At De Fonte Law PC, we believe a successful estate plan is about more than creating excellent legal documents.
The plan has to work when you and your family actually need it.
And that can be years-or decades-after the documents are signed.
That is why we created Beyond the Binder, multiple layers of post-signing support designed to help you:
Some support is complimentary for every estate planning client.
Other services are available when you need additional help.
Beyond the Binder offers four levels of support:
included for every De Fonte Law PC estate planning client
to help prepare the person who may someday need to step in
For many clients, the complimentary support may be all they need.
Others may want additional help now or in the future.
You can choose the level of support that makes sense for you and your estate plan.
Included for every De Fonte Law PC estate planning client.
For the first three months after signing, we send:
With your consent, after your estate plan is signed, we provide the financial advisors and other professionals you identify with information relevant to their work with you.
As appropriate, we may provide:
We do not supervise or coordinate your advisors’ work.
You remain responsible for making sure your assets are properly titled and your beneficiary designations are completed as intended.
Once a year, we’ll remind you to think about whether anything has changed.
Have you married or divorced, had a child, bought or sold real estate, received an inheritance, or started or sold a business?
Has someone named in your plan died or become incapacitated?
Have your relationships, assets, beneficiary designations, or wishes changed?
Have your wishes changed? Did one of your named agents of successor run off to Fiji or wind up in jail?
Don’t wait for our annual reminder. If something changes, contact us.
Three years after completing your estate plan, we invite you back for a complimentary estate plan review.
During that review, we will consider:
If additional legal work is appropriate, we will explain our recommendations and applicable fees.
Former clients receive our 15-minute email courtesy for discrete estate planning questions that we can answer by email in approximately 15 minutes or less.
Additional fees may apply if your question requires:
Estate planning intersects with many other parts of your life.
If you need a referral to a CPA, financial advisor, insurance professional, real estate professional, business attorney, family law attorney, criminal defense attorney, mortgage professional, or another trusted advisor, ask us about everything.
When we can make a helpful introduction to someone in our professional network, we are happy to do so.
Once your estate planning documents are signed and our work under your engagement agreement is complete, we formally disengage as your attorneys and our attorney-client relationship ends.
We have no ongoing responsibility to monitor your estate plan or contact you about changes in California or federal law, changes in our recommendations, or changes in your family, finances, assets, property, or personal circumstances. We also do not have an ongoing responsibility to determine whether your trust is properly funded, whether your beneficiary designations remain appropriate, or whether your estate plan should be updated.
It is your responsibility to contact us when something changes, when you have a question, or when you would like us to review your estate plan.
Our complimentary services do not create or continue an attorney-client relationship. Newsletters, reminders, educational materials, and other communications are general information and should not be relied upon as legal advice for your particular circumstances.
It happens. You signed your estate plan intending to finish your trust funding, and life got in the way.
Everything you need to complete your trust funding is already in your hands.
Your trust funding materials – including your trust funding packet, instructions, and related documents – are in your estate planning binder and available in your secure De Fonte Law PC client portal.
But maybe it has been a while, you aren’t sure what you completed, you have acquired new assets, you aren’t sure whether something belongs in your trust, or you would simply feel better having us walk through everything with you again.
Existing De Fonte Law PC clients can schedule a Trust Funding Meeting with our team for $1,000.
We will review your trust funding with you, identify anything that may still need attention, and walk you through the next steps.
To schedule a Trust Funding Meeting, email info@defontelaw.com.
Available to existing De Fonte Law PC clients only.
Someday, your successor trustee may need to step in during your incapacity or after your death.
Will they know where to start?
For $1,000, De Fonte Law PC will prepare a personalized Successor Trustee Manual & Resource Package designed to give your successor trustee the information, documents, and resources they will need to take the first steps.
If you would also like us to prepare a complete copy of your estate planning binder for your successor trustee, we can include one for an additional $250.
To order your Successor Trustee Manual & Resource Package, email info@defontelaw.com.
Available to existing De Fonte Law PC clients only.
You can have a beautifully crafted estate plan—and discover years later, when it really matters, that it no longer works the way you intended.
Life gets in the way.
A trust never gets fully funded. You buy a new home and forget about the trust. Beneficiary designations don’t get updated. The successor trustee you chose years ago is no longer the right person. Your agents move away, die, become incapacitated, or are simply no longer the people you would choose. Your children grow up. Relationships change. Assets change. The law changes.
Meanwhile, your estate planning binder sits quietly on the shelf.
The Estate Plan Continuity Program is designed to help keep your estate plan connected to the life you are actually living.
For $1,500 per year, we bring your estate plan back onto the table with you every year.
Once each year, meet with one of our attorneys to review changes in your family and relationships; your successor trustees, agents, and beneficiaries; your assets, real estate, and business interests; your trust funding and beneficiary designations; and your wishes. We will also discuss changes in California or federal estate planning law that may affect your plan.
Once each year, we will meet with you and the professional advisors you choose – such as your financial advisor, CPA, insurance professional, or other advisors – to discuss your estate plan and issues that intersect with their work.
Your membership includes one additional hour of attorney time each year for estate planning questions by email, telephone, or Zoom.
Estate Plan Continuity Program members receive 10% off our legal fees for trust amendments and restatements during the membership year.
Members receive invitations to private educational and client events hosted by De Fonte Law PC and professionals in our community.
Members receive priority access to available estate planning appointments.
The Estate Plan Continuity Program is $1,500 per calendar year, billed each January. Membership continues automatically each year unless and until you unsubscribe.
The Estate Plan Continuity Program does not include the cost of amendments, trust restatements, deeds, new estate planning documents, or other substantive legal work beyond the services described above.
If we identify additional work that should be done, we will explain our recommendations and applicable fees before beginning that work.
Estate Plan Continuity Program members receive their 10% discount on amendments and restatements.
Creating your estate plan was the first step.
The Estate Plan Continuity Program helps make sure the plan you created is still the plan you need.