ECKERT BYRNE’S LEGAL CHECK UP
Our client maintenance options help you keep your estate plan up-to-date in order to reflect current laws, legal developments, best practices, and changes in your goals or family circumstances. Your planning goals may have evolved or your circumstances may have changed in a way that requires your documents to be updated. Kids turning 18, death, divorce, or marriage in your family, a shift in family dynamics or asset structure are all life changes that may require an update. Any changes in the law, assets, goals, and circumstances require maintenance for your estate plan.
LEGAL CHECK UP (LCU) – FOR $995 YOU GET:
Just like you need to check the oil in your car on a regular basis, you need to check in on your estate planning documents to make sure your plan is running as smoothly as possible. Our Legal Check-Up option provides a meeting time for you and your attorney to review your documents, flowchart, and asset table and to discuss changes and/or updates that may be necessary to keep your plan working the way you intended. We find that as time passes, goals and concerns often change, assets shift, and clients benefit from a discussion regarding how to best align their plan.
In order to have an effective meeting, there is some homework that’s involved. Prior to the legal check up meeting, Eckert Byrne will review your flowchart, asset table, and estate planning documents. In addition, we will review for any legal changes that have occurred since you executed your documents, and prepare an agenda for your meeting. Before your Legal Check Up meeting, you will receive your Flowchart, Asset Table, and a secure link to establish a share file vault. We ask that you review your flowchart and Asset Table ahead of the meeting, and note any changes to the flowchart, as well as updates to your assets. You can upload recent bank statements and new asset details to the secure vault ahead of your meeting for Attorney review.
The Attorney will then lead the meeting and provide you ample time to ask questions, discuss changes, and assess whether further services are needed (e.g., amendments, restatements, changes to ancillary documents, changes to beneficiaries, funding, etc.). Some Clients only require the meeting to confirm there are no loose ends to their plan and have peace of mind that their plan is up-to-date. Other Clients wish to make changes to their documents, such as Trustee changes or alterations to distributions, or require advanced planning tools. After your meeting, the Attorney will provide a flat fee quote for additional services (hourly work is atypical but sometimes recommended).
PREPARING FOR YOUR LEGAL CHECK UP MEETING:
- Establish a Secure Vault account with ECKERT BYRNE LLC (we will provide this link to you)
- Review Your Flowchart – note any changes to ‘people,’ goals, addresses, etc.
- Review Your Asset Table – upload to your secure vault your most-recent asset information:
- Bank accounts
- Investment accounts
- Retirement (IRA, 401K, 403B) Accounts
- Life & Disability Insurance Policies
- Annuities
- Stocks, Bonds, certificates etc.
- Copies of all real-estate documents for properties you own (if changes/additional properties)
- Cryptocurrency or Digital Asset information