If you’re an estate planning attorney and are currently administering trusts for your clients and prospects after they pass away (or if you’re thinking about adding trust administration to your practice), then you should know the importance of having the necessary forms to not only meet with the clients and get them to move forward with your recommendations, but to also protect your practice from any potential liability that can come from that process. Further, it’s a great idea to find a way to systematize and streamline that process so that the meetings can be run efficiently and smoothly.
Having the necessary client meeting forms available for the estate administration process is a key component to developing a successful estate planning practice.
We are pleased to make available to the estate planning community 8 Estate Administration Forms - - developed and used by estate planning attorney, Phil Kavesh’s, law practice. Anything from an Estate Administration Fee Agreement (for a fixed fee approach to the estate administration process), disclosures, and client acknowledgements..
You can purchase these items individually for a total of over $390. Or, you can purchase our Estate Administration Forms Bundle Package for a one-time discounted licensing fee as low as $349.
You might also be interested in our Ultimate Estate Planning Client Meeting Forms Bundle Package, which comes complete with all 8 Estate Administration Forms, plus several other forms to help you and your practice. For more information, click here.
What’s Included in the Estate Administration Forms Bundle Package?
The Estate Administration Forms Bundle Package comes complete with the following forms:
- Estate Administration Fee Agreement – This is an agreement to the fees in order to represent a client with respect to an Estate Administration.
- Estate Administration Acknowledgement of Information Given – Form used in the estate administration process, which helps to release liability to you (and your law firm) should a client or prospective client decide not to move forward with all or part of your planning recommendations.
- Estate Administration Client Agreement to Presence of Others at Meeting – A waiver of liability for the request of third-parties to be present at the client or prospective client’s meeting, such as a client’s child or other advisor.
- Estate & Trust Administration Disclosure Form – This is a disclosure that states the fee to you and your law firm is due regardless if the beneficiaries agree to the legal fees and regardless if the IRS does not allow the legal fees to be deducted from the federal estate tax return and/or income tax return. Additionally, the disclosure goes over what services the engagement does not include, such as income tax planning and IRS audit.
- Trustee Duties Upon Trust Funding Acknowledgement – This is an acknowledgement to a Trustee of an Estate Administration upon funding of the trust of his or her duties as Trustee, including advisement to seek out the assistance of a CPA or tax preparer to prepare trust tax returns, to avoid comingling trust funds with personal funds and to consult the Successor Trustee Manual.
- Co-Trustee Potential Conflict of Interest Disclosure & Consent – This form is for estates with multiple Trustees and discloses to Co-Trustees of the disadvantages of joint representation, including a conflict of interest. It states that you may terminate representation should such a conflict of interest arise and that regardless if representation is terminated, your fee for legal services rendered is still due to you.
- Acknowledgement of Information Given for Trustee Notification – This is an acknowledgement that the Trustee has been advised of his or her duty as Trustee to contact the trust beneficiaries and provide all beneficiaries with a copy of the Living Trust. It holds you and your law firm harmless should a beneficiary bring some kind of action due to the failure of such duties.
- Acknowledgement of Information Given for Portability – Acknowledgement that the client has decided not to fund an Exemption Trust and opting not to use the deceased spouse’s full exemption amount.
All forms come in a modifiable version (Microsoft Word) so that you can brand and modify them to your specific practice.