Deciding where your wealth goes, who raises your children, and how your estate stays out of court is not something you want to hand to a fill-in-the-blank form. This page walks you through our estate planning process at Strategic Wealth Legal Advisors, step by step, so you know exactly what happens from the first conversation to a signed, funded plan. It is written for high-net-worth individuals and families, including doctors and business owners, who want a plan built around their actual situation.
What happens at your first meeting?
Your first meeting is a conversation, not a sales pitch or a stack of forms. We call it Project Analysis™, and its purpose is to understand your goals, your concerns, and your priorities before anyone drafts a single document. We talk through your family, your finances, your business if you own one, and what you want your wealth to accomplish while you are alive and after you are gone.
You will also learn how the rest of the process works and what to expect at each stage. You do not need to bring a finished list of decisions. You bring your situation, and we help you see the risks and opportunities inside it.
What are the steps from the first meeting to a signed plan?
We build every plan through a six-phase method we call the Financial Remodeling Process™. Each phase has one job, and you always know which phase you are in.
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Phase |
What happens |
|---|---|
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1. Project Analysis™ |
We learn your goals, concerns, and priorities, and explain the process. |
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2. Existing Materials Review™ |
We review your current documents, financial structure, and tax exposure, sorting them into Dangers, Opportunities, and Strengths. |
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3. Creating Your Blueprint for Success™ |
Our team designs a strategy that integrates your legal, tax, and asset planning into one structure. |
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4. Design Presentation™ |
We walk you through the personalized plan, answer questions, and refine it based on your input. |
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5. Financial Construction Process™ |
We implement the plan step by step, in the order of the priorities you set. |
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6. Maintenance and Upkeep™ |
We review and update the plan periodically as your life, the tax law, or your finances change. |
Phase 2 matters more than most people expect. Roughly six in ten clients who come to us already hold a trust, and many of those are “fill-in-the-blank” documents that avoid probate but avoid almost everything else. We read what you have and tell you plainly where it protects you and where it leaves you exposed.
How long does the estate planning process take?
The pace depends on the priorities you set in Phase 1, not on a fixed assembly line. Simple, focused plans move quickly; plans that coordinate a business entity, real estate, large retirement accounts, and multi-generational protections take longer because there is more to get right. Across the US, document drafting commonly runs a few weeks once a design is approved, and our process follows a similar arc.
Getting started is fast. We schedule most new appointments the same day or the next day. Call (916) 325-0130 or request a time at Strategicwealthlegal.com.
What documents will your plan include?
Most plans we build are trust-based rather than will-based, because a will is a set of instructions for the court and a trust is a set of instructions for your family. A properly funded revocable living trust keeps your affairs private and out of California probate. If you want to understand the difference before you decide, read our explainer on whether a trust is right for you.
A typical comprehensive plan includes:
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A revocable living trust that directs how your assets are managed during your lifetime and distributed after death, and names a successor trustee to step in if you become incapacitated.
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A durable financial power of attorney covering assets outside the trust, such as vehicles, retirement accounts, and digital assets.
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An advance health care directive naming your medical decision-maker and recording your care preferences.
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A pour-over will with guardianship nomination as a backstop for anything not titled in the trust, and, for parents of minor children, instructions on who raises them.
Where your family calls for it, we layer in protections most plans leave out: remarriage protection so a surviving spouse cannot redirect assets away from your children, divorce protection for your children’s inheritance, and liability protection for heirs who face lawsuit risk. Doctors in private practice and anyone in the construction trades, where builder liability can last a decade, often need these layers most.
What does the process cost and how do you pay?
Pricing depends on the complexity of your plan, which is why we set it after the first two phases, once we know what you actually need. We accept payment by credit card or check. For a full breakdown of how fees are structured, see our estate planning cost and pricing page.
One number worth keeping in view: California probate fees are calculated on the gross value of an estate before debts, averaging around 3 percent of that gross figure. Comprehensive upfront planning is designed to keep your family out of that process entirely.
Why work with Strategic Wealth Legal Advisors?
We have practiced in the Sacramento region since 1997 and were among the first firms here to offer a formal client update system rather than the old “create it and forget it” model. Our founding attorney, Terry D. Wheeler, J.D., holds a law degree from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, a degree in financial planning from San Diego State University, and formerly taught tax as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Davis. He is licensed to practice law in California and is a frequent lecturer to attorneys, accountants, and financial professionals on wealth preservation and asset protection.
Our team brings attorneys, tax professionals, wealth advisors, and insurance specialists to the same table, so your estate plan, tax plan, and business plan work together instead of in separate silos. One recent client, a blended family with six children, arrived with a trust that gave everything to the surviving spouse and then to the children outright: no remarriage protection, no asset protection, and a large IRA with no tax planning that stood to lose 40 to 50 percent to taxes. We locked in each child’s share, built asset protection for the children who needed it, and restructured the retirement account to preserve far more wealth for the family.
What areas do you serve?
We serve clients in Roseville, California, and the surrounding Sacramento region, including nearby communities throughout Placer, El Dorado, Yuba and Sacramento counties. Our practice was founded in Sacramento and has worked with families across the area since 1997. We can meet in person or coordinate remotely when that is easier for you.
How to get started
The first step is the Project Analysis™ conversation. Call (916) 325-0130 or book through Strategicwealthlegal.com. Come as you are; we will show you where you stand and what a plan built for your family would do.
Frequently asked questions
How many meetings does the estate planning process take?
The process is built around distinct phases rather than a set number of meetings, and the exact count depends on your plan’s complexity. You will have at minimum the Project Analysis™ conversation, a review of your existing materials, a design presentation where we walk you through the plan, and an implementation and signing stage. We tell you at the start how your plan is expected to move through those phases.
What should I bring to my first appointment?
Bring any existing estate planning documents, a general sense of your assets and how they are titled, and the names of people you are considering for roles such as trustee, guardian, or power of attorney. You do not need final answers. The first meeting exists to clarify your goals, and we guide you through the decisions from there.
Do you update the plan after it is signed?
Yes. Phase 6, Maintenance and Upkeep™, keeps your plan current as your life, your finances, or the tax law changes, and we were among the first firms in the region to offer a formal client update system. Keeping documents current and assets properly titled also makes settling the plan later faster, more private, and less expensive for your family.
What areas do you serve?
We serve Roseville, California, and the broader Sacramento region, including surrounding communities in Placer, El Dorado, and Sacramento counties. We can meet in person or work with you remotely.
Call (916) 325-0130 or request a time at Strategicwealthlegal.com to get started.
Strategic Wealth Legal Advisors
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3001 Douglas Blvd, Suite 142, Roseville, CA 95661