Different Types of Estate Planning Services—and How Much You Can Expect to Pay for Them
Just because you know you need some type of will or trust doesn’t mean you know exactly what type of estate planning and documentation is best for your legacy and your beneficiaries. As with other legal and consumer services, there are more choices than ever. We can’t answer every possible question that you may have about estate planning. This requires you to sit down and talk to an estate planning attorney. What we can provide you with is a basic overview of the types of estate planning services that are out there and which one is most likely right for you.
Popular Types of Estate Planning Services
- Many people are finding basic guidance through paralegals and online legal service providers. You can now shop for estate planning in service bundles that resemble Internet and cable providers. For a couple hundred dollars, you can get basic protections and documentation for your final wishes, as well as advice. With these types of estate planning services, your last will and testament may not be unchallengeable in court, but it’ll typically have a lot more weight than something hastily written on the back of a napkin.
- That said, many people still seek out a traditional relationship with an estate planning attorney who will take the time to understand your personal concerns, help you understand what your estate needs and why it needs it, create and maintain the paperwork, and make periodic reviews and changes as needed. Even if you’re not a millionaire many times over, you may still have significant and significantly complex estate planning needs to navigate. These types of solutions typically cost several hundred dollars to several thousand.
- Larger and more complex estates tend to do better with a trust that goes into effect as soon as it’s created, while also reducing the tax burden the estate would otherwise face. This is best done with an attorney who can provide sage personal counsel as well as a comprehensive understanding of how different types of trusts can best serve your estate and personal legacy. These types of estate planning services may start at several thousand dollars and go up from there.
Pros and Cons for Online Estate Planning Services
Online legal services are a great source of general information about estate planning, and many of them also provide well-written document templates. What else could you need, right? Plenty. The best assembly and execution of these documents often hinges on the details of your estate and your personal wishes. You want someone with years of experience dealing with the complexities and surprises that come with probate court.
Even if you have only basic estate planning needs, it’s also all too easy for people, especially seniors, to misidentify what is a reputable source for estate planning and what is a “trust mill” scam of one type or another. So, know that it is possible but that you probably still want to think twice before you try to take on your own estate planning.
Estate Planning with Full-Service Storage
Closetbox is a great resource for the nuts-and-bolts of planning your estate. We can keep your personal property safe and secure for as long as you need, while also providing return delivery that includes an itemized, digital inventory. This means the executor of the estate will have an easy and dependable way to transfer the right items to the right beneficiary.
Best of all, the convenience of this storage return isn’t going to take a huge bite out of the estate itself. With an inclusive service and a quote based on the actual space you need, our full-service storage is competitively priced with traditional self-storage units.