• Why do a Will?
• Plan Your Will
• Your Spouse and Dependents
• Estate Taxes
• Property and Finances
• Personal Care and Medical Decisions
• What Happens If I Become Incapable?
• Sample continuing power of attorney for property
• Sample power of attorney for personal care
• Our Estate Planning Fees
• Will Instructions Form

Estate Planning Fees

Generally:

We base our fees on an evaluation of these factors:

• the time and effort required and spent;
• the difficulty and importance of the matter;
• whether special skill or service has been required and provided;
• the amount involved or the value of the subject-matter;
• the results obtained;
• fees authorized by statute or regulation;
• special circumstances, such as the loss of other retainers, postponement of payment, uncertainty of reward, or urgency.

Time and Effort required:

We consider the time required, not necessarily the time spent.  For some things, we can estimate the time required and charge a “flat fee”.  However, if the work becomes more complicated than anticipated through no fault of ours, we will let you know and request additional fees for the additional work. 

Saving money by completing our “e-forms”:

We believe that, for many things, you can educate yourself about basic law. Then, complete our confidential Will Instructions form and we’ll have most, if not all, the information for a final document.

We may need only one meeting. We’ll confirm that you understand everything and that it’s what you want.  If changes are needed, we’ll do them right away on our computer. Because we’ll save time, we can reduce our fees.

Estimated fees:

Estate Package

• “Simple” estate package (wills and powers of attorney) - $500 + GST
• “Simple” estate package, if client completes Will Instructions form - $425 + GST
• If spouses have “mirror wills”, no additional cost
• Includes powers of attorney for property and for care
• If the estate plan is not “simple”, we may quote additional fees before proceeding

Additional fees – examples

• Detailed tax advice and probate planning would be additional;
• Transferring title to assets would be additional;
• Special trust(s) would be additional;
• Domestic agreement binding spouses to an estate plan would be additional;
• “Estate freeze” and corporate planning would be additional; and
• Foreign wills, foreign assets, and multijurisdictional issues would be additional.