FAQ

Estate Planning

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I already have an estate planning attorney? 

If you already have an estate planning attorney, we can help. One of our estate planning attorneys will review your documents with you. If appropriate, the attorney will provide any recommendations directly to you and then update or amend your current plan. Or, you can take our recommendations to an estate planning attorney of your choosing. 

Will the JM Law estate planning team be able to work with my old estate plan? 

If you already have an estate plan, one of our estate planning attorneys will conduct a comprehensive review of your current estate plan and recommend strategies to ensure that the plan aligns with current laws and fulfills your desired outcomes. From there, we will recommend whether we can revise your current plan or whether changes in your circumstances, objectives, or planning strategies mean that we’ll need to redo your plan.

What are the steps to create a typical trust-based estate plan at JM Law? 

Our typical trust-based estate planning process has five steps:

Step 1: Estate planning vision meeting (one hour). You meet with one of our experienced estate and legacy planning attorneys to discuss your estate planning goals, which includes:
  • A review of your completed estate planning questionnaire
  • Analysis of your existing estate planning documents (if any)
  • Discussion of strategies and recommendations
  • A written estate plan design summary outlining agreed-upon strategies and recommendations

Step 2: Estate plan design and creation. The estate attorney creates an estate plan that is tailored to your objectives. Documents that may be included:
  • Revocable Living Trust (if recommended)
  • Retirement Trust (if recommended)
  • Will and General Durable Power of Attorney
  • HIPAA Authorization
  • Healthcare Power of Attorney and Living Will

Step 3: Review and implementation of your estate plan (up to two hours). We meet with you to review all elements. The estate plan is finalized and all documents are signed.

Step 4: Funding recommendations. We provide written, easy-to-follow funding instructions to you. You activate your estate plan by following our funding instructions.

Step 5: Estate plan maintenance (optional, but recommended). We invite you to enroll in JM LAW CARES, a proprietary estate and legacy planning maintenance program, for an annual fee. Together, we discuss or update the estate plan as needed each year.

What fees will be charged? 

All estate planning fees are listed on our current JM LAW rate sheet. See www.jmlegacyplanning.com/contact to download a copy of the current JM LAW rate sheet. Any additional services that are not specified on the rate sheet are charged at attorneys’ hourly rates, currently $595 per hour for a senior attorney and $395 for an associate attorney.

The most common service provided is the design and drafting of a revocable living trust-based plan, which is currently $4,495 for a couple.

Can JM Law prepare young adult planning documents for our children? What is the cost for those services?

We are happy to create a protection plan for college students and young adults. Our services include creating a general durable power of attorney for financial matters, healthcare power of attorney, HIPAA authorization, and living will for young adults (those under age 26). See our rate sheet, available at www.jmlegacyplanning.com/contact, for the cost. For college students, FERPA waivers will be provided in this package at no additional cost.

JM LAW can also create a simple will or trust. See our rate sheet for the cost to design and draft a will-based estate plan.

What services does JM Law not provide?

The JM LAW team does not provide:
  • Family law
  • Prenuptial or postnuptial planning
  • International estate planning
  • Lifetime special needs planning
  • Medicaid or elder law planning
  • Estate or trust administration for clients whose estate plans were created by anyone other than a JM LAW attorney
  • Probate administration for the District of Columbia

If you need any of the services listed above, we will help by referring you to another qualified attorney in our network.

What is JM Law CARES and how does it work?

JM LAW CARES is our recommended estate and legacy planning maintenance program.

Under JM LAW CARES, you and a JM LAW attorney discuss or update the estate plan as needed each year. Core features of the JM LAW CARES program include, as requested or needed:
  • Annual review (up to one hour) with one of our attorneys
  • Funding guidance
  • Trust amendments (change of trustees or beneficiaries)
  • Financial and medical powers of attorney
  • Free notary service
  • Family summit
  • No-cost initial consultation with trustees

Clients who participate in the JM LAW CARES program will pay when they elect to opt into the program. Membership will automatically renew annually. Clients may cancel their membership at any time.

More information is available at www.jmlegacyplanning.com/jm-law-cares. The current annual fee is listed on our rate sheet, available at www.jmlegacyplanning.com/contact.

Will JM Law serve clients who do not reside in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, or California?

Although our estate planning attorneys can review your estate plan and provide guidance, regardless of your state of residence, any documents we prepare for clients who are residents of states other than Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, or California must be reviewed by an attorney who is licensed in your state of residence. The cost of that review will be billed to you and depends on the rates charged by the out-of-state attorney (typical rates have ranged from $1,000–$4,000). Or, we can provide recommendations for estate attorneys licensed in your state who you can engage to conduct a review and prepare estate planning documents. 

CAN JM LAW ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEYS SERVE AS THE CLIENT’S TRUSTEE OR EXECUTOR?

Yes, JM LAW estate planning attorneys can serve as trustee, co-trustee, successor trustee, trust advisor, or executor for clients of JM LAW who are not also clients of Cassaday & Company.

However, because JM LAW estate planning attorneys are also employees of Cassaday & Company, we are not able to act in a fiduciary capacity as trustee, co-trustee, successor trustee, trust advisor, or executor on behalf of Cassaday & Company clients. We will recommend others who can act as trustee or executor.

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JM LAW AND CASSADAY & COMPANY?

JM LAW, PLLC, is an estate and legacy planning law firm led by Jessica Marchegiano, an experienced estate attorney who is passionate about providing smart, thoughtful estate and trust planning and administration. Our attorneys form the core of Cassaday & Company’s estate planning department, providing strategic advice to the wealth management firm’s clients. In addition, JM LAW attorneys provide a full slate of estate and legacy planning services directly to JM LAW clients.