Our Fees
This page shows our basic fee schedule. We always do our best to provide you with the most precise quote that we can. We reserve the right to charge an additional fee if the work is described to us at the beginning as being “basic” but turns out to be much more complex. We will always check with you before doing anything over and above what we discuss.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about the fees listed.
Consult – $400. Note: this price is the same whether the consult is one hour or longer.
Will Review – $400. (This does not include drafting new documents)
Basic Estate Planning – Individual – $1,500. / Couple – $2,500. (This package includes a basic Will, Durable Financial Power of Attorney, and Advance Healthcare Directive. This includes the consultation fee for these documents.)
Preparation of Trust: $3,500. (Preparing a trust can be a helpful estate planning tool. This fee covers most of the trust options available to an individual.)
Codicil – $400. (This includes a review of your Will, and preparation of the codicil document)
Adult Guardianship – $2,500. (There may be additional fees for expert testimony or if the matter is contested)
Elder Planning – $6,000. – $25,000. (This entails the use of accounting and legal skills. The purpose is to tap into community resources, to provide the greatest benefit to a senior given the amount of funds available. This entails comprehensive strategic planning covering legal, financial, housing, and medical issues. Our ultimate goal is that every senior live a long and satisfying life, comfortable to the last breath, and that be many, many years after we complete a plan.)
Reading of a Will – $500. (This optional service is covered by Estate Administration)
Deed of Conveyance – $500.
Estate Administration: Documents prepared by our firm – Minimum fee of $4,000. Total fee NOT TO EXCEED Johnson Estate Tables* presented below. (This covers 142 steps entailed in estate administration.)
Estate Administration: Documents NOT prepared by our firm -Minimum fee of $5,000. Total fee NOT TO EXCEED Johnson Estate Tables* presented below. (This covers the petition for appointment of administrator and142 steps entailed in estate administration.)
Litigation – $350. per hour (A retainer may be required.)
Optional Surcharge – 25% (There is a 25% surcharge for urgent “drop everything and help us now” assignments. We welcome this work, but it nearly always results in increased costs.)
*Johnson Estate Tables- This fee schedule is a benchmark many judges have recognized over the past 30 years when someone challenges an executor’s fees. Rather than balancing countless factors, many judges first examine how the claimed fee compares to the schedule in Johnson. Therefore, this schedule serves as the most intelligible answer to questions about an appropriate attorney or executor fee in Pennsylvania.
We bill on an hourly basis, we guarantee that our fees will not exceed those reported on the Johnson Estate Tables for the basic estate:
| Value | of | Estate | Incremental Fee | Total Fee | ||
| $00.01 | to | $25,000.00 | 7% | 1,750.00 | 1,750.00 | |
| $25,000.01 | to | $50,000. | 6% | 1,500.00 | 3,250.00 | |
| $50,000.01 | to | $100,000.00 | 5% | 2,500 | 5,750.00 | |
| $100,000.01 | to | $200,000.00 | 4% | 4,000.00 | 9,750.00 | |
| Attorney | $200,000.01 | to | $1,000,000.00 | 3% | 24,000.00 | 33,750.00 |
| Fees | $1,000,000.01 | to | $2,000,000.00 | 2% | 20,000.00 | 53,000.00 |
| $2,000,000.01 | to | $3,000,000.00 | 1½% | 15,000.00 | 68,750.00 | |
| $3,000,000.01 | to | $4,000,000.00 | 1% | 10,000.00 | 78,750.00 | |
| $4,000,000.01 | to | $5,000,000.00 | ½% | 5,000.00 | 83,750.00 |
| Joint Accounts Fully Taxable: Full Commission | 3.5% | Joint Accounts: Taxable at One Half Value | |
| 1% | Non probate assets up to $1,000.000. | ½% | Trust Funds |
| 1% | Joint Accounts (non probate) | 1/2% | P.O.D. Bonds |
| 3.5% | Transfer joint accounts |