Expectations, best practices for working with lawyers & accountants

June 8, 2023 6:05 AM

I'd like to start working with some professionals to help me with estate and tax planning. What can I expect a "good" engagement to look like, ie what is a reasonable rubric to evaluate whether a firm or individual I'm talking to is "good for my situation"? For folks who have/are working with professionals in this sort of capacity, what was it like getting "set up" and what is the ongoing engagement like?

For comparison, in general financial planning there is the broad split between "fee-only" and "assets under management" models. I have some sense of how to evaluate those models and have enough financial acumen to be comfortable assessing the advice/implementation work I'd be paying for. But working with lawyers and accountants, I feel a bit lost. I have a US/Canada cross-border situation so at minimum I know I'll be engaging folks with that kind of expertise. How should I expect to be paying (I suppose the obv answer is "by the hour", but what expectations should I have about estimates and rates etc) ? How do I evaluate if I'm getting good advice? The relationship and division between "legal" vs "financial" advice seems very blurry in this context, does that imply significant advantage to retaining a single firm that has professionals in both areas? ("one throat to choke"?). What should I be looking to ask/discover during my initial/intro consultations with various candidates?

posted by kanuck to Work & Money (2 answers total)

The best way that I know to cut through a lot of the issues you are describing is to get good referrals from people who have hired professionals to handle similar issues and are happy with the service they have received. The second best way would be to get a referral from someone in an adjacent field, like from a lawyer who practices in a different subject matter, or from a CPA who handles tax preparation but not more complicated stuff. With regard to fees and budgeting, a professional should be able to give you a ballpark budget for an initial review and development of a plan and, of course, the hourly rates. Unless you have really exotic investments/financial profile, the sorts of things you are going to need are likely pretty standard and the professionals should be able to give you a ballpark sense of what it is going to cost and what sorts of services/benefits you will receive for the cost. You could probably make a lot of headway by trying to find other people with US/CA cross-border situations who have hired these types of professionals, such as through your work network or friends in similar situations.
posted by Mid at 9:20 AM on June 8, 2023 [2 favorites]

I am a lawyer but I am not your lawyer and this is not legal advice.

I recently went through this myself and here is how I handled it. I got recommendations for an estate planning attorney through my local Facebook mom's page. When I reach out to professionals such as lawyers for services I expect them to respond relatively promptly (i.e. within 24 hours during a business week) and to ask a lot of questions about what I am looking for. If they say, I CAN HELP and don't ask any questions, that is a huge red flag. I asked for references from the lawyer of others who had used her services which she provided immediately and without hesitation (GREEN flag). I called the people on the list and asked them how they felt about her services, the complexity of what she did for them, and if they felt the cost was reasonable. I also asked her about her rates UP FRONT. Ideally, this should be disclosed in the representation agreement, but I wanted to know before we even got to that stage. Again, she was up front and gave a decent estimate based on what we had discussed that I needed. I ended up going with her and was very pleased with my choice.

As for financial, I have a separate financial advisor. While my estate lawyer understands tax implications, she cannot and will not provide financial advice. So, I looped in my financial advisor as to what I was planning to make sure she felt it was a good idea as well. If need be, I would have had the two of them talk to each other - both were fine with this provided I consented. My financial advisor works on a contingent basis, so when I make a trade.

The key is to have everyone working towards one goal which is implement what you are trying to do.
posted by tafetta, darling! at 9:50 AM on June 8, 2023