$400 For A Living Trust?

I met with a nice lady this morning. She wanted to meet me to see if I could add value to her business and her clients. It was more of a cross-marketing meeting. She interviewed me and one of her questions was what was my fee for estate planning. So I told her my range. Her initial response was, "oh" and then she followed up with what's the difference between your fee and a $400 fee?

I knew immediately what she was referring to. In our local newspaper, there is a lawyer who advertises estate planning for $390 for a single person and $450 for a married couple. She used him a few years ago.

Here's the difference:

1. You get more time with me. She said she felt rushed with him and that there were a few other people waiting in the reception area to meet with him while she was meeting with him.

2. I have malpractice insurance. (No clue if he has it. He might. It is not required in California.)

3. I offer a 60 day window to make changes, update or overhaul your documents if you really reviewed it at 3am after it is all said and done at no charge. (He didn't even return her calls.)

4. I tell my clients that if they email me, they will get a response when I am in the office. If I am out of the office, I will email them upon my return. (He didn't return her calls so can I surmise that he would not email her back either?)

5. I've customized my binder to make it easy to find the documents. It looks neater too. (She said her documents didn't look as good.)

6. I send out an annual letter to my clients reminding them of reasons to review their estate plan, changes in the current laws and other pertinent information.

7. If you have a minor change requiring an amendment to your documents, if you email me your wishes, I will draft the amendment and send it back at no charge. Now, it has to be a minor change like a change of trustees for instance.

After discussing these things and hearing her replies, she also said out loud that, "you know, you really get what you pay for." She also told me that after trying to reach him a few times after he completed her estate plan, she is no longer referring any clients to him.