Becoming a Client of Estate Planning 123

Getting Started with your Estate Planning Consultation

Contact Bonnie at 769-798-2123 or Tom at 601-209-1601 or fill out our form to start planning. You can also download our Health Care Directive form before our first meeting. If you know your name and the names of your family members, you can start!

We offer packages containing the documents and planning needed for each situation; pricing is schedule based on estimated assets at death or hourly rates at your option.

It helps if you can bring the deed to any real estate you own; investment account statements; life insurance policies, and old wills and trusts and fill out the Health Care Directive form, if you have access to a printer.

Planning your estate is as easy as 123!

1. Assessment Meeting. We get to know you. If possible we give you a recommendation as how your plan should work and quote a fee from our fee schedule. If we need time to consider your situation in more detail, we will set a time for a follow up meeting.

2. Document Signing Celebration. If you are comfortable with your documents, you sign your documents as we explain the important provisions of each document in detail to you.

3. Full Circle Client Care Plan. The Full Circle Client Care Plan keeps your estate plan up to date and then locks in reduced estate settlement costs for the benefit of your heirs.  The estate plan starts with the Revocable Living Trust or Will Package, is updated with the Trust Maintainer Plan and then the Estate Settlement Plan settles the estate.  It protects you not only now but completes the life circle ending with your heirs.

Trust Maintainer Plan

In order to get the maximum benefit out of your powerful Revocable Living Trust and other protective documents, maintenance is needed.  You may use the Trust Maintainer Plan to use all of the benefits to full capacity.  Your reviews will be about every 3 years, and there is no obligation to participate.  We focus on enhancing your financial privacy, protecting you if you become incapacitated or injured, and extending these benefits to your children and grandchildren.  We will also look for new ways to protect your family and you from creditors, predators and taxes.  Participation in the Trust Maintainer Plan allows you to participate in our Estate Settlement Plan to protect your heirs.

Estate Settlement Plan

Protect the ones you love by locking in the cost of the estate settlement charges at low discounted rates.  This firm will settle the estate at these low discounted rates.  Participation in the Trust Maintainer Plan is required to receive these outstanding benefits.

Understanding the Three P’s of Estate Planning

#1 – People

Who are the Important People in your life? Beginning with yourself, they also likely include your loved ones: your spouse if you are married, children and grandchildren if you have any, perhaps your parents, siblings or other relatives. Beyond these, however, "Important People" also could include charities, special causes, colleges or universities, or churches to which you are committed. For some, "Important People" could even include pets. Spend some time thinking about the impact others have had on your life. Make a list and jot notes if you like. This is where the planning process truly begins.

#2 – Property

By Property we mean your assets in general. Make a list of the assets you own or control. At this point, you do not need to identify insurance policy numbers and exact dollar values. Rather think through your assets in terms of their nature (cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.); their value in thousands of dollars; and your ownership interest: Do you own assets in your name only, in joint tenancy with someone else, or through a trust agreement or some other arrangement? Be sure to include often-overlooked assets like life insurance (the death benefit, not the cash value), business interests, and any inheritance you may expect to receive.

#3 – Plans

After identifying the Important People in your life and your Property, the next step is to consider the plans you would make for those people (including yourself) and that Property in the event of your own incapacity or death.

Who would you name to make decisions for you if you could no longer do so yourself? Would the same person handle your finances and your personal and health care decisions? Who would care for your minor children? How would you distribute your assets to your heirs? Would you prefer to spare your heirs the potential cost and hassles of the probate process? Would you like to minimize the impact of estate taxes ... or maximize the impact of a charitable bequest? Is there someone in your family with special needs for whom you would like to provide? Is there someone who perhaps should not receive a great deal of (or any) money without some outside oversight?

These are just a few of the issues to consider when approaching the planning process. They are much more important than the "treasure hunt" for legal documents at this stage.