You don’t need to have anything prepared before your first visit with us
Our first meeting with you will be to get to know you and your needs. We’ll discuss the things and issues that are most important to you and will be at the heart of your estate plan: your family, your assets, and your goals. You know your life. There’s no need to prepare for this meeting.
However…
if you are a person who feels more comfortable preparing for a task on your own, you can consider these preparation steps.
Have your financial statements.
A large part of what an estate planning attorney does is to help you protect your assets. In order to do this, she needs to know what assets there are and what your general financial situation is. Having actual numbers, rather than vague ideas, is a huge help.
Know how the deed to your home is held.
For most people, their home is their largest asset. How title is held, and in what the state of ownership, will have a large part in deciding what your best course of action will be.
Have some preliminary thoughts about who you may to be your executor and health care agent.
This may change once you know more about what these roles entail, but having one or two people as a starting point will speed the process considerably.
Bring contact information for financial advisors with whom you work on a regular basis.
Having your attorney work directly with your financial advisors, if any, is integral to having an airtight estate plan and financial plan. Not to mention that it makes things much easier on you to not have to act as a go-between.
If you’re married, or planning with a partner, come to the meeting together.
Planning as a couple really needs to be done as a couple. “I’ll have to talk it over with my partner” only means you’re likely to have to have the same meeting all over again.
Bring a list of your questions to ask.
Even if you only have one or two bring them. Don’t worry about them possibly being naïve. Your questions are always important and they may tell us something about your goals are, and they may help you get to know whether we’ll be a good fit for you.
But please remember…
We don’t need you to do any of this before your first meeting with us.
And remember too, that this first meeting is on the house.