Planning
Will or living trust: which one does your family need?
What each one does, what each one costs to set up, and the three situations where a trust earns its keep.
Eleanor Carrington6 min read
Estate and elder law · Richmond
An estate plan your family can follow
Wills, trusts, probate and Medicaid planning at a flat fee, quoted in writing before we start. We meet by video wherever you live in the state, and in our Richmond office when you'd rather sit across a table.
The firm
Firm facts
Founded
2015, on West Main Street in Richmond
Licensed in
Virginia
All three attorneys
Courts
Circuit courts across the state
Wills, estates, trusts and guardianships
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
Eleanor Carrington and Marcus Pryor
Where we work
Every county and city in the state, by video
In person in Richmond by appointment
Fees
Flat, quoted in writing before we begin
Court and recording fees passed on at cost
By video
Your kitchen table is the meeting room
We meet by video from the first call to the review of the drafts. Your children can join from wherever they live, and nobody takes an afternoon off to drive downtown.
Guides
Read before you decide
Plain answers to the two questions families bring to the first call.
ProbateThe first month as an executor: a checklist
Finding the will, qualifying at the clerk's office, the notices and the bank accounts, in the order they come.
Marcus Pryor7 min read
Practice
Four kinds of work, each at a flat fee
Every plan starts with the same thirty-minute call and ends with a printed binder your family can find.
Flat feeWills and powers of attorney
A will, a durable power of attorney and an advance medical directive, so the people you chose can act for you.
About wills
Flat feeLiving trusts
A revocable trust that keeps the house and the accounts out of probate, with the deed and the funding done for you.
About trusts
Flat fee per phaseProbate and estate administration
For executors: qualifying, the inventory, the accounts and closing the estate, one phase and one price at a time.
About probate
Flat feeMedicaid and elder law
Planning for long-term care before it's needed, and guardianship when a parent can no longer decide.
About elder law
Clients
What clients say after the binder arrives
“We had put our wills off since the kids were small. Two video calls and one signing at our kitchen table, and the binder was on the shelf.”
Ruth M.Will plan, Chesterfield
“After my father died, Marcus told us what each month of probate would bring. We never had to guess what came next, or what it would cost.”
Andrea T.Executor of her father's estate
“The price on the quote was the price on the invoice. Danielle walked my sister and me through Mom's care plan twice, without a clock running.”
James L.Medicaid planning, Charlottesville
Every family's situation is different. These comments describe one client's experience and don't predict the result in yours.
Start with a thirty-minute video call
Tell us what you have and who you want to look after. You'll leave the call with a written flat-fee quote, and no obligation to use it.
The first call is free and doesn't make us your lawyers; an engagement letter does.