When you're planning to meet with an estate planning lawyer, you should ask the lawyer the following list of questions in order to determine if they're truly qualified to help you:

IS THE LAWYER'S PRIMARY FOCUS ON ESTATE PLANNING? This question may or may not be important to you from the standpoint that if all you need is a simple Will, Power of Attorney, and Health Care Directive, then a seasoned and sophisticated attorney may not be right for you.

A lawyer whose practice is broad but includes simple estate planning and probate matters will work just fine in this situation. On the other hand, if you have a complicated family or financial situation or a taxable estate, then you'll need to work with someone whose primary focus is on estate planning and estate tax reduction.

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. The more years of experience the lawyer has, the more the lawyer will have had the opportunity to see their essential estate planning documents in action when a client becomes disabled or dies. The Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives used by lawyers who have been in business for a while have been revised and tweaked to deal with the everyday situations that their clients encounter. This will give you the peace of mind to know that the documents they prepare for you will work when they're needed.

ASSISTANCE WITH FUNDING ASSETS INTO A REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST. Many lawyers create beautiful estate plans for their clients but then fail to assist them with the next important step: funding the revocable living trust. A well-drafted trust will be virtually useless immediately after you die if your assets aren't titled in the name of the trust while you're still alive. Some big law firms have full-time funding assistants or even entire funding departments, while others will give you comprehensive written instructions. Still, others will merely mention the importance of funding but fail to give you any guidance whatsoever. We strongly recommend that you work with a lawyer who will oversee the funding process.

FORMAL UPDATING AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS. Many estate planning lawyers view their work as a one-time transaction - they simply draft the documents requested by their clients and then send them on their way. On the other hand, there are many estate planning lawyers, like us, who will contact all of their clients on a regular basis to inform them of changes in the law, explain new estate planning techniques, ask about life changes that will require modifications in the client's documents, and to check up on the progress of the client's funding. In our case, we do this review every three or four years for every client.

We strongly recommend working with a lawyer who has a formal updating and maintenance program because this will ensure that your plan will remain up to date and work when it's needed.

FLAT FEES VS. HOURLY RATES. This is an important question to ask so that you won't be surprised by hidden fees and costs. At our law firm, we charge a fixed fee for most, if not all, estate planning legal services. This will give you the peace of mind to know that the flat fee is all that you'll be required to pay. You'll need to understand, however, what the flat fee does and doesn't cover and when the lawyer will charge an additional flat fee or start billing you on an hourly basis.

CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF WORKING CLOSELY WITH THIS LAWYER? Once your prospective lawyer has answered the above questions to your satisfaction, there's still one big question you need to ask yourself: "Can I see myself working closely with this lawyer?" Even if the lawyer has all of the right answers, keep in mind that you'll be sharing all of the intimate details of your life with this person. If you don't feel comfortable with the lawyer, then chances are you'll end up holding certain things back. This will be doing you and the lawyer a disservice since the lawyer can't plan for, or around, things that the lawyer doesn't know. Don't be alarmed if you realize that it simply won't be a good fit with you and the prospective lawyer — it's better to find this out in the very beginning instead of after you've already spent valuable time and money. If this happens to you, simply move on until you find someone who you can work with and trust.

If you're looking for an estate planning lawyer in Washington or Idaho, give us call at 253.858.5434 to set up an appointment today.