Can you guess what question I get asked the most…

How much does it cost?

Thankfully, I don’t have the huge overhead that a law firm has so I can charge WAY less. It’s just me working in a home office. I pay annually for a huge database of legal documents, but spread out over 12 months it’s not that bad.

Law firms charge about $3,000-$4,000 for an Estate Plan, and it’s my goal to always be under $1,000.

Why is my hourly rate so high? I have 16 years of experience working in estate planning and 11 years as a Trust and Estate Paralegal. Most attorneys I work for bill my time out at a minimum of $150-$225/hour so I feel my hourly rate of $75 is justified.

Sure you can use Wills&Trusts or another online platform, but with me you get a real person to talk to. I also welcome and encourage customization - you know your family and assets better than anyone, so you decide what language works best.

  • $600 for Individual

  • $700 for Married

  • $60 for every Deed (does not include recording fees)

  • (Optional) $100 Notary Fee: If you are local to me in Atascadero or if local to my mom, Sheila, in Camarillo. Otherwise, notaries can charge $15 per stamp and there are at least 7 stamps needed for a full Estate Plan.

    (75% due up front and remainder + recording costs due at end)

FULL ESTATE PLAN

Trust, Trust Certification, Will, Power of Attorney, Health Care Directive, HIPAA, Assignments

TRUST ADMINISTRATION

$200 deposit. $85/hour after that (once all $200 has been used).

PROBATE

  • $4,000 fixed rate to support you as Administrator

    • $1,500 is due up front so I can pay all the initial filing and publishing fees. You can pay by credit card, venmo or zelle. Once you have liquid estate funds in the estate account you can reimburse yourself if you had to pay out of pocket.

    • The remaining balance of $2,500 is due within thirty (30) days of you receiving your filed Letters of Administration, which is usually obtained within a couple weeks after your first hearing.

  • $7,000 fixed rate to nominate me as Administrator with $3,000 due up front. The balance will be due when the Estate is ready to close.

  • See my blog post about attorneys fees and more about what is involved:

  • Simple Probate

BUSINESS FORMATION

File Articles, prepare all documents, obtain EIN, file Statement of Information, file BOI Report, and prepare Corporate Binder

$600 (includes filing fees)

So, what’s the process?

    1. We have an intro call or you complete the questionnaire

    2. I send you the contract + invoice for deposit

    3. Once I have signed contract, payment and questionnaire, I draft all documents

    4. You review drafts and provide changes (I’m happy to to review with you)

    5. I mail all final documents to you to sign before a notary and witness (or if you’re near me I can notarize for you)

    6. You ship me back all originals (I provide envelope with pre-paid postage)

    7. I record your Deed and prepare your binder (including one copy and an electronic copy)

    8. You provide final payment and I ship your binder to you with additional instructions

    1. We have an intro call or you complete the questionnaire

    2. I send you the contract + invoice for deposit

    3. Once I have signed contract, payment and questionnaire, I draft all documents

    4. You review drafts and provide changes (I’m happy to to review with you)

    5. I mail all final documents to you to sign before a notary (or if you’re near me I can notarize for you)

    6. You ship me back all originals (I provide envelope with pre-paid postage)

    7. After the initial documents are completed and submitted to the necessary agencies, then you can keep me on an as-needed basis to help you close the trust administration.

  • I hope you like me because we are going to be working together for about a year (hopefully not more). To set the correct expectations, in all my years of handling probate cases, I have yet to close one in under a year.

    1. We have an intro call or you complete the questionnaire

    2. I send you the contract + invoice for deposit

    3. Once I have signed contract, payment and questionnaire, I prepare all initial forms (Petition, Duties, Letters, Order, Cover Sheet, Notice of Administration, and any Waivers)

    4. I will try to send all to you for e-signature, but some courts still require wet signatures so you’ll have to sign and mail back to me

    5. File Petition and Duties with the Court (depending on our contract, either you file or I will)

    6. You’ll get your hearing date and case number, then I complete the rest of the forms. This is also when we will send your Notice of Administration to the newspaper to get published 3 times

    7. You have your hearing, and then we submit Order and Letters to the Court. This is also when we send notices to any and all creditors and agencies

    8. Once you have your Letters, then I obtain an EIN and you open an interest bearing bank account under the estate name

    There are a few more steps after this, but please make sure you are not comingling estate money with your personal money. Keep track of all time spent on the estate, and definitely keep a record or receipts if you need to use your personal money while you wait to liquidate estate money.

    1. You speak with your CPA to determine which business to form

    2. We have an intro call or you complete the questionnaire

    3. I send you the contract + invoice for deposit

    4. Once I have signed contract, payment and questionnaire, I draft all documents and file your Articles and obtain an EIN

    5. You review drafts and provide changes (I’m happy to to review with you)

    6. I mail all final documents to you to sign. If you are transferring a real property, you will need to sign in front of a notary

    7. You ship me back all originals (I provide envelope with pre-paid postage)

    8. I prepare your binder and record your Deed, if applicable.

    9. You provide final payment and I ship your binder to you

    10. Within 90 days of your Articles being filed, I will also file your Statement of Information and the BOI Report with FinCen.

Still have more questions?

I’ve made some short videos answering the questions I get asked the most. They were all filmed for Instagram stories so I apologize for the format and quality.

The point of these videos is to educate! I read this statistic: “A significant number of estates go through the probate process. It is estimated that about 60-70% of American estates go through probate.” That’s sad! I have yet to have someone who’s gone through probate tell me that it wasn’t bad. We love our family so let’s get our assets into a trust and avoid probate!

PART ONE: The Estate Plan

(Hair courtesy of the baby not napping long enough for me to wash my hair)

PART TWO: Minor Children

PART THREE: The Process