Just wondering if anyone has done estate planning / drawn up a will here in Houston. My wife and I want to do this. We live in Houston. A local lawyer quoted $2300 for a couple ($1800 if just for one of us, don't know how that works). A dude in Austin does the same work for about half that cost. Ours wouldn't be a complicated "estate" at all, just in case something happens to us at the same time etc etc. I don't want to hire Uncle Bobo or the Wizard of Oz, but what should be a reasonable price tag?
I ordered the forms online and did it myself. You are going to have to read everything anyway. Why pay someone to go to their office and take your money and forms from you?
You don't need to be local for this, so definitely shop around. 1.5-2K is reasonable for a good estate planner. Don't do it yourself. You get what you pay for.
For actual estate planning, asset protection, and if you need Trusts established for beneficiaries, it is well advised to see a lawyer to set all that up. If you really are just looking for the most basic of basic wills to have you covered, you can look into something like this.... https://10minutewill.com/
My wife and I had this done 2-3 years ago. I think it was about $1500-1800 for both of us, if I recall.
I assume this is fine for minimal/basic assets, correct? (1 house, couple cars, couple investments, retirement income etc.). If you actually have business assets or real investments/property I would think you want to pay a good estate lawyer to get everything lined up to pass it on and avoid taxation or asset loss.
If it's very simple, I think doing online would be fine. If you have significant assets, doing it in person is probably more prudent to assist with tax plannng and ensuring that you're getting the maximum benefit to your heirs.
You'll need to wait for the Dateline episode. If you recognize the Westchase area in the episode, you'll do a spit-take: "I know that *******! Know? 'Knew', I guess?"
The lawyer - planner that you will use should want to have as much information as possible to better serve you. Maybe they will send you forms to fill in before you meet or perhaps they will do it during a discussion in their Office. A basic Primer about Estate Planning. Preparing Your Estate Plan The forms that they will use are not likely to follow the same sequence as these forms, but it will give you a general guide on the information that you will need to gather. Estate Planning Maybe have multiple copies of the paperwork that you prepared for the discussion. A working copy for each person in the discussion to scribble notes and followup questions Then also have pristine copies for future use.
Don't do it online. <$3k is a good price. Even if your estate is "simple", you still have goals and desires to accommodate that no lawyer can answer for you. What do you want to happen in scenario A, B, and C? Simple forms can't guide you well through those questions to help you understand all the possible outcomes. If you have assets that go into probate due to lack of planning, it'll cost double that (or way more) to get those assets out of probate ...never mind the time, effort, and grief required to navigate probate. If you actually love your loved ones, don't make them navigate probate.
