Attorney’s Fees: $1,165.00 for single or joint filing Filing Fees: $335.00 Mandatory Credit Counseling Fees: Pre-filing Credit Counseling $14.95 at www.summitfe.org Post-filing Debtor Education course $9.95 at www.summitfe.org
Estate Planning Fees
WILL (Includes Durable Power of Attorney at No Additional Charge)
Basic Will* $250.00 Basic Will with trust for minor children* $575.00 Complex Will with Estate Planning, No minor children (Estates larger than $1,000,000)* $750.00 Complex Will with Estate Planning, Trusts for Minor Children (Estates larger than $1,000,000)* $1250.00 *Will for Spouse (if done at same time) $100.00
REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST(S)
New Estate Plan Initial Consultation (No Charge)
Single Trust Estate Plan (or Joint Trust without Estate Tax Savings): 1. Trust Agreement 2. Pour-Over Wills (one or two, as required) 3. Durable Power of Attorney (one or two, as required) 4. Health Care Directives (“Living Will”) (one or two, as required) 5. Mental Health Care Directive (one or two, as required) 6. Complete Property Transfer Directions 7. Conveyance of Assets to Trust*
Total Legal Fee (1 Trust): $2000.00
Two Trust Estate Plan: Matching spouse’s Trust Legal Fee: $650.00
With Estate Tax Savings “Bypass” Trust, Asset Allocation and Conveyances* (Necessary to minimize Federal Estate Taxes)
Total Legal Fee (2 Trusts): $2650.00
The quoted legal fees include all personal consultations necessary to formulate and sign your estate plan, drafting of all documents and the designated transfers into your Trust. Complete instructions for transferring other assets into your Trust are also provided.
Additional Estate Planning Services for Complex Estates will be quoted upon request and an hourly rate and total estimate of time will be given.
* County Clerk Recording fees; transfer agent fees (mutual funds, securities transfer fees); and automobile title transfer fees are not included.
Family Law Fees
Family law is a complex area of law and many cases can last several months, even years. I charge $150.00 an hour and require an up front retainer of $1,500.00. My time is billed monthly and you will be required to replenish your retainer monthly so that you always have a $1,500.00 credit until your case has been resolved.
Oil & Gas and Real Estate Transaction Fees:
These fees are determined on a case by case basis. You will be informed of the expected fees at the time of your free consultation.
What are you getting for your money?
I will say that my fees are extremely competitive. Can you find lower fees elsewhere? Possibly. But what are you getting (losing) by saving that money and how much money are you really saving? We all like to think that all attorneys and doctors are equally competent, but it is simply not true. There are good doctors and hopelessly bad doctors and the same is true of attorneys. I'm not suggesting that just because an attorney charges lower fees that he is incompetent. I merely point out that the overriding decision on who to select should not be based solely on the fees charged.
There are a lot of attorneys out there...just like there are a lot of doctors. What amazes me is that people would almost never go to a doctor who charges "bargain basement" prices for something serious. Wouldn't that make you skeptical? So, why would you do that with an attorney who is essentially helping your personal and financial future? I don't know the answer to that, but I get all kinds of calls from people who are trying to discharge (eliminate) $50,000 or more debt and want to save $100 on the attorneys' fees. I also get a lot of calls from people who have initiated a legal matter with an incompetent attorney or paralegal and then want to hire me to fix the problems, if possible (and often it is not possible at that point or extremely expensive).
When selecting an attorney, you need to ask several important questions:
1. Am I comfortable with this attorney?
2. Does this attorney have the experience and expertise to handle the problems that may arise in my case?
3. Is the attorney handling the main portions of my case himself, or delegating the work to secretaries or paralegals?
4. What am I getting for my fees? This last question deserves some attention. I see all kinds of advertisements by attorneys offering bankruptcies at ungodly low attorneys fees with the disclaimer that says "fees starting at...". I would be most curious to find out if the attorneys actually take any cases at that amount. I sincerely doubt it.
5. Does your attorney provide a retainer agreement or services contract outlining specifically what is covered for your fees and outlines the responsibilities of both you and the attorney? The retainer agreement is not required, but should be given by any attorney. You should demand it so that there is no question about what you are paying for.
