Planning
Will or living trust? One family, worked both ways
The same house, the same accounts and the same three children, run through probate and then through a trust, with the costs and the months side by side.
Philippa Larkin7 min read
Philippa Larkin, estate and elder law attorney
Most of my clients come to me because of a parent
Some are planning for themselves. More are grown children who have just realized nobody knows where Mom's papers are, or what Dad's will says. I sit with both, explain the choices with real numbers, and write it all down so nobody has to remember it.
Why I do this
The spring my grandmother's house sat in limbo
When my grandmother died, she left a will in a kitchen drawer, a house on a street she'd lived on for fifty years, and four children who each remembered her wishes differently. It took most of a year, and two lawyers who never returned a call, to sort out. Nobody had done anything wrong. Nobody had been told what to expect, either.
I practice estate and elder law on my own now, and that year is still the reason I work the way I do. I explain things at the kitchen-table level. I put the numbers on paper before you decide. I answer the phone. And when a plan is signed, I give you a letter your children can read that says where everything is and who to call.
Philippa Larkin
Attorney, Larkin Estate Law
Guides
Two guides I hand to almost everyone
Written the way I'd explain it across the table. Read one before we talk, and bring the questions it raises.
ProbateYour parent has died. Here's the first month, week by week
What can wait, what can't, and the five papers to find before you call anyone, for the child named as executor.
Philippa Larkin6 min read
Worked examples
Three typical stories, with the numbers left in
The families are invented and every case turns on its own facts, but this is the arithmetic I walk through at a first meeting. Figures are rounded; the rules and limits differ by state and change each year.
A mother who needs nursing care
Odessa is 84, widowed, with $96,000 in savings and a paid-off house. A nursing home near her daughter costs about $9,500 a month. Her daughter called after the hospital said Odessa couldn't go home.
Without a plan: the savings are spent on care in about ten months before Medicaid helps
With one: we protected the house, paid for care in a way the rules allow, and applied in month four
What it took: two meetings, a stack of bank statements and one application
Three children and their father's house
Clement left a will naming his eldest as executor, a house worth about $240,000, a checking account and a car. None of his children live in town.
Probate took nine months, most of it waiting on the creditor period
Court, appraisal and publication costs came to a little over $1,800, paid from the estate
The house sold once all three agreed, and the proceeds were split three ways
A young family's first will
Two parents, a toddler and twins on the way, a mortgage and $500,000 of term life insurance between them. Neither had a will.
Without one: a court picks the guardian, and the insurance waits in a court account until each child turns 18
With one: they named the guardian they wanted, and a trust holds the money until 25
What it took: one evening video call and a signing that ran 40 minutes
Questions
What families ask me first
Do I need a will if I don't own much?
Usually, yes. A will is how you name a guardian for young children and the person who settles your affairs. Without one, state law decides both, and the person who steps in may not be the one you'd pick.
My mother is already forgetting things. Is it too late for a power of attorney?
Not necessarily. What matters is whether she understands what she's signing on the day she signs it. I meet her, ask her about it in her own words, and if she can't, we talk about guardianship instead.
What does the first call cost?
Nothing. It's twenty minutes on the phone or by video, and you don't need any papers for it. If you hire me, I quote my fee in writing before any work starts. Court costs, filing fees and recording fees are separate, and I tell you what they'll be.
Can my brother join from Atlanta and my sister from Denver?
Yes. Most of my family meetings have someone on a laptop. I send one video link, and everyone sees the same summary on the screen.
Mom's will was written by another lawyer. Can you still help with probate?
Yes. Most of the wills I probate were written by someone else, sometimes decades ago. Bring the original if you can find it, and a copy if you can't.
How long does a plan take?
From our first meeting to signing is usually three to five weeks. Most of that is you reading the drafts and asking questions, which I'd rather you take your time over.
Start with a twenty-minute phone call
Tell me what's going on, whether it's your own plan or a parent's. I'll tell you what I'd do first, and whether you need me at all.
There's no charge for the first call. Court and filing fees are separate from any fee we agree.