What to Expect When You Hire Warren & Migliaccio for Your Estate Plan
At Warren & Migliaccio, we offer three levels of estate planning services to individuals and families throughout DFW, North Texas, and the state. These services include White Glove, Everything but the Execution, and Estate Plan Express. White Glove is our top-tier estate planning service.
Below, our Texas estate planning lawyers break down the client journey when you retain us for White Glove estate planning services. We also discuss how the client journey differs when you choose our Everything but the Execution service, and the estate planning documents we offer to our clients.
Client Journey for White Glove Estate Planning
1. Planning Meeting
The planning meeting is your initial consultation with our Texas estate planning attorney, Morgan Gill. Generally, this is a 15 to 30-minute phone consultation. However, if you are more comfortable in person, we can arrange a meeting in our Richardson, Texas, office.
During this consultation, we will discuss your estate planning needs and objectives and confirm whether we can help you with your estate plan. We will discuss your estate planning options, including whether a will-based or trust-based plan is better for your situation. We will also discuss pricing, the process, and next steps.
If you decide to move forward with our firm, we will send you an engagement letter. We will also send you the proper intake forms, depending on the estate planning documents you choose.
2. Complete Intake Forms
Our firm will email you the appropriate intake forms for your estate plan. These intake forms are necessary because they provide the specific information we need to create your estate plan. Once you complete your intake forms, you will send them back to us.
3. Schedule Your Signing Meeting
As part of our intake email, we will send you a link to schedule your signing meeting. The signing meeting is an in-office appointment where we will review your drafted estate planning documents with you, and you will legally execute them with a notary.
The link we send you will allow you to see our calendar with up to three months of availability. You can choose a date and time that works best for your schedule.
4. Attorney Drafts Your Documents
After you submit your intake forms and schedule your signing meeting, our Texas estate planning lawyer will draft your documents. We will use the information you provide in your intake forms to build a comprehensive and tailored estate plan that meets your unique needs and goals.
5. Attend Your Signing Meeting
You will come to our Richardson, Texas, office for your signing meeting. The signing meeting involves reviewing your documents with our attorney and legally executing them with a notary. You can expect the following process:
When you come to our office, we will have your estate planning documents prepared for your review. We will walk through each document with you to explain what it is and how it works. We will answer any legal questions you have concerning your estate plan. If you have a trust-based plan, we will discuss how to fund your living trust.
During the meeting, we will confirm with you that the information in your estate planning documents matches the information you provided in your intake forms. If we need to make any changes or updates to your estate plan, we can implement them immediately.
Once the documents are ready, you will sign and legally execute them before a notary and any witnesses, if needed. Our firm will arrange and provide the notary and witnesses.
After legally executing your documents, we will scan and keep a copy of them in our system. We will package your signed documents in a folder for you to take home. We will email you a PDF of your scanned documents within 24 hours of the signing meeting.
What Happens After the Signing Meeting?
After the signing meeting, you can have peace of mind that your estate planning documents are legally valid. You can also move forward knowing you get one year of free document revision, excluding converting to a different plan. If life changes, we can update your estate plan, so it continues to meet your and your family’s needs.
However, it is essential to highlight that if you signed a trust-based plan, you will need to fund your living trust. A trust is only effective if you fund it because it only applies to assets in its possession.
Funding a living trust involves transferring your assets into the trust. This process ensures that the trust controls these assets and can effectively manage and distribute them according to the terms you have set forth.
Generally, this process begins with an inventory of your assets to determine what you should transfer into the trust, such as real estate, bank and financial accounts, and personal property. In order to transfer assets into a trust, you must change the titles and ownership documents of your assets from your name to the name of the trustee. For example, this may look like: Trustee Name, as Trustee of the Trust Name.
How do you transfer the assets? For real estate, this may involve signing a deed transferring ownership to the trustee. For bank and investment accounts, this often means working with your financial institution to retitle the accounts. However, most assets do not have formal ownership documents. Regarding personal property, like jewelry, art, or other items, you may sign a general transfer document stating that the trustee now owns the property.
Before you leave the signing meeting, our Texas estate planning lawyer will provide instructions to reference about how to fund your living trust.
How Is Everything but the Execution Different From Our White Glove Service?
When you choose our Everything but the Execution service, you do not have a signing meeting with us. You still get the planning meeting or initial consultation with attorney Morgan Gill. Our experienced attorney will custom draft your documents to meet your needs and goals. However, you will not come to our office afterward to legally execute your estate planning documents.
Instead of a signing meeting, you will receive instructions from our attorney about how to legally execute your documents on your own. If your plan is trust-based, our attorney will also provide you with instructions about how to fund it.
Additionally, instead of one year of revisions, our Everything but the Execution service includes free document revisions for six months. This service does not include converting to a different plan.
Documents Included in Our Estate Planning Services
When you choose our White Glove or Everything but the Execution services, you get comprehensive estate planning solutions. We offer the following estate planning documents:
- Last Will and Testament
- Revocable Living Trust
- Financial Power of Attorney
- Medical Power of Attorney
- Advance Healthcare Directive (Living Will)
- Declaration of Guardian
- HIPAA Release
- Transfer on Death Deed
Last Will and Testament
A Last Will and Testament is a legal document that specifies the beneficiaries of your estate and the distribution of your assets upon your death. This document also tells your loved ones whom you want in charge of your estate upon your passing. This person is called the executor of your will.
The executor has many duties and responsibilities. However, generally, they are responsible for managing your estate, carrying out your final wishes, and distributing assets to your beneficiaries according to the will.
Texas law does not require you to have a last will and testament. However, if you die without one, called dying intestate, Texas law will decide the distribution of your assets. The result of the state’s intestacy laws may not align with your wishes.
Revocable Living Trust
A Revocable Living Trust is a legal arrangement that allows a trustee to hold and manage assets for the benefit of the trust’s beneficiaries. As the trust’s creator, you can also be the trustee during your lifetime and maintain control over your assets. It offers flexibility, and you can change it or dissolve it at any time.
There are many other benefits to a revocable living trust. For example, it keeps your estate out of probate court and the public eye. Probate can be lengthy and expensive, and assets cannot be distributed until the process is complete. A revocable living trust involves a more efficient transfer of assets to your beneficiaries.
Additionally, unlike a will, which does not go into effect until your passing, a revocable living trust takes effect once you create and fund it. Therefore, they are valid in the event of incapacitation.
You will also select a successor trustee for your living trust to take over after your death. Upon your passing, the successor trustee will manage and distribute the trust’s assets to its beneficiaries according to the terms of the trust document.
Financial Power of Attorney
A Financial Power of Attorney, or Statutory Durable Power of Attorney, allows you to designate someone you trust to make decisions or act on your behalf in financial matters. This document applies if an emergency keeps you from making financial decisions for yourself.
You can designate one or more people, called agents, to have the authority to act on your behalf if necessary. You can limit or expand their powers. For example, the agent may pay your bills or sign a check on your behalf. They may also be able to make decisions about and control your bank accounts, investments, properties, business, and taxes.
You can also choose the document’s effective date. For example, you may choose for the document to be effective immediately or in the event of incapacitation. You can also update it when needed due to life changes.
Establishing this document ensures that someone you trust is in charge of your finances if you cannot make decisions for yourself. It also prevents your loved ones from going through a lengthy court process to get guardianship.
However, it is vital to set up a financial power of attorney when you have a sound mind. If not, you risk invalidating it.
Keep in mind that this type of power of attorney does not allow the agent to make healthcare decisions. You will need a medical power of attorney to accomplish that.
Medical Power of Attorney
A Medical Power of Attorney is very similar to a financial power of attorney. It allows someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf in the event of incapacitation or a medical emergency where you cannot do so yourself.
You can list one or more agents you trust to make decisions for you. Your agents would use this document to talk to your medical providers and make medical decisions on your behalf when needed.
Everyone can benefit from having a medical power of attorney. In the event of severe injury or illness, you may be unable to make your own healthcare decisions. Without this document, your medical provider will look to Texas law to determine who may make these decisions on your behalf.
Under Texas law, your medical provider can make decisions with the cooperation of your spouse, an available adult child, one of your parents, or your nearest living relative. These options may concern you if you are separated from your spouse or not close to your family.
Additionally, Texas law does not account for unmarried couples. For example, if you are engaged or have a life partner, your loved one cannot make healthcare decisions for you. A medical power of attorney makes it clear to your medical providers who you want to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.
HIPAA Release
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of your medical information. Medical information encompasses medical records, spoken information at a healthcare facility, or any other information that can identify you.
A HIPAA release allows your medical agents or anyone you designate to request and access your health and medical information. It generally goes hand in hand with a medical power of attorney.
A medical power of attorney allows your agents to speak to your medical providers and make healthcare decisions on your behalf. A HIPAA release allows them to access your medical information to make better decisions for you.
Advance Healthcare Directive (Living Will)
An Advance Healthcare Directive, also called a living will, allows you to document your wishes regarding life support and end-of-life care. Generally, it guides your family and medical providers in the event of severe injury, incapacitation, or when close to death.
This document benefits anyone over the age of 18 because an unexpected end-of-life situation can happen at any time. By documenting your wishes for end-of-life care, you can get the care you want and reduce stress and potential conflict between loved ones by relieving them of decision-making. If your family is faced with a life support decision, they can use your living will as a guide to discuss with your doctors.
Declaration of Guardian
A Declaration of Guardian is a legal document that names who you want to be the guardian of your minor children or children under 18 in the event of incapacitation or death. You can list more than one person you trust in order in the document.
This document becomes essential if both biological parents pass or become incapacitated. It tells the court who should fulfill the role of guardian for your children.
Transfer on Death Deed
A Transfer on Death Deed, also known as a TODD, is one way to transfer property or real estate to someone else after your death. We often offer it to clients who move forward with a will-based package. It allows you to put a beneficiary designation on your home, land, or property but keep ownership and control over it during your lifetime.
Once you sign a TODD, it must be mailed to the county where your property is located. Once the county stamps and returns the TODD, it is valid.
With a legally valid TODD, your property can transfer instantly upon your death, avoiding probate. All that is required is a death certificate to prove the owner has passed. No court involvement or attorneys are necessary.
Contact Warren & Migliaccio Today to Start Your Estate Plan
Are you ready to create an estate plan to protect your family and safeguard your legacy? Do you have questions about estate planning and the process? Do not hesitate to contact our Texas estate planning lawyers. We are happy to answer your legal questions and discuss how we can help you. Call us at (888) 584-9614 or contact us online to schedule a consultation.
