How much does estate planning cost?

A wise man once said a $500 will gets you about $500 worth of protection. Statistically, nearly six out of ten Americans don’t have a will. This even includes celebrities. Larry King passed away with no comprehensive estate plan, leaving a giant mess behind.

This giant mess is created by the four-headed monster. This includes the costs of probate court, estate taxes, financial creditors and predators, and potentially long-term care if someone needs long-term care before they pass away. 

You must get off the sidelines, get on the field of play, and create your estate plan for your family. When you pass away, you want your loved ones to be getting along, talking, and even singing your praise. That’s an estate plan that worked and worked well. But, conversely, you do not want your loved ones to stop speaking to each other and being civil to one another. Unfortunately, this estate plan has gone sideways due to insufficient proper planning or no planning whatsoever.  

You also do not want to leave your loved ones with the government plan. So what’s the government plan? The government plan is the laws of intestate. The laws of intestate mean you pass without a will or plan. When this happens, the laws of your state will determine who gets your assets and how they get it. 

What does a plan cost? The highest cost of an estate plan is not what you pay for it, such as a will, a trust, or whatever is created. Instead, the highest cost is what your estate will be charged without a comprehensive plan. These costs arise when you become disabled and then pass away. Then, your family members and/or your beneficiaries will have to pay them.  

The costs arise from the four-headed monster. The first-headed monster is probate court. Probate court costs can vary depending on the estate. If you have a more significant estate, it could be in probate court for up to 2-4 years. There have even been cases that have lasted for 8 years and included many beneficiaries. Typically probate attorneys will charge by the hour the entire time they’re working on the probate matter. It is not uncommon to have a fifty-thousand-dollar legal bill in million-dollar estates.

The second-headed monster is estate taxes. If your state has an estate death tax like Massachusetts, then your loved ones may have to pay a state estate tax based on the estate’s value. The third-headed monster is “times of turmoil,” such as lawsuits, divorces, auto accidents, bankruptcies, and in-laws turning into outlaws. For example, in divorce, assets could go outside the family bloodline to unintended beneficiaries. 

Lastly, the fourth-headed monster arises if you or your spouse needs long-term care in your lifetimes. Statistically, seventy percent of people 70 and over will need long-term care someday. Depending on where you live, long-term care costs could be approximately $15,000 – $18,000 a month. Over three years at $15 000 a month, the cost could be up to $540,000. However, work with an Elder Law Attorney to create a comprehensive plan. You could protect your assets instead of them going towards these costs.  

When you consider adding up the cost of probate court, estate tax, the potential loss of your assets due to times of turmoil, and long-term care, the price of a comprehensive estate plan can pale in comparison. You may find a comprehensive estate plan that costs between five thousand and ten thousand dollars. This cost can depend on what part of the country you’re in, how many assets you have, what the nature of the assets are, and what type of protections you want. 

You can save millions of dollars by spending what you need on an estate plan now. You are not just preserving and protecting cash for the family, but you’re also protecting and preserving family harmony.  
Are you in the third quarter or even the fourth quarter of life? Are you still standing on the sidelines? Then it is crucial to get off the sidelines, get on the field and take action. They say knowledge is power, but knowledge is only power if you do something with it.

We specialize in educating and helping you protect what you have for the people you love the most. Contact us or attend a free workshop to learn more about how we can help.