Estate Planning Intake Form

An estate planning initial meeting is often overwhelming and nerve wracking for clients as they are getting ready to make many important life decisions. To help alleviate some stress for your clients, while gathering all important information from the first visit, you can incorporate an estate planning intake form that your clients can complete during the onboarding process.

By filling out this questionnaire, the client will provide you with vital insights so you can evaluate their specific needs and create an extensive estate plan that will satisfy their objectives. Read on to find out what this questionnaire should include.

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Vital Information to Include in Your Intake Forms (Estate Planning)

Intake forms for estate planning serve the primary functions of assisting your clients in understanding the kinds of information they will be required to supply during the initial consultation.

Here's some of the most essential information you should gather on your intake questionnaire.

Family Information

All family information should be covered including spouses and children. Gather their full names, contact details, addresses, Social Security Numbers, and ages. You may also inquire whether your client is single, married or divorced, has a premarital agreement, or has lived in a community Property State.

Financial Details

The client's financial information includes stocks, bank accounts, investments, trust funds and retirement accounts. Ask any expected future inheritance, future dependents, and life insurance policies as well as the client's accountant or financial planner's name and contact details.

Representations and Estate Distribution

You should carefully define who the client wants to administer their estate, who will be appointed as their children's legal guardian, power of attorney, and how they will want their personal property to be distributed.

Health-Related Preferences

Regarding health care preferences, inquire about whether they want to be an organ donor, how to proceed in case of a terminal condition (life support vs artificial means), prolonged health preferences and other important decisions to be made in case of death.

Expectations

Learn what your clients expect from your services by adding a set of questions to find out why they are seeking your services as well as any personal or other specific goals. Additionally, make sure the client understands and feels comfortable with the fees you will charge for the estate planning process.

Create the Perfect Client Intake Form With Bonsai

An estate planning intake form can be extremely beneficial for executors. This can include asset information, beneficiary designations, funeral and burial wishes, debts and expenses, and more. Having this information organized in one place can make it easier for you and your client to create an estate plan.

By having all of the pertinent information in one place, it can save you a considerable amount of time and energy when it comes to settling the estate. In addition, it can help you ensure that all of the necessary paperwork is completed correctly and in a timely manner. This can help you save time and avoid potential complications during the administration process.

Use Bonsai's custom form builder to create professional and branded intake forms that you can easily share with your clients via email, URL link, or, if you prefer, have it embedded into your business website to help you collect more leads and speed up the onboarding process.

You can also change every aspect of the form to your liking, adding as many questions as you need with your preferred answer format, and incorporating branding elements to make it your own.

Bonsai helps you save time and streamline your processes so you can focus on growing your business. Start your 14-day free trial today and see for yourself!