An estate lawyer is a type of bar certified attorney specializing in assisting clients drafting and implementing legal documents, including wills and trusts, in order to prepare them for the possibility of mental deterioration or eventual death.
In this article, you will learn Estate Planning Attorney salary plus 7 simple tips to help you hire the best estate planning lawyer for your case.
Estate Planning Attorney Salary
The median salary for an Estate Planning Attorney is $77,567, according to payscale.com. In certain states, this figure can be higher than that. For instance, As of May 18, 2020, the average annual Estate Planning Attorney salary in Dallas, TX, is $126,036 a year.
Annual salaries Estate Planning lawyers can be as high as $275,000 and as low as $55,000. On a national level, across the United States, the majority of Estate Planning Attorney salary ranges from $76,500 (25th percentile) to $132,500 (75th percentile).
8 Tips to Find A Good Estate Planning Attorney
The search for an estate planning lawyer is a quite delicate task, it is something that should be taken very seriously. This is someone who will be handling the ownership of your personal belongings. In the wrong hands, it might turn out to be disastrous.
It is easy to just google your inquiry to find an estate planning attorney Ads. But are they the right persons to handle your case? You cannot just take a chance; you need some techniques to hire the best estate planning attorney possible while spending the least possible.
Here are 8 simple tips to help you choose the best estate planning attorney near you:
- Ask Your Financial Advisor
When making the decision to hire an estate planning attorney, if you can get referrals or recommendations from your financial advisor this would be great.
Financial advisors often keep in touch with estate planning lawyers as they are essential to their client’s overall financial development. They are most likely going to have one or two lawyers to recommend to you.
- Ask Your Family and Friends First
Estate planning is a sensitivity matter that most people do not like to talk to strangers. Therefore, the second group of people you may need to contact are your closed family members and friends.
Target mainly friends and family who may have gone through similar situations. They would have firsthand experience and knowledge about the type of attorney to hire, the costs (salary + fees), and promptly refer you to one.
- Call FIRST
Now that your advisor, friend or a family member has recommended you an estate planning attorney, it is better to first call the office for a phone interview before a personal meeting. This will serve as a brief interview and help you narrow down your choices.
Sometimes a phone interview is all it takes to determine to either hire the lawyer or move on with your search.
- Gather All Necessary Documents
Before the meeting with your lawyer you need to be sure to have all necessary documents and information ready and orderly arranged.
This will help keep everything in order and make the meeting go smoothly.
It is better to have everything ready at least 24 hours before the meeting. This will help you avoid rush and missed or left some documents at home.
- Schedule to Meet the Lawyer
Once you have made your selection, you can now schedule an in-person meeting with your potential lawyer (s). It is best to schedule the first meeting in his office. This will give you a clearer picture of what they have to offer. It’ll also helpful to help you determine if the lawyer is worth the fees he charges or not.
For the layer part, the initial consultation helps him to determine if the client has a case that he is interested in. Everything you discuss during the initial consultation with the lawyer is confidential, even if you don’t hire him.
Most lawyers offer a free or low-cost initial consultation. Insist on getting a free consultation before you make your final decision whether to hire that attorney to represent you or not.
- Ask Questions
During the meetings with your preferred candidate, ask questions about his practice, experience, and more. This will give you some idea about his competence. A good estate planning lawyer will be able to answer your questions confidently and explain the basic estate planning laws in a way very easy for you to understand.
Here are some simple questions you may ask a Lawyer During Consultation:
- What is your role in my case?
- How much will this cost me?
- What are my possible outcomes?
- Who will actually handle my case?
- What would be your strategy for my case?
- Are there any alternatives to going to court?
- What kind of experience do you have with similar cases?
- Remember to Ask for Detailed Fees
After getting and comparing the fees charged by each lawyer, you’ll be able to come to a conclusion and know which you can afford and which candidate is your best pick. Make sure the fees are detailed enough so you’ll be sure about the specific services you are getting and the amount you will pay.
- FOLLOW UP
Once you have made your choice and hired an estate planning attorney, it is very important to be in touch and follow up on every activity pertaining to your case. This will help everything go on smoothly and keep the lawyer on his toes.
These few tips will help you get the best estate planning attorney near you, but the list is not complete. If you know other tips to hire an estate planning lawyer, kindly comment below.
