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Old 05-13-2016, 06:46 AM
 
145 posts, read 224,952 times
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Hi--

Planning for our eventual demise and we need to meet with an attorney. Our bank recommended Fisher Mousey Leas & Pall in Ponte Vedra, specifically Robert Dawkins and Robert Miller. Does anyone have feedback on the firm or the attorneys that might be helpful?

Thank you.
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Old 05-13-2016, 06:03 PM
 
2 posts, read 1,486 times
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Contact Brian Hershorin at Purcell, Flanagan, Hay & Greene, P.A. . Besides always doing a good job, he was on the News4Jax morning show discussing Prince and his lack of will. They wouldn't call him up unless he was good at what he does.

Purcell | Flanagan | Hay | Greene | P.A. – Practice Areas
Purcell | Flanagan | Hay | Greene | P.A. – Brian J. Hershorin
Importance of a will
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Old 05-14-2016, 05:43 AM
 
Location: Ponte Vedra Beach FL
14,617 posts, read 21,496,591 times
Reputation: 6794
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmtSF View Post
Hi--

Planning for our eventual demise and we need to meet with an attorney. Our bank recommended Fisher Mousey Leas & Pall in Ponte Vedra, specifically Robert Dawkins and Robert Miller. Does anyone have feedback on the firm or the attorneys that might be helpful?

Thank you.
Another attorney in JAX drew up our estate planning documents and handled my late FIL's estate. He did a great job - but he gave up his estate planning work to concentrate on his other area of specialty.

We met with Robert Dawkins last year because we will need an estate attorney in the future (to handle estates). We also met with Jonathan Hay (at Purcell Flanagan - recommended by our old lawyer). Both seemed competent (although I'm not personally familiar with their work at this point). Don't know which one I would use when the need arises. Would probably talk with both again - and perhaps even interview a third lawyer. A lot of this work is uncomplicated computerized fill-in-the-blanks boilerplate these days. So you don't necessarily need the highest priced spread lawyer to do it.

I would meet with at least 2 different lawyers - and see what you think. In terms of fees - personalities and other intangibles. You can look up certified estate planning attorneys here:

Lawyers Find A Lawyer, Law Firm, Attorney & Legal Services: martindale

Look for ones with AV ratings.

Note that we had one estate attorney in south Florida who was highly regarded. And he drove us nuts. He was soooooooo slow in getting work done and he tried to charge us much more than his estimated fee by the time he finally did finish the work. In contrast - the attorney who did our work in JAX was fast and did the work for a flat (reasonable) fee.

For me - one big issue is whether an attorney will handle an estate on an hourly fee basis - as opposed to the default statutory percentage. And both attorneys said that is the way they normally handle cases (it's the opposite in south Florida). When it comes to drafting documents - unless they are extremely complex - you should be able to negotiate a reasonable flat fee. FWIW - I am a big fan of simple when it comes to estate planning and like to avoid things like trusts unless they're absolutely necessary.

If you have a spouse - one issue you may run across in preparing wills is a potential conflict of interest between the spouses which may result in your needing 2 separate lawyers. This sometimes happens when wills are "asymmetrical" (X happens if husband dies first - Y happens if wife dies first). Our wills are totally symmetrical - so we don't have this problem.

Don't forget that Florida law limits your choice of personal representatives. Especially when it comes to non-relatives who don't live in Florida.

Florida Restrictions on Who Can Serve as Executor | Nolo.com

In the long run - who you choose as your personal representative is probably more important than who you choose to prepare your will.

Also - if you have minor children - one of the most important decisions you have to make is who the guardian of your children will be.

Also don't forget to have the lawyer draw up the other documents you probably need. Like a durable power of attorney - living will - health care surrogate form - pre-need guardianship - etc. Robyn
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