At Smith Barid, we believe in making the estate planning process as simple and clear as possible. Our estate planning attorneys firmly believe that every estate plan should be fit to each client’s needs and goals – as well as budget. That’s why we’re proud to offer fixed price estate planning options. You’ll know the cost upfront, and there will never be any unexpected or padded hourly fees. Ever.
Step 1: Schedule a Consultation
The estate planning process at Smith Barid, LLC begins before you even set foot in the office. Fill out our easy contact form here providing as much information as you feel comfortable with leaving. Our intake coordinator will reach to schedule an initial consultation.
Step 2: Intake Form Documents
Immediately after scheduling your appointment, we will send you a short and simple worksheet to assist you in gathering the information that we will need to discuss during your Initial Consultation. We ask that you return that worksheet to our office before the consultation so that the attorneys can review your information and step into that meeting prepared to discuss your needs and issues. We will also send you a proposed agenda for that Initial Consultation because we are firm believers that having a roadmap is the best way to make sure you end up where you wanted to go. Before the consultation, the attorneys review the information on the Estate Planning Worksheet to ensure they are prepared in advance for the Initial Consultation and to make sure that we are a good fit for you.
Step 3: Initial Consultation
At the Initial Consultation, the attorney will consult with you to determine what your needs are and what the best approach is to addressing your particular issues. The meeting generally takes about one to one and one half hours. After outlining for you what our general recommendations are, we will discuss with you a range for our fees. Then begins the design phase of our Initial Consultation.
Step 4: Designing Your Estate Plan
We believe that our job is to help you complete your estate planning, not just get started. We’ve heard many times from clients how they went to see another estate planning attorney and “worked” with them for six months, but still did not have a completed plan in place. Our goal at Smith Barid is to help you make decisions at the initial consultation about putting a plan in place and then to have the documents completed within 30 days. After all, what good is an almost complete estate plan if something happens to you?
During the design phase, the attorney will diagram for you a detailed and specific Estate Plan. Upon completion of the design phase, you will be presented with a custom solution for your estate planning needs that will address all of the issues particular to your situation. When the design is complete, the attorney will quote a firm fee for the execution of the plan. We will then sign a fee agreement, collect the initial payment and begin the work of creating your custom-designed Estate Plan. The process of creation generally takes approximately 30 – 45 days.
Step 5: Signing Your Estate Plan
Upon completion, you will come in for a Signing Meeting. At the Signing Meeting (which generally takes about two hours), we will review your estate plan with you in detail to be sure that it is exactly what you want and that you understand all of the relevant parts of your estate plan.
Ongoing: Maintaining Your Estate Plan
As your life changes, it’s important that your estate plan changes to reflect your desires and needs. Every client at Smith Barid is encouraged to give us a call when they go through major life events. We also check in with every client every three years to ask them if their plan is still up to date and invite them to come into the office for a free consultation to discuss any changes needed.