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Wild and Free · Oct 23, 2018

Recommendations on a good attorney that specializes in personal wills and estate planning in the Bis/Man area.

Wife and I have put doing this off way too long. I know better having had to care for my mother in a nursing home and knowing how important it is to pre-plan things like this.

At that time I had no money and few assets and nothing but debt to pass on but since have had a good job and acquired a lot more assets that can be controlled now.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys.

Glass · Oct 23, 2018

Good topic! My wife and I also need to get a will completed this year. I am interested in some names and potential cost of putting one of these together as well.

BrokenBackJack · Oct 23, 2018

We always had ours done in Carrington, ND. He also does our land rental contracts.
Went to Thomas J Aljets.
Good guy and very reasonable.
It was around $200. for the will and you will have to meet with him 2-3 times. You have to go over what you want in the will and then again to sign the will. Too many charge $500 and up for the exact same thing. Even heard from one guy in Fargo that paid over a grand. Wow!

dblkluk · Oct 23, 2018

Jimmy McGill.

westwolfone · Oct 23, 2018

It's a trick question.

There are no good attorneys.

Wallike · Oct 23, 2018

Q: What's the problem with lawyer jokes? A: Lawyer's don't think they're funny, and no one else thinks they're jokes.

guywhofishes · Oct 23, 2018

Everybody makes fun of lawyers until they need one.

Iamahunter · Oct 23, 2018

Clark Bormann in Bismarck

Wags2.0 · Oct 23, 2018

Wild and Free · Oct 23, 2018

Just general web searching, has anyone had experience with Dan Anderson at Legacy Law firm in Mandan?

BrewCrew · Oct 23, 2018

Iamahunter said:
Clark Bormann in Bismarck

Also his partner Paul Myerchin - both do great work and are reasonable. Easy to work with too.

Allen · Oct 23, 2018

I've gone through quite a fair amount of this estate planning and wills over the past 8+ years for myself and parents. Then had to redo my own after a divorce a few years ago.

Bottom line here is that attorneys charge $200+ an hour for their time. So if you sit and gab with them about the stock market and sports, it may be a great conversation but it's going to cost you. Add to that the complexity of your assets and wishes, and a will, medical directive, limited power of attorney, trusts, and ??? can make your total bill hit $500-1,000 pretty easy (that's only 2.5 - 5 hours of attorney time).

I think the key here is for you to do some pre-work on your assets and wishes before you get to the attorney's office. And while it may sound good to leave your favorite rifle to this nephew, and favorite shotgun to this son, and your mean as hell dog to the ex-wife, the more you specify...the more it will cost you. Plus, try to work in percentages of your estate rather than stating this person gets $8 and that person gets 11 bags of taters; because not knowing when you are going to die, you don't really have a great grasp of what you will have for assets when you go. However, you should know the class of assets and ballpark what percentage of your estate they constitute. And lastly, make sure you talk with whoever is supposed to be your legal representative after you are gone. Make sure they are good with sticking with your intentions because if someone contests the will, it will be that person who leads the charge to make sure your wishes area carried out. In other words, don't choose a democrat as a personal representative...they always seem to think they know better how to spend my money than I do. ;:;banghead

- - - Updated - - -

p.s. I've used Brian B. at https://gbg-lawoffice.com/ for a lot of estate stuff. No complaints.

espringers · Oct 23, 2018

most of you put locations. but, if you didn't, please do and i will try recommend in a PM. whatever you do, don't get someone who dabbles in estate planning. tax laws change all of the time. a person needs to stay up on them. a good attorney will even review your documents periodically every couple of years or so to make sure your old documents are best for you given the current legal environment.

Davey Crockett · Oct 23, 2018

How complicated or simple can or should a will be and still be binding and legal ? Wife and I probably should upgrade ours or at least take a good look at them. They are pretty straightforward and generic from a template online . Our assets transfer to the surviving spouse and then when the other parishes Two boys get everything 50/50 . At the time I thought it was better than nothing but like mentioned the laws change.

Another thing to consider FWIW is a living will. If something ever happened to me, Say an accident or a stroke and the prognosis was the rest of my life on a machine to keep me alive I want the plug pulled. It's no life that I'd want to live. I haven't checked what health insurance does in those case but Pretty sure our assets would be spent keeping us alive so there will be nothing left in the will anyway.

espringers · Oct 23, 2018

your first question is going to be somewhat asset dependent. provided it was executed correctly, a simple will might suffice. but, without knowing your assets, a person can't answer that.

everyone should have a living will and DPOA.

one other thing a lot of folks forget or neglect is to take a look at your beneficiaries listed on your life insurance, retirement accounts, etc... make sure they are current as to your wishes.

Wild and Free · Oct 23, 2018

I have a post going on facebook and am overwhelmingly getting one guy put up front.

Michael Mulloy of http://www.stebbinsmulloylaw.com/micheal-a-mulloy-attorney-at-law/
Has anyone one had any experience with him?
Reading through his bio there is a single sentence that makes the hair on the back of my neck go stiff, wondering if I should let it bother me if I check him out further.
"While at UMary, Micheal was active in student government and interned with U.S. Senator Kent Conrad."

Allen · Oct 23, 2018

note: DPOA = Durable Power Of Attorney

I think.

Second note: Beneficiaries listed on insurance, or co-owners of checking accounts trump anything you put in a will.

On that second note, this means that if you were married 10 years ago and took out an insurance policy, the insurance company will write the check for your demise according to whoever you put down as the beneficiary. So if you have gotten a divorce or had a kid in the following years, your beneficiaries list may be incomplete on insurance policies, final benefits from your work, etc. In order for your insurance check to be included in your estate, there should be an option to list "Estate of Allen" as the beneficiary. Or maybe that company or your attorney will have better words to put in there. You WOULD NOT BE THE FIRST idiot to leave a hefty insurance check to your ex-wife/husband by simply failing to update your beneficiaries with each insurance policy and at work. Actually, I just found out recently that I still had my ex listed as a beneficiary to something that would have given her a bonus upon my demise. I know damn well I filed a new beneficiary form upon my divorce, but it must have gotten lost in the mail, thrown in the trash, or ????. I only discovered it by accident as I was updating some other info. So after you change things, check back after a little while to make damn sure the changes were applied!

Davey Crockett · Oct 23, 2018

[FONT=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]Good tip espringers, We are lacking DPOA . [/FONT][FONT=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]I'll have to do some digging on the procedure but I think I'd like both boys appointed and acting jointly unless there some catch to that that I don't realize. No special reason other than I've treated them equal and done everything 50/50 all my life with my boys so it's kind of a mindset .[/FONT]
[FONT=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]
On the ND forms there is only room for one name but according to what I read you can have two. I'm guessing this varies from state to state.

[/FONT]It says online that,

"You can appoint more than one person to serve as your power of attorney representative. However, you should be sure to specify whether they can act individually or whether they must act jointly."[FONT=Roboto, arial, sans-serif] [/FONT]

Wild and Free · Oct 23, 2018

Things I learned from dealing with my mothers estate consist of a few main things.

1 - Always have a power of attorney for financial

2 - Always have a power of attorney for medical "This one is the one that can bleed you dry as fast as a nursing home or faster without it" If you don't have this the hospitals can have complete say over medical care in some instances with it you have total say over the medical decisions. Example is if you want to be unplugged but hospital thinks otherwise and you have ample assets they will keep you going until they have you bled dry.

3 - Always have an executor of the estate, "this is the one we missed"

4 - Have a living will.

5 - You must sign your physical assets over to a trust or physical being in order to save them from being taken as collateral in case one winds up in a nursing home. If they are turned over soon enough they can not come back after them after seven year i think it is now here in ND, I think it is up to ten years in Minnesota. Liquid assets and income can still be claimed by nursing homes but property and other things MUST be signed out of your possession via quit claim deed or other methods but this is where the living will comes in where you still retain control of such until you are gone. Unless things have changed in the last 6 years this is what i learned.

Enslow · Oct 23, 2018

brokenbackjack said:
We always had ours done in Carrington, ND. He also does our land rental contracts.
Went to Thomas J Aljets.
Good guy and very reasonable.
It was around $200. for the will and you will have to meet with him 2-3 times. You have to go over what you want in the will and then again to sign the will. Too many charge $500 and up for the exact same thing. Even heard from one guy in Fargo that paid over a grand. Wow!

Yes that’s where my parents and I have gone for Wills and trusts. He should charge more.

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