Are all charges based on the hours expended?
Not always. For most estate planning cases (wills, powers of attorney, revocable living trusts, special needs trusts, and deeds) and ALTCS consultations, we charge a flat fee. This is easier when the work has a discrete start and ending point, and we can estimate the amount of time it will take us to complete the work. It is our experience that clients usually prefer a flat fee arrangement, so that the know in advance how much they will be billed. Such an arrangement also allows our clients to schedule as many appointments and ask as many questions as may be necessary to ensure complete comfort with the final product, without being concerned about fees continuing to accrue as issues are resolved. We have begun to charge flat fees in probate proceedings with some regularity; depending on our assessment of the likely complexity and the possibility of objections, contested creditors’ claims and the like, we are usually willing to quote a flat fee. We also may charge flat fees for other se
