Estate Planning Attorney recommendation?

[johnkol]

I want to setup a fairly simple revocable trust, my CFP suggested Trust & Will (an online service), but wanted to see whether a more individualised approach with a local estate planning attorney might be a better option.

My bank provides discount access to Affinity Trusts, but they just seem to be an intermediary between clients and estate planning attorneys, so not sure what kind of value they bring to the table.

What have your experiences been, and would you recommend someone local?

 

[mjj]

"Local" is a bit of a malleable term, but Craig Meredith of Fresno did our trust (and wills) and I couldn't say more good things about him. He does quite a volume of work in the Bay Area so maybe he is more local than I think.

We have relatives in the Bay Area and when I heard what their "local" attorney charged for similar work, I was glad to have known Craig.

 

[Butch]

I have some LA dudes doin a decent job for $600…

 

[johnkol]

"Local" is a bit of a malleable term, but Craig Meredith of Fresno did our trust (and wills) and I couldn't say more good things about him. He does quite a volume of work in the Bay Area so maybe he is more local than I think.

No harm in calling him to see if he ever ventures to the Bay, do you think you can PM me his contact information?

I have some LA dudes doin a decent job for $600…

Whoa!! This is not much more than the online services. The aforementioned Affinity Trusts charges about $2.5k for a Revocable Trust, and this is a discounted rate!

 

[Grissom]

*Tagged*

 

[VicTim]

I had a paralegal do mine. You don't need a lawyer to do it. A paralegal is much cheaper.

 

[tgrrdr]

There's an attorney in WC who used to do them pretty cheaply (I believe when I first saw her ads it was either $695 or $795) now she's $1095. When I was considering using her I remember seeing mostly positive reviews but I have no personal experience. I think I would pay extra to use someone local-ish.

http://www.smykowskilaw.com/

 

[johnkol]

I had a paralegal do mine. You don't need a lawyer to do it. A paralegal is much cheaper.

There's an attorney in WC who used to do them pretty cheaply

I'm not really looking for the cheapest possible solution, but if an attorney is not even needed, then does it really make sense to pay that much?

Is Estate Planning then a run-of-the-mill legal process that attorneys do in their sleep and a local office doesn't offer much of an advantage?

 

[900ss]

We have used Kramer Radin in Los Altos for my mother in law's and our own.