How To Start

Giving Your Family The Protection They Deserve
By now you realize the importance of a good estate plan and because you love your family and want to keep them out of court and out of conflict when something happens to you, you are ready to take the first steps to get a plan in place.

Now, as you get started, it is important that you know how I work because I do things a bit differently here than at other law firms.

Your Appointment Options

You have three options for your next step:

• You can schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to learn more about us and get a few preliminary questions answered.
• You can schedule your Family Wealth Planning Session and complete the pre-session homework so that you come in prepared to be educated, informed and make empowered decisions for the people you love.
• You can schedule your Estate Plan Checkup and Review if you have an existing plan so that you can get educated on whether your existing plan still works for your family or if you have gaps that you must fill to have the peace of mind your family is covered.

How Long Is The Family Wealth Planning Session?

I block two hours on the calendar for your Family Wealth Planning Session to focus entirely on you and your family during this time.

In advance of your meeting, I will send you a package of information to review and complete before our time together, which will help you begin the process of getting your legal and financial life in order.

During your Planning Session, I will guide you to gently look at what would happen to your loved ones and with your assets if something were to happen to you today. And then I will look at what you want to happen instead and then help you create a roadmap to get that plan in place as easily as possible.

After meeting, my clients routinely say “Wow, if we had known how easy this would be, we would have done it years ago!”

How Much Does The Family Wealth Planning Session Cost?

The Family Wealth Planning Session is valued at $750, or if you have existing estate planning documents that you are wanting us to review and potentially incorporate, this meeting is valued at $950.

If during your Planning Session you choose to move forward and design a comprehensive plan, your session fee is applied to the legal fee to create or update your estate plan. In some circumstances I will waive the planning session fee and instead you can secure your appointment time with a credit card number to hold your appointment time to the exclusion of others.

So long as you keep your appointment time as scheduled, nothing will be charged to your card. If you must cancel less than seven days prior to your appointment, I ask that you do so at least one week ahead of time so that I may open my calendars to other waiting families.

I understand that this policy of securing your appointment with a credit card may seem unique. So is Law Office of Dana Baker, P.C..

I provide my very best service to those families who are looking for a long-term relationship with their trusted advisor. I expend most of my energy providing an exceedingly high degree of service to my existing clients and I limit the number of new clients I see each week.

What To Do Prior To Your Family Wealth Planning Session

After scheduling your appointment, you will receive your Family Wealth Inventory & Assessment and other important information that you will want to review and complete prior to your personal Family Wealth Planning Session.

Your Family Wealth Inventory & Assessment is your pre-session “homework.”

Please complete and return your homework to the office at least three days prior to your Planning Session so that I have time to review your information and provide the most valuable counsel I can during your Planning Session.

Feel free to call the office at any time if you need assistance completing your homework or if have any questions at all.

What To Expect The Day Of Your Family Wealth Planning Session

On the day of your meeting, please expect to spend up to two hours with us.

There are two goals at our meeting together:

1. Identify whether there is a good fit.
2. Educate you about what would happen today if something happened to you so that you know how you can design a different plan if desired.

By looking at what would happen under your current plan, you can identify what you would want to happen differently. Then together with my guidance you can make the decisions necessary (including choosing your own fee) to give you the peace of mind of knowing your family would stay out of court and out of conflict when something happens to you.

Assuming there is a good fit between us AND that you identify specific ways you would want things to happen that are different than what would currently happen if something happened to you, I can design a plan for your family right away.

What Happens Next?

Once I have completed the design of your plan, I will review your assets for the purpose of ensuring that everything you own will be titled for maximum protection.

I will then schedule your Signing Ceremony for about a month later where you can sign your complete estate plan.

At your Signing Ceremony I have a process of reviewing your documents with you that makes your plan so easy to understand that you will know for certain that I understood exactly the way you want things to happen when something happens to you and that your loved ones will be in excellent hands.

Once you sign your your estate plan, your assets and your family are protected.

And I see this as only the beginning of our relationship. You may make changes to your planning documents at no charge for up to 90 days after you sign your plan.

Then at the final meeting during the planning phase of our relationship, I verify that all of your asset transfers are moving forward on track.

I review your asset spreadsheet with you and ensure all of your questions are answered.

What Happens After I Take My Estate Planning Binder Home?

After you take your estate planning binder home with you, the maintenance phase of your plan will begin.

At no additional charge I will review your plan at least every three years and keep you informed about changes in the law and other issues that affect your family and your wealth.

If you participate in the Family Wealth VIP Membership Program, you will have an opportunity to review your plan every single year and enjoy a host of other amazing benefits like online access to your scanned estate planning documents, discounted or complimentary updates to your estate plan, and so much more.

Finally, I am always here for you and do not charge you for phone calls or emails.

You’ll be amazed at how easy and painless the entire planning process will be for your family and I would love to meet with you for your Family Wealth Planning Session soon.