Silverman Law Offices is one of only a few Phoenix estate planning law firms that offers a trust maintenance program for a simple annual fee. Our maintenance program is a key part of our commitment to helping you create and maintain an estate plan that will meet your goals.
It is important to keep your estate plan up to date. From time to time, your estate planning documents will need to be modified to reflect changes in your family or financial situation. We recommend that you review both your trust, as well as your personal net worth, on a yearly basis to determine whether any modifications are warranted. Additionally, changes in the law may arise that can affect your estate plan.
For these reasons, we have developed the Silverman Maintenance Program (SMP), designed to eliminate these problems as well as to reduce the total overall cost of your estate planning (including the original trust drafting fee and update fees, as well as trust settlement fees). The first step to establishing your trust maintenance program is ensuring that your trust has been properly funded.
Trust Maintenance Program Services
Enrollment in the Silverman Maintenance Program (SMP) gains you access to these services for a single annual fee:
Trust Funding
At your request, we will provide an opportunity for you to meet with an attorney each year to discuss and review your trust. While there is no charge for the review, there may be fees associated with funding certain assets, such as deeds or business entity documents.
Our firm will assist you in funding newly acquired assets during any time you are enrolled in the Trust Maintenance Program at no additional cost, with some exceptions outlined in your agreement.
Document Update Services
Word processing amendments to estate planning documents and updated Durable Power of Attorney and Healthcare Power of Attorney documents are included at no additional fee while members of the Silverman Maintenance Program (SMP).
When a full restatement of a trust is required, the usual and customary restatement fee is reduced by 50% for members of the maintenance program.
About Trust Funding
In order for a Revocable Living Trust-based plan to achieve your goals, it is absolutely imperative that during your lifetime you exercise care to ensure that you have transferred ownership of assets into your trust and have changed beneficiary designations to be consistent with your estate planning goals. This process is called trust funding. Because of the critical importance of proper trust funding, in order to enroll in the Trust Maintenance Program, our office will assist you in funding of the assets you identify to us. The cost of trust funding will be outlined in your agreement.