We strive to keep our fees within reach of most people who need our services.    In order to keep our costs down and our fees lower, we have adopted the following billing practices. 

Wills and Estate Planning Fees and Costs

We will always discuss expected fees with you at our first meeting.  For wills for clients who will not face Maine or federal estate taxes, we can usually quote you a flat fee for production of your documents.  When we are doing tax planning, we will be working on an hourly basis, but we should be able to give you a reasonable estimate as to what your total fees will be.  We will have a bill for you when you come in to sign your documents and we ask you to pay us then. 

If we send out drafts and don’t hear back from you in ninety days, we will bill you for the work we have done.  We recognize that sometimes, even those clients with the best of intentions simply don’t get back to this project as quickly as they thought they would.  That’s okay and we are ready to complete the project when you are; we just need to be paid for the work we have already done.

Prenuptial Agreements

We often represent clients in negotiating prenuptial agreements.  This work is charged hourly and generally requires a retainer.

Probate of Wills/Guardianships/Conservativorships

This work is done on an hourly basis.  We try to use Kristine’s paralegal skills as much as we can to keep your costs down.  We will ask you to give us a small retainer to cover the filing fee and other incidental expenses, but we generally don’t ask for a retainer to cover our fees.  Your paying the costs, rather than our advancing them, is another way that we hold down our expenses and keep fees down.   All retainers are held in our client trust account.

Tax Returns

Work preparing income tax returns, for trusts, for estates, or for individual clients, generally requires a retainer.   

Formation of Corporations or LLCs

This work is often done on a flat fee basis.  We ask you to pay the filing fees and expenses and bill you at the conclusion of the matter.

When we serve as your corporate clerk or as registered agent for your LLC, we bill you a flat fee annually, early in November. 

Credit Cards

In order to facilitate prompt payment, we accept Visa and Mastercard as well as your personal check.