Wills, Estate Planning & Probate
Will Packages
Julie Kreutzer has provided legal services in the Boulder/Denver Metro area since 1992. Julie does reasonably priced wills packages that include all essential documents for individuals and married couples with estates under $11.4 million for individuals and $22.8 million for couples.
Julie serves the estate planning needs of a variety of people including: married couples, single people, and people living in committed relationships who are not married (gay and straight).
Our will package includes:
- Will
- Advanced Medical Directive
- Durable Medical Power of Attorney
- Power of Attorney (if desired)
- Property Memorandum
- Burial Memorandum
These documents work together to protect the client by ensuring that their wishes are carried out as to their property.
Julie handles probate matters for both informal and formal probate. She assists personal representatives (also called Executors) by preparing paperwork, advising of deadlines and assisting with all aspects of probate.
Julie also consults with clients regarding other estate planning and probate issues and questions.
Helpful Information About Wills
Wills are understood by most as documents that will direct their survivors as to how they want property divided, debts handled, and so forth. However, a will without any other documents is not adequate to assist you or those you love.
Living wills are well known as documents that ensure that your wishes on healthcare are carried out if you can’t speak for yourself. I create two documents; an Advanced Medical Directive (similar to a living will) and a Medical Durable Power of Attorney instead of a living will because they are more effective in explaining your wishes, empowering friends or relatives to make the decisions and providing a legal basis that allows the doctors to follow your wishes.
Additionally, a regular power of attorney can be quite useful if you are ill or unable to manage your affairs (for example, if you will be out of the country for a period of time). Property memorandums allow you to distribute valuable personal property and avoid disputes. Burial memorandums allow you to specify what you want and prevents your survivors from wasting money.
I provide several other documents as well, including a personal property memorandum, burial wishes memorandum, etc. The goal of my package is to make sure your heirs understand your wishes and are given the proper tools and authority to carry them out.
Wills: Commonly Asked Questions
Why should I write a will?
If you die without a will (intestate), the law assumes that you prefer to give your estate to your spouse or closest relative. They use a family tree and make certain assumptions that might not reflect how you want to distribute your assets.
Can I write an informal will?
You can write your wishes in your own handwriting and sign it. This is a holographic will and is valid. The problem is that it can be contested and it can be claimed that you didn’t really write it or that you wrote it when you were under duress or were not mentally capable. The other problem is that wills of these kind are often missing critical details. However, a holographic will is probably better than no will at all.
Should I hire council to write a will?
Most Internet products and forms are one-size-fits-all and may not even be applicable to Colorado. The problem is that they do not know you or your situation and as a result, the will doesn’t speak to specific issues or preferences that you would like to have addressed.
How much does a will package cost?
Some attorneys charge a flat fee and others charge an hourly rate. Because we do a basic wills package, we provide a flat rate for individuals and couples. With that rate, you receive a meeting with me to discuss your situation in detail and up to three sets of revisions. A call to our office will allow us to determine if your situation is one where our standard package is appropriate. Our wills package includes an Advanced Medical Directive and Medical Durable Power of Attorney (which are like a Living Will but more specific and powerful), General Power of Attorney, and other documents that work together to protect you and your beneficiaries.
Julie’s Top Articles for Wills
Wills, Forms and Attorneys: Do You Need a Will? If so, what should be in it and where to get it.
Click Here for Julie’s Full List of Articles on Wills
Probate in Colorado – When Do You Need An Attorney?:
Most people encounter the probate process because a friend or relative has named them as an Executor or Personal Representative in their Will. Unless you have done this task before, it can be daunting to face this important task. This article covers a variety of probate situations so you can understand what sort of probate you are dealing with and what your options are for handling this responsibility.
Frequently Asked Questions about Estate Planning
It’s the process that allows you to manage, protect and pass on what you own to whomever you want to get your property when you die. It also handles health care, burial and other matters.
- Usually a Will, sometimes Trusts, medical documents that authorize an Agent to talk to medical people if you can’t (Advanced Medical Directive, Medical Durable Power of Attorney), general Power of Attorney to allow an agent to handle business matters, and documents that detail personal property and where it goes, as well as burial/cremation directions. These forms are designed to work together to protect you during your lifetime and to protect your heirs when you pass.
It can be, but not if you have an attorney steer you through the documents you need and explain the options.
No, it doesn’t have to be costly. Flat fee is best as you know the price and it includes talking with the attorney, getting their advice on tricky decisions, getting drafts to review, finalizing and signing everything properly. Sure, you can pay hourly but that can get expensive; still, you can ask for the hourly fee option if you’d like.
Maybe if you have Word Documents of them. Still, old documents often require enough changes it’d be cheaper to just redo them and make sure everything is current.
The state of Colorado decide things for you by using a chart that decides who gets your stuff among close relatives, spouse, etc. It takes longer, but someone volunteers to file probate and then they and the court follow the chart. Still, if you have a significant other you want to inherit, or you want an agent to speak for you if you’re really ill, or other issues the state of Colorado doesn’t deal with or would get wrong, best to get a free legal consult and make the decisions yourself.
Definitely, you could if you’re certain you won’t exit the planet skiing, driving, from pneumonia and all the other ways people check out before they’re elderly. Also, sometimes age creeps up on people and they still don’t have their documents at the point they have a health crisis.
Yes, that’s definitely an option. Some of them explain the different terms and options, some don’t. They can’t advise you based on your particular situation or answer your questions. The downside is the probate judge and your personal representative trying to guess what you meant by certain terms you didn’t understand and having to fill in the gaps for things you didn’t put in but have to be decided.
Frequently Asked Questions Probate
Anywhere from six months for easy estates to a year for estates with a lot of real estate to sell, etc.
Colorado is one of the easier places to do probate because there are forms and instructions available for use without cost, the Probate Court acts far more promptly than most states, and the process is designed to be user friendly. By way of contrast, some states take far longer, require an attorney to navigate the process, and have high fees and costs.
No, for small estates, under $82,000 (for 2024), with no real estate transfer, you can use a small estate affidavit and it’s much faster as it doesn’t have to be filed with or approved by the Court. Also, you can do a Trust and handle property through the Trust.
It depends on how good you are with forms and deadlines, as well as your comfort level. Some people read the instructions and fill out the forms supplied by the State of Colorado and do fairly well. It’s also common to consult with an attorney or hire one to assist with the forms, give advice on how to proceed and stay on track with the different tasks and deadlines. Having an attorney can also be helpful if the emotions you are feeling make it difficult to manage the case on your own.
Many probate cases are administrative and never have a hearing. For formal probate where there’s no will and therefore, confusion on how best to proceed, or there’s fighting over a Will, then there are hearings.
If you’re consulting with an attorney who drafts documents and advises you, it’s based on how much time you choose to spend and what you need help with, times their hourly rate. If you retain counsel to do Probate for you, then you give them a retainer and pay hourly. The overall cost of Probate where there is retained counsel might be $5,000 or up, for a complicated estate. The cost would likely be $5,000 or potentially less if the client is proactive and tends to be good at paperwork and deadlines.
If you’ve read the instructions and realize you don’t understand how to do the paperwork or comply with the rules, then you should get help from an attorney. If you have questions you need answered and advise here and there, you can do so through a consulting relationship. Also, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or find it emotionally difficult to follow the process, an attorney can help you get through the process either by consulting with you or doing the heavy lifting of being retained counsel.
Email if you’d like a free consult by phone with Julie Kreutzer, Esq., jkreutzerlaw@gmail.com
Have questions? Call Us at 303-417-0697
