The cost of an estate plan depends on several factors, as every client’s situation is unique. During your consultation and design meeting, we'll discuss your goals, family circumstances, and assets to determine the planning options that best fit your needs.

Some of the factors that may affect the cost of your estate plan include:

• Whether you have minor children and need to designate guardians.

• Whether you would like to include asset protection trusts for your children or other beneficiaries.

• Whether your estate may be subject to Oregon or Washington estate tax. This generally depends on the value of your assets, including whether your estate exceeds Oregon's or Washington's applicable estate tax threshold.

• Whether you own or have an interest in a small business.

• Whether you own rental properties or multiple pieces of real estate, including property located in another state.

• Whether you have complex family dynamics, blended families, or beneficiaries with special needs.

We'll review these and any other relevant considerations during your consultation so we can recommend the right estate plan for your situation and provide clear pricing before you move forward.

Your estate plan is designed with flexibility in mind. Many provisions include built-in contingencies to account for common life events, which means you may not need to update your plan every time your circumstances change.

For example, if one of your children were to pass away before you, your plan may already provide that their share passes to their own children—your grandchildren—without requiring an amendment. While these types of provisions can reduce the need for future changes, it's always a good idea to review your plan whenever there is a significant change in your family or financial situation to ensure it still reflects your wishes.

If you would like to make a specific change—such as adding or removing a trustee, updating beneficiaries, or modifying how your assets are distributed—we recommend contacting our office. We'll review your existing plan, discuss your goals, and determine whether an amendment or a full update is the best approach.

Regularly reviewing your estate plan helps ensure it continues to protect your loved ones and accurately reflects your intentions.

Future changes are billed based on the scope of the work required.

Smaller updates that can be completed through a trust amendment are generally billed at our hourly rate. This includes the time required for drafting, reviewing, and notarizing the amendment.

If you are making more significant changes—such as adding new beneficiaries, changing how your assets are distributed, or making multiple revisions—it may be more appropriate to restate your trust. A trust restatement is essentially a complete rewrite of your trust while keeping the original trust's name and date, so you typically do not need to retitle your assets.

Because every situation is different, more comprehensive updates may be billed as a flat-fee project rather than hourly. We'll discuss the scope of the requested changes and provide clear pricing before any work begins.

Your homework can be accessed through your DecisionVault portal. Once you log in, you will be directed to your original intake questionnaire. Any new assignments from your attorney will appear as unfinished tabs labeled according to the homework you've been asked to complete.

If you have trouble accessing your portal or locating your homework, please contact our office and we'll be happy to assist you.

To upload documents, log in to your DecisionVault portal and open your questionnaire. Navigate to the Documents tab near the bottom of the questionnaire sections. From there, you can either drag and drop files from your computer or select them manually to upload.

If you experience any issues uploading your documents, please contact our office and we'll be happy to assist you.

We ask that you complete and submit your homework at least two business days before your Design Meeting. This gives your attorney time to review your responses, prepare for your meeting, and make the most of your time together.

Submitting your homework in advance helps ensure a more productive and efficient meeting, allowing us to provide recommendations that are tailored to your goals and circumstances.

Many appointments can be rescheduled online using the links in your appointment confirmation email or through the scheduling links provided by our office.

If you need to reschedule on short notice due to a family emergency or other unforeseen circumstance, please call our office as soon as possible. While we cannot guarantee immediate availability, we will do our best to find a new appointment time that works for you.

We appreciate as much advance notice as possible so we can accommodate your scheduling needs and make your appointment available to other clients when possible.