There are millions of people in Florida and the United States that do not have a Will or any estate planning. Many people wait to plan for their future, and their family’s future after they die, because they think the process is long or too expensive. The local Jacksonville attorneys at the Law Office of David Goldman PLLC pride themselves on providing easy and affordable estate planning.
The firm was ranked Lawyers.com as one of the few AV Preeminent Attorneys and by SuperLawyers as one of the top-ranked estate planning firms in the state, and we provide complimentary consultations to our estate planning clients. Further, once the client chooses an estate plan we can have documents ready to sign within 1-2 weeks.
We believe the estate planning process should be easy, simple, and straightforward for the client. Further, the client’s estate plan should be tailored to meet the clients exact needs and desires. This is why we often ask clients to think about what kind of objectives they may have. Through this website, we have listed and tried to explain many objective and goals that can be achieved through this field of law.
If the client’s objective is to leave a charitable legacy, we can create a plan that carries this out while also providing other benefits. For instance, we can create a charitable lead trust that provides income to the client’s family members during the client’s lifetime and distributes the remainder of the trust property to the charity of the client’s choice.
If the client’s objective is to protect assets we can create a plan that protects the client’s assets during his or her lifetime, and also allows the client to qualify for Medicaid. In this case, we would create an iPug trust for the client. This is an irrevocable trust that allows the client to transfer assets and income into a legal entity to qualify for long-term government healthcare. Further, these assets are protected from creditors and allow the client to live the rest of his or her life without worrying about how to pay for healthcare or how to protect their wealth.
Step 1: Attend a Workshop or Schedule a ConsultationMany of our clients choose to addend one of our estate planning or asset protection workshops. You can choose a date by calling our office or using our online scheduling system at https://workshops.jacksonvillealawyer.pro. If you attend any of our estate planning workshops, you will receive a complimentary 90 minute Visions Meeting where we discuss estate planning as well as Asset protection including Medicaid Protection.
If you choose to Schedule private consultation first without attending a workshop we will meet with you individually for 60 minutes and discuss estate planning. If you are wanting an elder law consultation or asset protection consultation, there is a $500 initial consultation fee for those who have not attended a workshop. The Asset Protection or Elder law consultations are 90 minutes.
The Second step of the estate planning, Medicaid, or Asset Protection process is for the client to fill out the confidential personal information form. There are many ways we can send this form to you. Call our office at 904-685-1200, email us to obtain your Confidential Estate Planning Questionnaire or download it here: [PDF]
We ask that every client complete this form before we schedule the first face to face consultation. This permits our Jacksonville estate planning lawyers to have a good foundation of your objective, and also potential issues your family faces that you may not have recognized.
Fill out our Confidential Form and send it to us. All information listed on your estate planning worksheet is completely confidential and bound by the attorney-client privilege.
Step 3: Initial Consultation or Vision MeetingThe next step is for the client and the estate planning attorney meet for 60 or 90 minutes. Estate planning meetings are typically 60 minutes while Asset Protection and Elder Law or medicaid meetings are scheduled for 90 minutes.
During the consultation, the estate planning, asset protection, or Medicaid attorney will review the client's assets and current situation. This is a time where we like to learn more about the client and the goals the client wishes to achieve. Sometimes the client only needs a simple document, such as a will or living trust, and other times the client needs to protect his or her assets through an asset protection trust.
We will help the client to carefully weigh each option. We also take the time to go over the costs and benefits of each option with the client. Many firms charge clients by the hour, but this firm charges flat fees so that our clients know the cost before starting the process.
If the client has documents or an existing estate plan we can also review these documents with the client to see if any can be used or if they should be updated . Sometimes a simple modification is all that is needed to update an old plan, while there are other times the estate plan may have to be redone from scratch.
Step 4: DesignAfter the meeting, the attorneys will put the plan into action by drafting the documents needed to install the plan. The Jacksonville estate planning attorney will carefully design the plan to meet the client’s individual needs. Once the drafts of the documents are completed, the client will come back to the office to review the documents. This allows the client a final chance to review the estate plan before signing.
Step 5: Signing CeremonyAt the client’s convenience, he or she will schedule a time to come to our office and sign all of the documents. At this time the client and attorney will review the documents one more time. The client can even take home a draft of the estate plan home so that he or she can look over everything at the client’s pace.
If any changes need to be made, the attorneys will make the change and re-execute the document.
Contact Us TodayOur goal at The Law Office of David Goldman is to ensure the process is easy and simple for our clients. This is an area of law that is extremely helpful to everyday people, and we pride ourselves on creating plans that cater to the specific needs of local Jacksonville residents. Call us today at 904-685-1200 to create your estate plan.