Generations Gold
Generations Gold is designed for clients that want to maintain an annual relationship with a partner attorney. Generations Gold clients have access to the following services:
Annual Plan Review. On an annual basis, a Foley & Pearson partner attorney can meet with you to review your estate planning documents and discuss whether your estate plan aligns with your estate planning goals. You can also choose to meet with the Generations paralegal to update your asset information. Please be advised that it is your responsibility to schedule this annual plan review.
Trust Restatements and Amendments to Ancillary Plan Documents. We will make technical amendments and updates to your Living Trust, Will, Health Care documents, Power of Attorney, and related estate planning documents, consistent with the estate planning as most recently drafted by Foley & Pearson. This service does not include substantial changes to specific bequests, changes to the estate tax funding clause(s), generation skipping tax planning, or additional planning for distributions to sub-trusts.
Titling Assistance and Discounted Fee for Deed Preparation. We offer counseling regarding proper titling and funding of assets when contacted prior to the acquisition, sale, or change in disposition of trust property, life insurance, annuities, retirement accounts, business interests, or investment accounts. This service does not include document preparation. You are asked to provide Foley & Pearson with confirmation of “funding” of assets in conjunction with the asset review. Deeds will be prepared on a flat fee basis, at a cost of $250 per deed, plus recording costs. Deeds are prepared based on the legal description provided by you, and we make no warranty or assurance as to title.1
Asset Tracking. Foley & Pearson maintains a spreadsheet of your assets. Schedules of Assets are updated as information is provided by clients in conjunction with their asset review. Trust funding reviews and funding audits are performed by Foley & Pearson every third year. If you would like a review sooner, please contact us. Please be advised that while we will discuss the terms of your beneficiary designations, the preparation and submission of any required beneficiary designation forms is your responsibility. This service does not include tracking assets held by an irrevocable trust. Clients with irrevocable trusts should consider Generations Executive.
Telephone Consultations and Bank Letters. We are available by appointment for consultations with you, your CPA, financial advisor, or broker, to answer questions regarding titling, plan maintenance, and plan operation. We will also provide attorney opinion letters about the terms of your trust to banks and other financial institutions as necessary to refinance real estate held in a revocable trust.
Continuing Education. We will notify you of future estate planning workshops for you, your family, and your successor Trustees regarding basic planning, advanced planning, plan maintenance, and post-mortem administration.
Newsletter. You will receive our regular newsletter with articles and information about estate and business planning, selective changes in the law, new ideas, Foley & Pearson news, and other topics of interest.2
Powers of Attorney for Adult Children. For your adult children who are still in school, single, and under the age of 26, we will prepare a Power of Attorney, an Advance Health Care Directive and a HIPAA Authorization. Please note that you and your children will be required to sign a waiver of conflict of interest in order for us to prepare these legal documents.
Fixed Fee Post-Mortem Administration. Foley & Pearson will represent and assist your successor Trustees with the administration of your revocable trust and its sub-trusts at your death at a fixed fee based upon your estate values. The fixed fees for post-mortem administration of estates are as follows:
| Size of the Estate3 | Guaranteed Fees |
|---|---|
| $0 – $1,000,000 | $20,000 |
| $1,000,000 – $5,000,000 | $20,000 plus 1% of the estate over $1,000,000 |
| $5,000,000 + | $70,000 plus ¾ of 1% of the estate over $5,000,000 |
These fees are guaranteed for all reasonable post-mortem administration costs, expenses, and reasonable legal services for the distribution of trust assets in-kind. The following services and costs are not included for the fees shown:
- Preparation of Federal and State estate, gift, and income tax returns.
- Accounting fees or property appraisal fees.
- Court proceedings, including but not limited to probate proceedings, petitions to construe Will, petitions to receive allowances, petitions and hearings related to claims of creditors, heirs, or devisees, and/or formal hearings to approve accountings.
- Services associated with litigation by creditors or by anyone who files suit to contest terms of the estate plan, or beneficiary objections to the post-mortem administration.
- Legal expenses associated with winding up a business, selling a business, or selling real estate.
- Tax Court and/or IRS audit proceedings.
This agreement does not obligate your successor Trustees and personal representatives to use our services for post-mortem administration or probate of your estate plan, but we are obligated to provide these services for the fees shown if you are participating in our Generations Maintenance Program at the time of death. Prior to the post-mortem administration, the scope of the engagement must be confirmed in writing.
Post-Mortem Administration at Discounted Rates. Besides being eligible for the post-mortem administration of the revocable trust at the flat fee schedule, your successor Trustees will have the option for Foley & Pearson to instead represent them at discounted hourly rates. Our standard hourly rates will be discounted by 10%. Prior to the post-mortem administration, the scope of the engagement must be confirmed in writing.
Client Document Portal. Documents will be shared primarily through our client document portal. The client portal provides web-based access to electronic copies of your estate planning documents and correspondence from our firm.
Amendments to Estate Tax Funding Clauses at Discounted Rates. We will amend your estate tax funding clauses, provide generation skipping tax planning, planning for distributions to associated sub-trusts, and a substantive overhaul of your estate planning at discounted hourly rates. Our standard hourly rates will be discounted by 10%. Prior to any update to the trust-based planning, the scope of the engagement must be confirmed in writing.
Incapacity Trust Administration at Discounted Rates. We will assist clients and their successor Trustees on an hourly basis with the implementation of Trustee succession upon the incapacity of a Trustmaker or a current Trustee of a revocable trust. Our standard hourly rates will be discounted by 10%. This includes preparation of the Certification(s) of Trust for Incapacity; Affidavits or Certifications of Successor Trustees; termination and nomination of successor Trustees; and instructions for the removal of resigning Trustees and the addition of successor Trustees as signers on existing accounts. Prior to any assistance with an incapacity administration, the scope of the engagement must be confirmed in writing.
Remote Signing Fee. All document signings under the Generations program are based on in-person appointments held at the law offices of Foley & Pearson, P.C. For remote signings, a remote signing document preparation and mailing fee will be applied. It is your responsibility to return the signed, original documents to Foley & Pearson, P.C. for proper compilation and integration into your file. Before providing any documents requiring witnesses to you, you must provide the legal names and driver’s license numbers for both witnesses to Foley & Pearson, P.C.
1 You will need to confirm with your homeowners/casualty insurance company that your insurance is updated to reflect a change of title to any property covered by an insurance policy.
2 In our newsletter, we aspire to provide updates regarding relevant changes in the law. However, each client’s needs are different, and it is not possible to provide comprehensive updates regarding changes in the law in our newsletter. It is the client’s responsibility to schedule a trust review with an attorney to discuss whether a change in the law is relevant to their planning situation.
3 The size of the estate shall be equal to the fair market value of all assets that are subject to administration, transfer and/or retitling due to the death of the decedent, including life insurance, retirement plans, jointly-titled assets, irrevocable sub-trust transfers, or any other non-probate transfers.
Disclaimer: Trust, estate, and tax planning results cannot be guaranteed. Aspects of many trust and estate plans are uncertain and could be subject to a wide spectrum of views of other advisors, the Courts, the Internal Revenue Service, and/or other authorities. While Foley & Pearson maintains a Schedule of Assets for asset tracking purposes, you are responsible for the proper titling, beneficiary designation, etc. for property identified on their Schedule of Assets. You are responsible for ensuring that your property has proper homeowners and/or casualty insurance in place. We recommend that you perform a periodic review of your insurance policies with your insurance agent(s). You are responsible for maintaining all beneficiary designations. We recommend that you meet with your financial advisor periodically to review your beneficiary designations. Not all property may pass according to the terms of the revocable trust-based estate plan and Foley & Pearson makes no assurance or guarantees that property will pass at death, or be administered in the event of incapacity, based on the titling maintained on the Schedule of Assets. With the Foley & Pearson Newsletter, Foley & Pearson is not responsible for providing updates in the law specific to an individual client. Any successor trustee representation is subject to a conflict-of-interest check. Corporate Transparency Act filings are not included and are your responsibility.