I get asked this question all the time.  I can tell people have either been talking to other attorneys, or read about yearly maintenance fees charged for estate plans on the internet, so I understand where the question comes from.

Let me be clear: I do not charge yearly fees or yearly maintenance fees.

I know that other attorneys charge yearly maintenance fees, I just don’t happen to be one of them.  Not all attorneys have the same pricing structure, and mine doesn’t include yearly maintenance fees.  The different business models that attorneys can use have both benefits and drawbacks for the attorney and the client.  Yearly maintenance fees may be part of a pricing model for some attorneys, but not for all of us!

 

What is a Yearly Maintenance Fee?

As far as I can tell, the idea behind a yearly maintenance fee is that once a trust or other estate plan has been set up, the trust or other estate plan, like a will, needs to be kept up to date and a yearly maintenance fee covers the cost of such upkeep.  If a law changes, or a person’s life situation changes, then the client has pre-paid for the attorney to handle updating things.  Some years there may need to be major changes, and other years there may be little to no changes necessary.  Laws change from time to time, but in my experience with the area of estate planning, most estate planning laws are fairly stable, so the changes would come more from life circumstances changing.

I completely agree that trusts, wills, financial powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, and living wills need to be kept current and up to date.  However, I subscribe to the philosophy that when changes become necessary, the changes can be made at that point, and don’t need to be charged for every year, even when nothing changes for a client.  I don’t really feel right about charging a yearly maintenance fee for clients who don’t need a lot of ongoing support, and I don’t feel right to charge a yearly maintenance fee for doing nothing.

I do know some attorneys will charge to store documents at their office, or to hold onto originals for safekeeping.  I do keep a backup copy of original documents in my filing cabinets (and I have a lot of filing cabinets!), but I don’t charge for storing documents in my filing cabinets, as I don’t think that requires enough work on my part to justify a yearly fee.

Most of my clients will call me to update their estate plans every few years, and I will charge for the work I do in updating the plan at the time I do the work, but not on a yearly basis.

 

Why Would a Yearly Maintenance Fee be Good or Bad?

Many of the clients who ask me about a yearly maintenance fee are those who have created a trust.  Once a trust is set up, they are often looking for legal advice, guidance, or direction in how to administer the trust, and carry out the instructions of the trust.  A law firm that charges a yearly maintenance fee often does so knowing that those who have trust based estate plans will contact them whenever they have a question or want further legal advice.  The yearly fee allows the law firm to cover the cost of such inquiries and requests for help as time goes on.

Since I do not represent people in administering wills or trusts, this is not a service I need to anticipate providing and charge for proactively.  I am available and able to answer questions on the trust, and I do warn people that I will need to charge for the services I offer prior to sending out a bill, but I do try to write trusts that my clients can carry out on their own, so they don’t need to be tied to me all the time.  Perhaps if I had a larger firm than just myself, I could have associates or other attorneys handle the amount of calls that administering trusts would generate, but that may also just be how other attorneys handle things even if they are solo practitioners like myself.  I don’t really get into telling other attorneys how to spend their time or charge for services, so I am speculating just a bit here as to how other attorneys do things.

I prefer to do flat fees for the work that I do, and not charge yearly maintenance fees.  I find that flat fees work for me, since I tend to know how much work it will be for me to prepare certain types of estate plans, like a will or trust.  Since I have a pretty good idea of the work involved, I can collect a flat fee for the work and then let my clients go on their way without needing to pay me each year to maintain the estate plan.  I would much rather charge for necessary updates when that time arrives rather than charge for a potential need in the future that may, or may not, come into existence each year.  Although I would love to have an influx of money each year from yearly fees, I just don’t think it would be fair to my clients to charge for a yearly fee if I don’t do anything for them.

 

What Do I Charge for Fees To Create An Estate Plan?

I try to have fairly competitive fees for the services that I offer, the preparation and signing of different estate plans.  I have a range that I charge, as follows:

A Basic Will Package that includes a basic will, financial and medical powers of attorney, and a living will: $500.  But, if a will is more complex than just the basics, this can be higher.

A Revocable Trust Package that includes a revocable trust, pour over will, financial and medical powers of attorney, and a living will: Between $2,000 and $3,000.

An Asset Protection Trust for my clients looking to protect assets from long term medical costs that includes an irrevocable trust, pour over will, financial and medical powers of attorney, and a living will: Between $3,000 and $5,000.

Stand alone documents can also be prepared, but the packages tend to be most of what I do.  A stand alone power of attorney is generally $125 to create, for instance.

I find that these prices are not the highest (they are far from the highest!) and not the lowest (as I don’t try to compete with the self-help / self-prepared online will generators), but the prices are fair to both me and my clients.

 

Upfront Pricing Leads to Better Long Term Outcomes [Insert Happy Man Up Arrow Picture]

I find that if I charge flat fees that are fair, my clients tend to be happier with the services  I provide.  There aren’t any hidden fees and there aren’t any surprise costs associated with preparing an estate plan.  And, there aren’t any ongoing expenses just because I once prepared an estate plan.  I think this is the most fair way to charge for my services, and I find that I tend to have good long term relationships with clients, as they don’t feel like I am just charging a yearly fee because I can.  Of course, I can’t tell you exactly what I will charge each individual, because each case is different, but I am happy to meet with you and discuss your situation and what you need.  If you would like to make an appointment to discuss your situation, please click the button below.