Estate Planning Questionnaire
This is the form we work from. Filling it out before your consultation means we spend the call talking about what you actually want rather than collecting names and addresses. It is a fillable PDF, so you can type into it and save it.
You do not need to complete every section, and you do not need to have answers ready for all of it. Bring what you have.
Married Couple
The full questionnaire, including sections for both spouses.
Download the questionnaire →Guides
How to Fund Your Trust
A signed trust controls nothing until your assets are moved into it. What to retitle, what to leave alone, and the one category that can trigger a tax bill if you get it wrong.
Read the guide →How to Avoid Probate in Michigan
What probate actually costs a family in time and privacy, and the four tools that keep property out of it, including the lady bird deed.
Read the guide →What an Estate Plan Costs
Why most firms will not answer this, what actually drives the number, and how a flat fee quoted up front differs from billing by the hour.
Read the guide →Planning With Young Children
Naming a guardian is only half the job. What happens to the money, and why an inheritance arriving at eighteen is rarely what a parent wants.
Read the guide →What to Bring to Your First Meeting
Nothing is required. The free fifteen minute call is a conversation, not an audit. That said, if you have these to hand they make the second conversation much faster:
- Any existing will or trust, including one drafted years ago or in another state
- Deeds to any real property you own, including out of state property and a cottage
- Recent statements for retirement accounts and life insurance, so we can check who the beneficiary forms actually name
- The operating agreement or bylaws for any business you have an interest in
- A rough sense of who you would want as personal representative, trustee and guardian, even if you are not certain
If you have none of it, come anyway. Most people do not.
Common Questions
The questions we are asked most, answered plainly: whether you need a trust if you are not wealthy, what happens to your house if you only have a will, what a plan costs, and how to tell whether an existing trust actually works.