Elder Law, Estate Planning, Special Needs,

After-Death Administration

How Does A Virtual Lawyer Work?

We Have a Physical Office - But You Don't Need to Travel

We are licensed to practice law in California only, and can assist all clients in California. Our physical office is in Valencia, CA (Santa Clarita). Although we can meet our clients in our Valencia CA office (when California allows re-opening), we have been using virtual videoconferencing since before Covid-19 for the convenience of our clients. Our client meetings are held by zoom, facetime, or other internet-based means. It is just like sitting across from the Lawyer - but you do it from the comfort of your computer, ipad, or phone.

How Do I Begin?

Its easy. Simply call our Law Firm or send us an email. Our office manager will call you to see if your questions and concerns involve a legal area our Law Firm handles. A consultation will be set, and depending on the issues to be discussed, there may or may not be a consultation fee. Our office manager will discuss consultation fees, if any, with you. Depending on your circumstances, our office manager may ask you to complete a questionnaire and/or send us some written information (such as asset information), if it will be needed by the Attorney to ensure a productive consultation. (For example: Elder Law Issues will require asset and income information). A zoom or facetime meeting will be scheduled with the Attorney where your issues and concerns will be discussed. If there is further legal work that is need, and you wish to work with our Law Firm, legal fees will be quoted for that work.

What Happens If I Want to Hire the Law Firm?

Whenever you hire a Lawyer a "retainer" agreement needs to be reviewed and signed, stating exactly what the Lawyer will do for you and the legal services fee. Once the scope of the work (like an estate plan, or trust administration) is discussed and agreed upon, our office will send you a retainer agreement to electronically sign. In the case of an estate plan, a "design meeting" will be scheduled, where the Lawyer goes over, in detail, your options, your wishes, etc. Draft documents are prepared and sent to you. You then have a "review meeting" with the Lawyer, where all the documents are reviewed in detail, questions are answered, and you will understand how the legal documents work in the "real world". Once the documents are approved by you, original documents may be either sent to you with instructions on how to have the documents signed, notarized, and witnessed, OR, you may visit our Valencia California office for our professional team to assist with execution/notarization, and witnessing.

Once signed, our office will process the documents, maintain an electronic copy, and return the originals to you, along with your own electronic version on a flash drive. In the case of an estate plan, our Law Firm may send "funding letters" to connect your assets to your trust, record deeds, and do other funding work.

What Happens If I Want to Hire the Law Firm?

What Does It Cost?

It depends. Many of our Estate Plans fees are based upon the work and complexity involved: Estate Tax Planning? Sub-Trusts for minor children? How complex are your wishes? A set fee will be quoted at the consultation, which will include everything, including real estate deed preparation and recording costs.

Trust Administration/After -Death Legal Work is typically charged by the hour/time spent on the matter, depending on the circumstances.

Elder Law legal fees are quoted either by the hour, or a "flat fee", depending on the nature and complexity of the work involved.

It all starts with a consultation - and many times, only a consultation is needed to resolve many legal issues.