Whether you’re creating your first Estate Plan or updating a previous one, here are the general steps we will go through in order to make sure you and your beneficiaries are provided for in the best possible way:   Step 1- Initial Consultation: You and I will meet for an initial consultation to discuss your personal circumstances and estate planning goals. For almost all of my Estate Planning clients, their Number 1 goal is avoiding probate. We can meet in-person at my office or virtually via a videoconference. Whatever’s most convenient for you. Step 2 – Creating Your Estate Planning Documents: while no two situations are the same, these documents typically include a Last Will and Testament, Durable Power of Attorney, Medical Directive, and if necessary, a Trust, Lady Bird Deed, and/or Declaration of a Guardian for your minor children. Your draft Estate Planning documents will be sent you within days shortly after you formally retain us. If you would like, we can schedule an optional videoconference where I can share my screen and walk you through how your documents work so that you better understand them.  Step 3 – Naming Beneficiaries for Your Non-Probate Assets: it is very important for avoiding probate to name beneficiaries of your Payable-on-Death (P.O.D.) assets. (P.O.D. assets are also called Transferrable-on-Death (T.O.D. assets. When your Estate Planning documents are complete, you and I will discuss how to do that so that your beneficiary designations correspond with your overall plan.  Step 4 – Signing Your Estate Planning Documents: After you have reviewed the draft Estate Planning documents and everything is the way you want them to be, we will schedule an appointment for you to sign before witnesses and a notary at my office, all of which we provide. There are strict requirements for signing Estate Planning documents, so we will ensure the signing gets done right. At the appointment, together we will review your Estate Planning documents before you sign. After your signing, we will quickly process your documents so that you leave with them after your appointment.   Step 5: Follow-Up: If any Deeds need to be recorded, we will send recorded copies to you after your signing appointment. Depending on the county, this usually takes 1-3 business days. We will also check in with a periodically to check to see if anything has changed such that you might want to update your documents. Updates are easier for existing clients because we will probably already have most of the information we need.