Do I Have Time for an Estate Plan?

Attorney Image By: James Filippi
Do I Have Time for an Estate Plan? photo

Time is life’s most valuable asset. In economics, scarcity of a particular item often drives up its value. No matter how much wealth you have accumulated, when your time is up, your money cannot buy you anymore. In fact, the minute we were conceived a clock immediately began ticking on our lifespan. We are the only known animals to understand that our life will end at some point in the future. This is the exciting, and scary part of our human existence. Indeed, it can be argued that the meaning of life is finding the best way to cherish our most scarce resource.

You have to remember who your estate plan is really designed to benefit. Not to be crude, but when you die, you won’t be the one handling your final affairs. It will likely be your loved ones managing that task. In a recent study, the average amount of time spent by an executor was 570 hours [1]. To put this in perspective, if you work 40 hours per week, 52 weeks a year (i.e. fulltime), you will work 2080 hours in a year. Sparing your loved ones from having to spend this amount of time winding up your affairs is akin to giving them back months of their lives to spend in other ways.

The importance of an estate plan has been detailed extensively throughout our blog and website. In fact, I believe a great portion of my job is to help educate as many people I can on the importance of having a plan in place. My efforts along with all the other practitioners in my field have paid off to a certain degree. A study found that 76% of the respondents felt that a plan is important. The other side of that survey is a little less promising. Only 40% actually had a plan in place [2]. This was primarily attributed to a lack of time. Which brings me to the point of this article.

Estate planning does take time. I can’t sugar coat that, but the benefit of taking this amount of time pays off in vast dividends. I’ve helped fix numerous clients who had rushed plans drafted by others that only blew up later, causing a bigger and more time-consuming issue for them.

I discussed the concept of “good, fast and cheap” in a previous article. In that you can have 2 of these, but not all three. Most people strapped for time and money typically settle for fast and cheap, only to pay far more later to replace it with a “good” plan. (https://filippilaw.com/do-i-need-an-attorney-to-draft-my-estate-plan

As an attorney, my time is my product, so I recognize the value of your time. I respect it tremendously and do everything in my power to make having an estate plan a possibility for even the busiest of people. I even have a client in their tenth month working with me to finish up their plan. Their schedule has been so busy that we are only able to fit it in during bits and pieces of free time.

I am committed to getting this done for you. Whether it takes 3 weeks, or a year, I can make it happen for you. Our time on this planet is scarce and we never know when our last day with our full cognitive ability will be.

Do not wait because the day you need your plan will be a day too late.

Call us today to get the process started. The sooner you do, the sooner we can begin fitting the drafting process into your schedule.

Filippi Law Firm, P.C., provides legal services in estate planning, probate, trust administration, trust litigation, and personal bankruptcy in the greater Sacramento area, with a focus in Rocklin, Roseville, Lincoln, and Granite Bay. Give us a call at (916) 333-7910 or fill out the contact form to get in touch with our office. Consultations are free, and they can be done over the phone, via Zoom, or in person at our office in Rocklin. Prepare for your future and work with the best estate planning attorneys today.

[1] https://www.estateexec.com/Docs/General_Statistics

[2] https://www.caring.com/caregivers/estate-planning/wills-survey/2019-survey/

Satisfied Client Stories

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I had many questions regarding a trust set up by a family member that gave me power of attorney without my knowledge. This family member became incapacitated and I suddenly had a ton on my plate to deal with and no idea where to even start. I contacted the Filippi Law Firm after trying to get help from quite a few other firms and being told they weren’t interested. Well, I finally came to the right place. They answered all my questions in a timely manner, for a reasonable fee, and put my mind at ease.

Next, I will be getting help from them to update all the documents related to my own affairs. I know they will handle this in the same timely and professional manner that they showed in our previous dealings.

If you’re on the fence, don’t be. Give them a call. You won’t regret it.

Greg H. | Granite Bay, CA
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I very much appreciated working with Jen at the Filippi Law Firm. My Will is thorough and complete and I feel very good providing that for my family!

Catherine S. | Roseville, CA
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Selecting Filippi Law firm was perfect for my needs. Updating my Living Trust – every aspect of the document was clearly explained and my requests were met with sincere interest. And solutions offered to questions unanswered by the previous firm! The initial consultation was free of charge and not rushed in any way. I’m happy to recommend Filippi Law Firm with sincere confidence.

Connie B. | Lincoln, CA
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Filippi Law made every step of creating our Trust easy and seamless. I would highly recommend them to anyone!

Annie B. | Mission Viejo, CA
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We came to Filippi Law Firm needing assistance with a probate matter. Along the way my wife and I decided to get our affairs in order as well. Having never been through either process we were not very knowledgeable and in need of serious guidance. Jen, Katia, David and the rest of the team have been very informative, helpful, caring and patient with us while we navigate this unexpected journey. Thank You team Filippi!!

Jerry H. | Antelope, CA
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Walking into the Filippi Law Firm you are greeted by a friendly and welcoming receptionist. Any concerns regarding picking the right law firm are quickly erased. Jim Filippi and his staff are friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. They are extremely knowledgeable in Estate Planning, the reason for my need of an attorney. After obtaining my estate information they quickly got to work on updating my Revocable Living Trust and associated documents. Their fees were extremely reasonable for the time and effort they put forth. I highly recommend the Filippi Law Firm.

Andrew G. | Granite Bay, CA

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