A PERSONAL NOTE ABOUT FEES
While I have your attention, I would like to share a little information about my approach to estate planning and my fee schedule. In case you choose to proceed to schedule an initial meeting with me, my intent here is to make sure that we are a good match.
During my professional career I have earned a great deal of experience and knowledge by helping more than 7,500 people establish their estate plans. In my opinion estate planning is the most complex area of law because the practitioner must be knowledgeable about so many different topics in order to be competent when helping real-life clients. There is a steep learning curve in estate planning and the need to continue studying its many intersecting components never ends. But my goal is not to simply be competent. Rather I aspire to mastery of the subject matter. Even after 25 years of learning, I continue to devote enormous time and energy toward expanding my knowledge and understanding of estate planning. My passion is to communicate this knowledge with you in a meaningful and practical way. This isn't easy. It requires foresight, repetition, and creativity.
While it is impossible to effectively compare my skills with other colleagues of mine, I certainly strive to be the best in my profession. Sometimes this means helping a client establish a very complex technique and other times it means helping a client simplify matters and eliminate unnecessary tools and provisions. Either way, I want to give each client a premium experience. And this is where my I-S-T-J personality type comes into play. By nature, I am constantly evaluating the process I use with clients to make it more efficient and rewarding for both parties. The more experienced I become, the more I have learned to ask just the right questions to get the most important information I need to help a client. Although the temptation to tarry with "life and death" decisions is attractive, the real enemy of estate planning is procrastination. This is where my commitment to mastery of subject matter and efficiency is most valuable to you. I have structured and refined my law practice in a manner that is built to help you accomplish a very important task in a relatively brief amount of time. If this sounds appealing to you, rest assured that I can help you achieve the peace of mind that you are looking for.
But I do understand that not every prospective client is looking for the kind of premium experience that I offer, or the efficiency I build into my law practice. Some will come to me with a need, but they assign a low value to the benefit of professional counsel. Others prefer to ruminate over key decisions for long periods of time. If you think I may be describing you right now, I will be honest and say that we are probably not a good match. There are other options you can pursue for completing an estate plan (e.g., Internet apps), and there are plenty of colleagues of mine with different personality types.
I choose to post my fee schedule publicly so you have a sense for the level of investment required to retain me as your lawyer. In general, my clients will invest a minimum of $1,200 (individuals) to $1,600 (married couples). These numbers are for basic estate planning with only the essential documents included. But the typical client invests approximately $2,500 to $10,000 for a more comprehensive estate plan. On average, my fee for a married couple is approximately $5,000. I tell you this because I will make the assumption that you are willing to spend more for professional counsel regarding "life and death" matters than you would a new refrigerator or mobile phone. Certainly, I believe the value of the counsel and tools I can provide to you is worth more than that. A lot more. But if you disagree, or your budget does not allow for this level of expense, then again, there are other options you can pursue.
Tom Bouman
Updated September 2023
During my professional career I have earned a great deal of experience and knowledge by helping more than 7,500 people establish their estate plans. In my opinion estate planning is the most complex area of law because the practitioner must be knowledgeable about so many different topics in order to be competent when helping real-life clients. There is a steep learning curve in estate planning and the need to continue studying its many intersecting components never ends. But my goal is not to simply be competent. Rather I aspire to mastery of the subject matter. Even after 25 years of learning, I continue to devote enormous time and energy toward expanding my knowledge and understanding of estate planning. My passion is to communicate this knowledge with you in a meaningful and practical way. This isn't easy. It requires foresight, repetition, and creativity.
While it is impossible to effectively compare my skills with other colleagues of mine, I certainly strive to be the best in my profession. Sometimes this means helping a client establish a very complex technique and other times it means helping a client simplify matters and eliminate unnecessary tools and provisions. Either way, I want to give each client a premium experience. And this is where my I-S-T-J personality type comes into play. By nature, I am constantly evaluating the process I use with clients to make it more efficient and rewarding for both parties. The more experienced I become, the more I have learned to ask just the right questions to get the most important information I need to help a client. Although the temptation to tarry with "life and death" decisions is attractive, the real enemy of estate planning is procrastination. This is where my commitment to mastery of subject matter and efficiency is most valuable to you. I have structured and refined my law practice in a manner that is built to help you accomplish a very important task in a relatively brief amount of time. If this sounds appealing to you, rest assured that I can help you achieve the peace of mind that you are looking for.
But I do understand that not every prospective client is looking for the kind of premium experience that I offer, or the efficiency I build into my law practice. Some will come to me with a need, but they assign a low value to the benefit of professional counsel. Others prefer to ruminate over key decisions for long periods of time. If you think I may be describing you right now, I will be honest and say that we are probably not a good match. There are other options you can pursue for completing an estate plan (e.g., Internet apps), and there are plenty of colleagues of mine with different personality types.
I choose to post my fee schedule publicly so you have a sense for the level of investment required to retain me as your lawyer. In general, my clients will invest a minimum of $1,200 (individuals) to $1,600 (married couples). These numbers are for basic estate planning with only the essential documents included. But the typical client invests approximately $2,500 to $10,000 for a more comprehensive estate plan. On average, my fee for a married couple is approximately $5,000. I tell you this because I will make the assumption that you are willing to spend more for professional counsel regarding "life and death" matters than you would a new refrigerator or mobile phone. Certainly, I believe the value of the counsel and tools I can provide to you is worth more than that. A lot more. But if you disagree, or your budget does not allow for this level of expense, then again, there are other options you can pursue.
Tom Bouman
Updated September 2023