Cost & Time Effective

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9 Reasons Getting a Will is EASY

People often put off getting a Will for various reasons. While we believe that anyone who’s at least 18 years of age, and who has capacity, should have a valid, up-to-date Will in place as part of a holistic, comprehensive Estate plan, people aren’t always eager to have their Wills drafted.

One of the primary reasons that people procrastinate getting their Will done, is that they believe it involves a long, arduous process. That simply isn’t the case. In fact, at West Legal, we believe that getting a Will is easy, and we’ve focused our efforts on making the Estate planning process as seamless, time-efficient, and streamlined as possible for our clients.

Here are 10 reasons why getting a will is easy:

1. It Takes Less Time Than You Think!

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Many people feel that they simply don’t have time to get their Will done. While many of us lead busy lives, your actual time investment in the Will drafting process is limited.

  • 1 hour to complete our Wills questionnaire; 
  • 1 hour for an initial consultation;
  • 1 hour for you to review the draft versions of your Estate planning documents to ensure that you’re satisfied with them; and
  • 1/2 hour signing appointment

All told, the Estate planning process will demand about 3.5 hours of your time, which is likely insignificant in the grand scheme of things!

2. It’s Time Efficient

We work hard to get your Will drafted as quickly as possible, while still ensuring that we take care to avoid errors or omissions. Typically, we’ll have Will drafts to you within 1-2 weeks of your initial consultation, and sometimes even sooner, depending on how busy we are at the time.

3. A Lawyer Can Come to Your House

If you’re unable to leave your house, senior’s facility, or the hospital, we’ll come to you. Our Wills & Estates lawyers offer home visits to clients who are unable to attend our office, or who otherwise find it inconvenient to do so. If you live anywhere in Calgary, and, in some cases, even if you’re outside of the city, we’ll come to you!

4. You Don’t Need to Provide Us with Any Financial Documentation

Many of my Wills clients are pleasantly surprised to find that we don’t require them to produce financial documentation, account balances, land titles certificates, pension plan statements, or other such documentation when we draft their Wills. While we’ll certainly address your various assets as part of your Estate planning meeting, we don’t require you to disclose any detailed financial information or produce any official account statements.

5. We Offer Telephone Consultations

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We offer initial Estate planning consultations by telephone. There’s no need to meet with us face-to-face for a Wills consultation unless you wish to do so. While we’re happy to meet with you in person, we understand that it may be more convenient for our clients to discuss their Estate plan over the phone than it is to meet with us face-to-face.

6. No Up-Front Payment or Retainer

We won’t require you to provide us with any up-front payment or retainer funds before we start drafting your Will. Once your Estate planning documents are drafted and signed by you, we’ll request payment. This allows you to get started with the process right away, without having to arrange to provide us with initial retainer funds.

7. We’ll Answer Your Questions and Make Changes on Short Notice

If you have questions about your draft documents or wish to make changes to them, we’ll respond to your telephone call or email, in most cases, within 48 hours. Our goal is to ensure that you’re entirely satisfied with your Estate planning documents before you sign them, and we’re eager to make any adjustments to the drafts that will ensure your satisfaction with the documents.

8. We’re Flexible with Signing Appointment Scheduling

If you’re unable to attend our office for a Will signing appointment during office hours, we’re able to, in most cases, book you for an after-hours signing appointment at no extra cost, so that you don’t have to miss work or other important obligations in order to get your Will signed.

9. Once It’s Done, It’s Done

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Unlike some other provinces, Alberta doesn’t have a central Wills registry. While there are advantages and disadvantages to a central Wills registry, one advantage in Alberta is that once your Will is signed, it’s done, and there’s no wait time for it to be registered in a government database.

10. Future Will Updates Are Cost-Effective & Simple

We retain electronic draft copies of your Will on our secure server—The Law Society of Alberta has rules in place to ensure that our electronic documents are securely stored. If you require future updates to your Will, we can make changes to your existing documents quickly, and at a much lower cost than that of a new Will.

 


Have You Been Putting Off Your Estate Plan?

If you’ve been putting off your Estate plan, and have delayed getting a Will because you’re worried that the process is time-consuming and difficult, hopefully, we’ve convinced you otherwise. Contact us today to book your free-of-charge, no-obligation Wills consultation—getting a Will may be much easier than you anticipate! wills@west-legal.ca or 403-723-0175 to get started.

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