About Our Fees

Because it is our usual practice to quote a fixed fee, in some cases, our clients ask us to explain the basis for that fee. With more than 28 years of experience, as a trust and estate planning attorney, our work product and legal services provided to you is built upon what we have learned from our work with previous clients over many years. The actual Will, Trust and other important legal documents we create for you is not our product: our experience and expertise developing and administering estates and trusts is really our work product. All estate planning documents which we draft are merely the most tangible part of the entire service we provide to you and your family.

In the vast majority of cases, we quote our clients a flat fee for our work based upon multiple reasons. First, it allows you to avoid being surprised by a bill when we have completed the work which you have engaged us to perform. Second, it allows you the freedom to call us, at any time, with questions, which you might otherwise not do if you were being billed on an hourly basis. Third, it allows you to feel comfortable arranging meetings with us, making phone calls or sending e-mails to us with your questions on a variety of matters, including your comments after reviewing essential documents drafted for your review, without the concern of being charged every time we contact each other for any reason.

In essence, we use fixed fees to provide you with peace of mind and comfort throughout the estate planning process. For simplicity, our fees are structured around the documents we prepare. But, as noted above, our fees are not just for document preparation. Drafting of legal documents is just the tangible result of our legal knowledge and skill applied to your specific situation. Our fixed fees include all the time which you need with us to discuss your personal situation and financial matters, along with your wishes for the distribution of property you have accumulated over your lifetime. Our fixed fee also includes providing you with all answers to your questions, and taking the steps necessary to determine which estate planning tools and techniques are most appropriate in your particular situation and the needs of your family.

We ask that you please keep in mind that you are not just purchasing legal documents from us, but very focused legal advice based upon our skills and expertise working with many clients for almost 30 years.

The following old story might best illustrate our perspective regarding the nature of our fee structure.

A man was having trouble with his sink draining properly. After many attempts to make the repairs himself, in frustration, he called a plumber to make the repairs. The plumber listened carefully to the customer’s situation, pulled out a hammer, leaned under the sink and hit a pipe with the hammer.

The drain immediately began flowing again. The plumber then stated to the customer that the fee would be $500. The customer scoffed at the cost and demanded that the plumber produce an itemized bill. The plumber agreed.

The bill listed the following items:

• Hitting pipe with hammer: $1.
• Knowing where to hit: $499.

The English writer, John Ruskin, once made the following statement about the payment for services rendered:

“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it is also unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot; it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.”

Most people are looking for three things when purchasing any service, including legal services such as ours:

• Excellent quality;
• Excellent personal service; and
• The lowest possible fee.

Unfortunately, all three are never present at the same time, and one must be sacrificed.

At The Levin Law Firm, we are dedicated to providing our clients with excellent quality and responsive service throughout the estate planning process, along with competitive fees based upon the nature and complexity of the work we perform to develop and implement a customized plan designed to achieve your lifetime and estate planning goals.

Please contact The Levin Law Firm to schedule a Complimentary Initial Consultation to ensure that your estate plan protects, preserves and distributes your property to the right person, at the right time, in the proper manner, and in the most tax-efficient way.