Estate planning is one of life’s most personal matters. It requires frank conversations on nearly every aspect of life – finances, health, familial relationships, etc. Navigating these discussions and the subsequent decisions requires more than a mastery of the law. It requires trust. We work hard to earn our clients’ trust by ensuring they feel heard, understood, and respected from their first meeting. And we are pleased to work alongside your other trusted advisors to ensure your estate plan considers your other financial considerations.
Initial consultations are offered for one hour at $350. If you retain us, that fee will be applied toward the planning engagement. There will not be a fee for consultations recommended by advisors or friends. We know that your time is valuable, and so is ours. So, we aim to accomplish a lot at our first meeting. We listen, ask targeted questions, suggest how to address your problems, decide how to move forward together, and try to answer your questions.
If you are interested in our estate planning services, please contact us to schedule an appointment at 301-468-3220. We recommend that new clients complete an estate planning information form before the consultation. These forms will be discussed with you when making an appointment and can be mailed, e-mailed, or completed online on our website, located under resources. Please mention your preferred meeting location – Rockville, Columbia, D.C., Tyson's Corner, or Vienna. (Home appointments can be scheduled for an additional fee.) We will use both email and phone to confirm your appointment in advance.
Please let us know if you or your referral is more comfortable speaking in a language other than English. We have team members who speak various languages.
In the best interests of all our clients, we have a cancellation policy. Some scheduling conflicts and emergencies cannot be avoided, and we will always do our best to accommodate rescheduling. However, with a handful of attorneys serving clients at five office locations, no-shows and/or last-minute cancellations significantly interfere with our ability to serve our clients. If you cannot make it to your appointment, we kindly ask that you contact us at least 24 hours in advance to cancel. Missed or canceled appointments within 24 hours of the appointment may be charged a cancellation fee.
While we typically request a 24-hour notice before canceling an appointment to have a healthy environment for our clients and staff, we offer a one-time waiver of our cancellation fee in the event of illness. If you are sick (cold, flu, etc.) or have an onset of any symptoms of an infection (fever, persistent coughing, sneezing, etc.), call us to reschedule. If you arrive at your appointment with symptoms of an illness, you will be asked to reschedule. Our COVID policies are on our website.
This is for your well-being and the health of our employees. While some estate matters can be addressed only in person, if there are any pressing concerns, we can discuss them with you by phone or electronically, and we will do our best to do so. Meanwhile, we want you to know that we take every precaution to maintain a clean and healthy office for those who visit. All surfaces are wiped down regularly throughout the day, we keep plenty of hand sanitizer in stock, and our team members work from home if they’re under the weather.
People like certainty in their lives and don’t like unexpected bills from attorneys. While hourly rates are available, it is our standard practice to quote a flat fee for traditional estate planning. At the first meeting, we will discuss your situation and the nature of the work that needs to be done, and give you an estimate of how long that may take. We will prepare a fee engagement letter that spells out the exact scope of the planning and the fee.
Some factors determining project fees are the complexity, the time it will take to complete your planning, the required knowledge, and the risk level we assume by representing you. If the scope of the work should significantly change, or if you need more work not discussed at the initial meeting, we will discuss and prepare a fee agreement to cover the additional work.
We sometimes charge a percentage fee as a fiduciary (such as a trustee, guardian/conservator, or personal representative). The fee will usually be a percentage of the value of the trust or estate we manage. Sometimes (generally involving will and trust contests), we will discuss setting our fee as a percentage of the recovery for our clients. In these cases, we will not charge fees during the case but will collect a fee only if our client resolves his or her case to his or her satisfaction. We are happy to discuss the possibility of contingency fees in individual cases.
Unfortunately, we have had to start charging a processing surcharge of up to 3 to 3.5% on all credit card payments beginning June 10, 2025. The surcharge will depend on the card used. We offer ACH/E-check and debit card payments at no charge.
Estate planning is a process, not a product. Once your documents have been executed, we don’t usher you out the door. We consider you clients for life. We try hard to stay in regular contact, reviewing your family’s needs whenever a law changes or a new planning strategy affects you. If we’ve done our job, we will continue serving your family for generations.