Our Process

Our Estate Planning Process

At Heritage Law Partners, we believe the best estate plans come from a process built on understanding, not just paperwork. From your first phone call through the completion of your plan and beyond, every step is designed to ensure your plan truly reflects your family, your goals, and your values.

The Initial Consultation

During your consultation, we will discuss your family, finances, concerns, and planning goals. Everything discussed is confidential. It is helpful to complete your Estate Planning Intake Questionnaire ahead of time and bring any existing estate planning documents you may have.

The primary purpose of the consultation is to fully understand you and your family on both a personal and financial level so that we can make appropriate estate planning recommendations customized to your needs, goals, and values. This is a time for your questions to be asked and answered. We want you to be fully comfortable with and understand our planning recommendations. We will recommend a plan based on your goals and circumstances.

Plan Design

If you choose to move forward with our firm, we will continue to design your estate plan at this time. For most clients, this happens the same day as the initial consultation, and others may schedule a follow-up time to design their plan at a later date.

We design a complete estate plan with the following key factors in mind: tax and cost minimization, creditor protection, the needs of minor children or disabled family members, ease of estate administration, elimination of potential family conflict, and financial and medical protection in the event of disability, illness, or injury.

At the end of the meeting, we will review and sign your engagement letter and fee agreement, and schedule a signing meeting. Heritage Law Partners uses transparent, flat-fee pricing for our planning services so that you understand the cost in advance.

After the Consultation

Once you have signed the engagement letter and retained our firm, we will begin drafting your estate plan. As follow-up to the initial meeting, you may be provided with a list of items to complete or additional information to provide so that we can complete your documents.

You will receive a summary of your estate plan to review. This gives you an opportunity to ensure that the plan reflects your wishes and that we have accurately spelled all names. If you have any questions during this time, you may reach out to your attorney or anyone on our team who will be happy to answer them for you.

The Signing Meeting

At this important meeting, we will review your documents in detail together, answer any questions you have, and execute your final documents in front of the necessary witnesses and a notary. We will also discuss the correct ways to title assets and keep your plan maintained. Please plan to spend about one to two hours at this meeting.

You will execute two copies of your new estate plan for security. One copy will be packaged and labeled for your safe or safety deposit box, and the other will be inside a binder for easy access. Your binder also contains helpful instructions, a place to organize your assets, and other key information.

At the conclusion of the meeting, you will leave with both copies of your executed estate plan. As a courtesy, we scan copies of your documents and upload them to your client portal so that you can access them any time you need to.

After Your Plan is Complete

Signing your documents is an important milestone, but it is not the finish line. Depending on your plan, there may be additional steps to ensure everything works as intended. For clients with trusts, this includes funding: retitling assets, updating beneficiary designations, and ensuring your trust is fully operational. We offer funding assistance to help you through this process and provide clear guidance on any action items that need your attention.

Our relationship does not end when you leave our office. Estate plans need maintenance, and life has a way of changing. We offer complimentary annual check-ins to review whether your plan still reflects your life and wishes. Think of us as your family's planning partner for the long term, not just a one-time service.