Maybe even more important than the amount of your legal fees is how those fees are determined. Estate planning attorneys charge in two main ways; hourly and flat fee. Hourly billing is how attorneys have charged since the beginning of time. Hourly works great for litigation since the time required is unpredictable and hourly billing takes care of that unknown. Some attorneys use hourly billing for estate planning as well. They send you a draft and if you want changes or there are mistakes you send it back, they change it and you get a bill. They are also billing you while you are telling them about yourself, your family, your goals and your situation.While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, I just don't believe it is the best way to get to know a client and his or her situation. When a client feels rushed because he or she is being charged $5.00 a minute (which is what $300 an hour works out to) the attorney will never get the full story and therefore the documents are unlikely to perfectly reflect the clients needs. Finally, we come to way that most estate planning attorneys charge: flat fee. Flat fee is when you agree to a price before you move forward and the price doesn't change. Since estate planning is helping you design documents that reflect your needs and wishes and there are no other parties involved, flat fee is the way to go. Of course, sometimes it takes a little longer than anticipated but other times it goes a little quicker too. The advantages to the client are: one; no time pressure to tell the full story and two; you know how much it is going to cost before you commit. I like it because not only can I do a better job when I know the complete story, I can tell jokes without the client looking at the clock because no one is $300 an hour funny; well at least Im not.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Ryan N. Morey, Esq. Ryan is an estate planning attorney who owns Morey Law, P.C. and may be reached at 719-465-4324 or by email at ryan@moreylawpc.com.

The answer, of course, is: It depends. A loved one death is always a difficult time, so, first things first, take a deep breath. There is usually nothing that needs to be done immediately so spend a little extra time with your family and friends.Having a will or not having a will is not the determining factor of whether probate is required. The determining factor is what type of assets the decedent had and how those assets were owned.Here some of the most common assets:         A home: real estate will generally go through probate unless there is a joint owner, it is in a trust or there was a recorded beneficiary deed. The value of the property does not matter.         Bank Accounts/Investment Accounts/IRAs: These all work the same. Should the account have a joint owner or a beneficiary, the account will not need to go through probate. The beneficiary or joint owner will just need to contact the financial institution with a death certificate, fill out their required paperwork, and the institution will pay out the money directly to the beneficiary.o   If there is no joint owner or beneficiary, and the account value is under $74,000, you may still be able to avoid probate with a Small Estate Affidavit. You can find it online by searching Colorado JDF 999 and 998.o   If you are not the beneficiary or joint owner the financial institution will likely not talk to you.          Vehicles: This includes cars, boats, RVs and some mobile homes. Visiting the DMV with a will and a death certificate will typically allow the vehicle to be retitled without probate.As we can see, what matters is what the assets are and how they were owned. Good luck and remember to just take it one asset at a time.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Ryan N. Morey, an estate planning attorney at Morey Law, P.C. who may be reached at (719) 465-4324 or info@moreylawpc.com.

Here are the top ten estate planning mistakes that I continue to see. Hopefully this will help you avoid the same mistakes.One: Not realizing there are multiple ways to jointly own real estate and not all of them transfer the property to the surviving owner without probate.Two: Adding a co-owner to a bank account not realizing that adding a joint owner to a bank account is a gift of the entire amount of money in that account.Three: Adding one child as a co-owner or beneficiary on an account with the understanding that after the parents death the child will then distribute the money between his or her siblings. While this does sometimes work, the child is under absolutely no legal duty to split the money. Even if he or she promised, since promises are not enforceable by law.Four: Not realizing that solo ownership of a home will typically require probate to transfer it to someone else when the owner dies.Five: Powers of Attorney expire at the death of the principal (the person who signed it).Six: Thinking that having a will avoids probate. It does not. In fact, a will is the instruction manual for probate.Seven: Not setting up any plan at all, waiting for life to stop changing before making a plan. Heads up, it never doesor if it does stop its too late.Eight: Trying to design an estate plan that works perfectly in every possible scenario quickly leads to being overwhelmed which in turn leads to not moving ahead with a plan at all. Perfection can the enemy of progress.Nine: Not realizing that a trust wont avoid probate if you dont rename your assets from your name to the trusts name. I have done a number of probates for only one asset that was somehow missed and was not in the trust.Ten: Waiting too long to start planning. After one spouse is incapacitated the planning options are more limited than there were when both spouses were fine.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Ryan N. Morey, Esq. an estate planning attorney who founded Morey Law, P.C. and may be reached at (719) 465-4324, or at ryan@moreylawpc.com.

The best way to understand Medicaid Planning is to compare it to something you already understand. Think of Medicaid as the IRS and Morey Law as your CPA. The IRS and Medicaid are both huge government agencies with complex and intricate rules.Morey Law is like the CPA because we look at your specific situation and help you navigate Medicaid regulations for the best possible outcome. We know the rules and handle the paperwork so that you dont have to.One place where Morey Law is actually better than a CPA firm is that if you dont save you money you dont have to hire us. Most people who retain Morey Law to assist them in their Medicaid Plans save money. We have saved clients in excess of $200,000. Even though some clients situations are such that there is no money left to protect, we can still ease the burden on the family by taking care of the Medicaid application.Medicaid rules and regulations are too complicated to go over on the phone (unless there is no other way). The best way to start is to call and set up a free consultation. Bring with you basic information such as income and assets. During the initial free consultation, we will generally be able to let you know if we can save you money or not and whether you situation is one that we would undertake. We are busy enough that we do not take every client that meets with us. We choose to work with clients whom we enjoy spending time with because we will be doing a lot of that in the course of a Medicaid application.

For those of us who have a dog or a cat as a best friend, we know they love us unconditionally, but they are also completely dependent on us. Which means we must plan for their care in the event we die.Contrary to most peoples understanding, your pet isnt actually a human, but is considered personal property. Legally your pet is treated the same as a lamp.  But of course, our good boys and good girls are not lamps! They are alive and we need to make sure they have a safe, loving home after we pass. Like anything else, there is more than one way to skin aum accomplish that goal. One way is a Pet Trust. Pet Trusts are trusts that are set up upon your death and funded with money. A trustee then uses the money to take care of your pet for the rest of his or her life. This method works but is uncommon in my experience.Many people, myself included care about their pet more than their money. My estate plan leaves Mr. Bentley and a lump sum to a friend.  Of course, nothing stops the friend from spending the money on a vacation, so this is only recommended for friends that you really trust. I know my friend will take care of Mr. Bentley and even if she cannot care for him at that time, she will find someone who can.If leaving your pet to a friend or family member is not an option, there are companies that will agree to care for your pet for the rest of its life for a certain amount of money. The money can be prepaid or paid at the time of your death. Another method is to just list your pet on the Personal Property Memorandum that likely came with your estate plan.There are many ways to take care of your pet after you die but like any estate planning, you need to get it done before its too late.  Editor's Note: This article was submitted by Ryan Morey, who is an attorney and the owner of Morey Law, P.C. and may be reached at (719) 465-4324 or by email at ryan@moreylawpc.com

Some things just have to be completed before you need them. Its too late to get homeowners insurance when your house is on fire, its far too late to remember to pull the parking brake when your car is rolling away from you down the hill, and it is much, much too late to renew your expired passport right before you need to get on an international flight. Estate planning is the same way. If you dont get your planning done before it is too late you wont be able to do it at all.When is too late? Well, obviously you cannot sign a will after you are dead. But you not only have to be alive, but also be mentally competent. We all know people whose capacity is questionable. Those who voted for the other political party, for instance. My point is that you never know when something may happen and you lose your capacity to make your own decisions. You may be young, you may be healthy, but as I am fond of saying: If you drive, you could run over by a truck at any time.The estate planning process is not as bad as most people think. It can usually be accomplished in two meetings. Also, flat fees and free initial appointments are becoming more common for estate planning and that allows you know the complete cost before you decide to proceed. Planning now can also save your loved ones time, money and effort. Signing a simple beneficiary deed could prevent your home from going through probate which takes months and can cost thousands of dollars. The beneficiary deed only costs a few hundred and is simple to execute. If the last couple years has taught us anything, it should be that we dont know what the future holds and a little planning goes a long way. Leave a plan, not a mess.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Ryan N. Morey, Esq. Ryan is the owner Morey Law, P.C. and may be reached at719-465-4324 or by email at ryan@moreylawpc.com