets) and Janet will discuss and explain the tasks that you are required to perform to transfer certain assets to your trust (such as your bank accounts and investment brokerage accounts). The beneficiary designations will be completed, and we may process them, or they might be your responsibility, depending on the circumstances. Many beneficiary designations can be completed on-line but there are other considerations in that process.
When you leave. You will have the originals and a full copy of what we have created for you. You will have notarized Trustee’s Certifications of Trust to transact business on behalf of the trust and to complete your trust funding and transfers. You will have a checklist of tasks that you must complete with clear, complete step-by-step instructions on how to complete them.
Janet will then email you the schedule of Assets and will send you a closing letter. But you can always ask questions later.
PEACE OF MIND
After all assets are properly transferred to the trustee of the trust and after the beneficiary designations are processed, confirmed as accepted, then you will be finished and will have peace of mind that you have done all that you can to plan for the inevitable with loving kindness.
Yes, planning your estate is an act of kindness and a show of love to the ones you leave behind.
Our goal is to make sure that you know and understand the documents that we have created together and that you have signed, the function of each document, and where everything is located when you leave our office. Comprehensive instructions and explanations are worded in simple, easy-to-understand language and are located in the front of each section of your notebook/portfolio. For terms of the trade, you’ll have a vocabulary/dictionary with definitions to reference in the future. We are always available to answer questions during and after the process.