Frequently Asked Questions
1. How much do estate plans cost?
Estate plans vary in complexity depending upon a person's assets, family dynamics, and wishes. This makes it difficult to estimate the cost of an estate plan before meeting with an attorney and discussing your needs. At an initial consultation, an estate planning attorney will provide you with the most appropriate estate planning options for your situation and can then provide a quote on the overall cost, either charged as a flat fee or potentially at an hourly rate for more complex work. I charge a flat rate for my most popular estate planning packages: The Basic Estate Plan and Revocable Trust Plan. To learn more about these packages and other services, visit my Services page.
2. Do you charge a consultation fee?
The consultation fee I charge depends on the purpose of the consultation. For a general estate planning consultation, I charge a consultation fee of $125. This covers the time I spend reviewing your client questionnaire and existing estate planning documents (if any) and meeting with you to discuss your estate planning goals and needs. The consultation fee is credited against your total bill if you move forward with my services after the consultation. For consultations specifically regarding Medicaid long-term care planning or Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts, I charge a consultation fee of $225 reflective of the increased complexity of the issues to be discussed. These more specialized consultations may often last closer to 90 minutes. All consultations are subject to Ferrara Law's Consultation Terms which are linked at the bottom of my webpage and provided upon scheduling a consultation.
3. What should I bring to an initial consultation?
Prior to the initial consultation, you will be asked to complete an online estate planning questionnaire. This will be emailed to you upon scheduling. This questionnaire will provide me with the necessary information to understand your estate planning needs and goals and allows us to have a productive discussion. The questionnaire should be submitted for my review prior to the consultation. When you come to the consultation, you should bring any existing estate planning documents. I may also ask you to bring other documents depending on your responses to the estate planning questionnaire.
4. Can estate planning help me avoid paying inheritance taxes?
Proper estate planning can certainly help reduce inheritance taxes in Pennsylvania. While reducing inheritance tax is a common estate planning goal, some tax-reduction strategies may conflict with a person’s wishes as to how their estate will ultimately be distributed. Thus, an estate planning attorney will help clients balance their personal wishes against other considerations such as reducing inheritance taxes.
5. A lot of my friends and family have trusts. Should my estate plan include a trust?
Although trusts are an incredibly useful and versatile estate planning tool, they are not appropriate for all estate plans. Whether a trust is right for you - and if so, what kind - depends on several factors such as your goals, the size of your estate, and family dynamics. Trusts can help reduce inheritance or estate taxes, control when beneficiaries receive their inheritance, protect assets from creditors, and help beneficiaries preserve eligibility for public benefits, among other things. However, there are also several downsides such as the expense of administration over time. An estate planning attorney can advise you on whether a trust is the best choice for you. Check out my blog page to learn more about whether a trust may be right for you.
6. can't I just print a will off the internet, or have chatgpt draft one for me?
Self-serve estate planning solutions have been around for decades. While in years past you could purchase a CD-ROM or hardcopy template from your local office supply store, these solutions are now easily accessible on the internet. While these solutions appear cheap, easy, and convenient, addressing mistakes or oversights resulting from these “easy” solutions can be far more costly for your beneficiaries on the back end. If ChatGPT drafts your will, you have no idea whether the will is consistent with Pennsylvania law, or if it will effectively accomplish your goals. ChatGPT is a tool trained on vast swaths of information on the internet which are oftentimes incomplete or inaccurate. Further, automated software solutions cannot take into account all the complexities of your reality: family dynamics, health concerns, inheritance or estate tax considerations, etc. They reduce your estate planning decisions to those factors that are most easily accounted for in automated software. While initially appearing cheap and convenient, these solutions can result in increased costs and headaches for your estate or beneficiaries that could have been avoided with trusted, expert legal advice.
7. CAN A TRUST SAVE MY HOME FROM LONG-TERM CARE COSTS?
A special type of trust often referred to as a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust or MAPT can protect a person's home from creditors and the state Medicaid estate recovery program if the trust is properly drafted and funded. However, transfers to these types of trusts can be tricky, as the transfer can trigger Medicaid's 5-year look back rule. While I touch upon these types of trusts during a general estate planning consultation, individuals seriously considering a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust or other Medicaid planning strategies should book a dedicated Medicaid planning strategy session.