Please check your email for confirmation of the date, time, and location of your meeting.
Next Steps:
During the meeting you and your attorney will discuss your goals, objectives, concerns, as well as analyzing your asset mix, discussing appropriate tax strategies, guardianship, disability planning, and various estate planning options as well as their fees.
In order for you to provide us with information we will need to properly advise you about these aspects of estate planning, including probate and estate tax issues, I have enclosed our Estate Planning Worksheet. Please complete the estate planning worksheet in as much detail as possible and either, complete it online, return it to us via fax or e-mail (client_services@oakleylawgroup.com) at least one business day before your scheduled meeting. If you need assistance completing the Information Packet, please call our office. This worksheet serves merely as an informational guide, so if you are not sure about exact figures or information, your best estimate is sufficient for purposes of your initial consultation. You will receive the most value from your initial consultation if we are able to review this information prior to meeting. Also, if you would like us to review existing trust and estate planning documents, please drop them by our office at least three days prior to your appointment. Trusts and wills are complex documents and are difficult to properly review without adequate time.
To make your time with us more meaningful, please try your best to provide the requested information. Without this information, our ability to advise you is severely limited.
We look forward to meeting you. If you have any questions about the Welcome Packet, or anything else, please call our office at (818) 937-2335. We look forward to serving you!
Please click here to complete our Pre-Consultation page
PROPOSED AGENDA FOR THE INITIAL ESTATE PLANNING MEETING
- Introductions.
- Assurance that YOUR goals and objectives (not ours) are what we plan to attain and that we will only proceed together if there is a fit between your goals and objectives and the service we can provide. What is most important to you?
3. Your story. Information gathering for:
- Identifying your hopes, fears, values, aspirations, goals and objectives.
- Preparing and prioritizing the list of your goals and objectives.
- Discussion of whether we can help you meet your goals and objectives, and whether there is a fit between your family and our firm.
4.a. If we both feel there is a fit, identification of which planning strategies would be appropriate for you and your family. Potential fees may be discussed at this time.
4.b. If we feel there is not a fit, we will make a referral to someone who can meet your goals and objectives.
4.c. If we both feel there is a good fit, we will ask you to make a yes/no decision as to whether we will be moving forward with your planning. A “no” answer is totally fine. This is to clarify for us whether your planning is on our to-do list or will remain on yours.
5. Discussion of our process.
6. Designing the plan to meet your goals and objectives.
- Detailed analysis of your present plan.
- The design of your proposed new plan. (On rare occasions, this stage may carry over into a subsequent meeting depending on the Level of Planning and time constraints).
- After the design of your plan is completed, we will determine the exact fee for the plan that will accomplish your goals and objectives.
7. Explanation and Execution of Engagement Letter.
8. Schedule Next Appointment (either 4 -6 weeks later if signing meeting or within 2 weeks if additional design meeting)
Meet Your Attorney
The other day a client was in my office signing her new estate plan. When the appointment was ending, she breathed a deep sigh of relief, her body relaxed, and she told me she felt so much better knowing that now, whatever happened, she and her loved ones were taken care of. That is why I not only do what I do, but enjoy what I do. I became an attorney because I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. I wanted to help. I believe I practice the best possible area of law, because it allows me to do just that. I can make the stressful and emotional time after death easier for my clients’ families. And that is the best job I can imagine doing.
I earned my Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, but I decided to use those skills in the estate planning field. As a paralegal in another firm and now here at the Oakley Law Group I help clients design estate plans and help their families administer those plans. I gained experience at my prior firm as I completed law school; experience I brought with me when I moved to The Oakley Law Group. I am now where I was meant to be and look forward to serving you and your family. I enjoy reading historical fiction and I love museums. I love board games and I’m a closet nerd. My husband and I have no children of our own, but I’ve spent decades of my life helping to raise other people’s children as a nanny, jeune fille au paire, preschool teacher, babysitter and therapist working with autistic children.
