Estate Planning Packages (Flat Fee)
E state planning is a four step process involving at least two private consultations to help you understand the features of your plan.
The four steps are:
- Information-gathering to assess your goals and needs.
- Presentation of strategic choices on plan details.
- Document review and execution (signing, witnessing and notarization).
- Funding the living trust and notifying key people.
All original, executed plan documents will be presented in a professional three ring binder for safe and convenient storage.
Unlike many estate planners, Mr. Primuth’s flat fee includes his assistance in preparing documentation to fund your trust with your real estate and other property. This saves you the time and inconvenience of having to do the transfers yourself.
We will meet with you in your home or at his office to explain the process, define your goals and help you to move forward in making these important decisions.
Free Initial Consultation
The firm provides all potential clients with a free initial consultation. During this meeting Mr. Primuth will explore the scope of work required to complete the estate planning project. He will also whenever possible provide an estimated flat fee so that you can make an informed decision in advance of retaining his services.
Wills and “Pour Over” Wills
A will accomplishes the basic task of transferring your property at your death and appointing guardians of your minor children. Everyone over 18 who owns property or who has minor children should have a will. If you die without a will, the state’s has a default will for you under the rules of intestate succession. This is not an acceptable solution for most people.
A pour over will is a special type of will that leaves everything to a client’s pre-existing living trust so that upon the death of the individual, all of his or her probate estate assets are to be transferred—or “poured over”—to the trust. It ensures that the trust’s carefully planned provisions concerning distributions, age limits, tax-sensitive sub trusts, creditor and spendthrift protection, control the final disposition of the entire estate.
Help with transferring assets to the trust
The firm will prepare the documents to transfer your tangible personal property into the trust. The firm will also prepare and record the real estate documents needed to fund the living trust with your California real estate, including transmutation deeds, trust transfer deeds and associated forms required by the county assessor’s offices. The flat fee also includes all filing fees charged by the county recorder’s office.
If agreed to as part of the flat fee agreement with the client, the firm will prepare the documentation necessary to transfer your financial accounts into the trust and change beneficiary designations on insurance policies and retirement accounts, so that the trust controls the disposition of these important assets.
For non-California real estate transferred into the living trust, there are two options. The firm may in certain circumstances be able to prepare the out of state deeds and record them in another state. Alternatively, if the documentation requirements are complex or require local assistance, the firm may engage a local deed preparation service in the state where the property is located.