Written by Kristina Schneider, MBA, and Yvonne Eckert, JD
A question we hear all the time is whether to provide clients with drafts of their estate planning documents prior to execution. To help you weigh your options, let’s look at the pros and cons of sending drafts to clients before the signing meeting versus reviewing them with clients during the signing meeting.
Key Takeaways
- Whether to send estate planning drafts to clients before signing is a genuine split in practice—both approaches are common among estate planning attorneys, and each carries distinct tradeoffs for client experience and firm liability.
- Sending drafts early can boost client confidence and catch errors before the signing table—but only if the right safeguards are in place.
- Skipping early drafts and reviewing everything at the signing meeting can mitigate certain risks, but it also has some downsides.
- The right approach depends less on which method you choose and more on the policies, timing, and communication surrounding it.
What are the benefits of sending draft estate plans to clients?
✓ Increase client understanding and engagement. Estate planning documents contain complex legal terminology and provisions. For clients, reviewing them for the first time while sitting at an attorney's conference table may be intimidating and overwhelming. Giving them a chance to spot confusing sections and formulate questions that can be answered before the signing meeting may help them feel more confident that they fully understand the decisions they are making and that their documents accurately reflect their wishes and will achieve their goals.
✓ Identify and eliminate errors. Allowing clients to review their documents before the signing meeting can help ensure that the final versions accurately reflect their personal details and wishes, eliminating the need for modifications during or immediately after the meeting. This process addresses the reality that drafts may occasionally include mistakes in names, addresses, or bequests. Your clients can review the documents to verify personal details, spelling, and provisions regarding the distribution of their assets. In addition, it may give the client an opportunity to identify any aspects of their documents that they believe do not reflect their intentions or that need further clarification. This process allows corrections and modifications to be implemented before the signing meeting.
✓ Enhance the efficiency of signing meetings. Delaying client review until the signing meeting could substantially increase the meeting’s length: Instead of focusing primarily on executing the documents during the meeting, the attorney must provide an overview and explanation of the documents—and possibly answer many questions about the estate plan. Allowing clients to review their documents and ask questions beforehand may make the signing meeting briefer and more efficient, respecting both the client’s and the attorney’s time.
✓ Emphasize client service. Clients often see it as a sign that you care about their needs and are committed to client-centered service. Allowing clients ample time to review documents before the signing meeting may enhance their peace of mind by assuring them that their attorney values them, is concerned about the accuracy of their personal information, and wants to answer their questions before finalizing their plan. Clients may then feel that, instead of merely signing documents, they are executing their personally tailored, well-understood estate plan. Letting clients review their documents before the signing meeting could lead to greater client satisfaction, increased referrals, and a stronger reputation for your firm.
What are the risks of sending drafts to estate planning clients?
✘ Confusion and delay. Some attorneys prefer not to send drafts to clients before the signing meeting, believing that most clients do not expect to receive drafts. If an attorney sends a draft without the client asking for it and without context or guidance, it may lead to confusion, procrastination, and analysis paralysis. Estate planning documents—especially living trusts—can be dense, technical, and hard for the layperson to read. The documents are drafted to ensure clarity and enforceability in court, not ease of reading. Simplifying legal jargon to improve readability can potentially compromise the documents’ legal soundness.
Further, when sent documents to review independently, clients may feel overwhelmed and delay taking the next steps—if they proceed at all. Without direction or deadlines, documents may go unread while the attorney’s staff spends valuable time trying to reengage the client and move the matter forward. Alternatively, reviewing drafts could lead to excessive follow-up questions and revision requests or to prolonged, line-by-line document walkthroughs.
✘ Clients may undervalue the attorney’s role. Sending a draft without guidance might accidentally send the message that the attorney’s role is limited to document preparation—and that the client is expected to identify and correct any mistakes. This belief may not only diminish the attorney’s professional value in their client’s eyes but also appear to shift legal responsibility away from the expert: the attorney. Estate planning attorneys are not mere form-fillers. Revocable living trusts are not legal Mad Libs©. As counselors-at-law, attorneys owe fiduciary duties to their clients and are entrusted with creating legal structures that reflect clients’ wishes and comply with applicable laws. Ensuring the accuracy and legal validity of those documents is the attorney’s responsibility, not the client’s.
✘ Difficulty in collecting outstanding fees. A common worry of attorneys is that if they send draft documents to a client, the client will not attend the signing meeting because they already have the documents. The attorney’s cash flow could take a hit because they would be unable to collect their fee or be delayed in collecting their fee for the time spent drafting the documents.
✘ Increased potential for liability. Some attorneys review documents with clients days—or even weeks—before the signing appointment. But a lengthy gap between document review and signing could pose an unnecessary risk if there is ever a dispute over whether the client fully understood the documents at the time of execution. In addition, reviewing documents prior to the signing date could result in the documents not being executed, leading to increased liability.
Best Practices for Client Review of Drafts Before Signing Meeting
When attorneys send clients drafts of their estate planning documents for review, it may be helpful to implement a clearly defined, structured draft-review policy that maintains professional boundaries while accommodating client needs.
Here are a few tactics that have worked really well:
- Get payment first. All outstanding fees must be paid before a draft is released, or shortly thereafter. The legal work is substantially completed—even if the documents are not yet signed—and the attorney should be compensated accordingly.
- Ensure secure transmission of the draft. Use a secure client portal or email encryption to send all documents.
- Include a cover letter explaining the purpose of the review. The letter can instruct clients to review the spelling of names, the accuracy of fiduciaries, and the distribution of assets.
- Use a watermark. Every page of the draft is clearly watermarked “DRAFT” to prevent unauthorized use or execution.
- Schedule a follow-up meeting. Promptly schedule a follow-up meeting to be held before the signing meeting to enable the attorney and the client to review the client’s comments together and implement any modifications or corrections.
- Schedule an on-site or remote review. Clients may schedule a time at the law office to review the drafts on-site. The firm may provide notepads, sticky notes, and highlighters. The attorney is available to answer questions afterward. Before they leave, clients schedule a signing appointment or a follow-up review.
Alternatively, a virtual meeting could be scheduled between the attorney and the client. Drafts could be emailed as secure PDFs one week before the meeting, giving the client time to prepare questions. The scheduled call helps to ensure a firm deadline and a structured, time-bound review.
These policies accomplish important objectives such as ensuring that attorneys are paid for completed legal work, preventing unauthorized execution or distribution of documents, maintaining momentum through clearly scheduled meetings, and reducing the risk that clients will disappear mid-process.
Best Practices for Client Review at Signing Meeting
Attorneys who choose not to send drafts of documents often meet with the client to design the plan, schedule a signing appointment within three to six weeks, and then review the full plan with the client at the time of signing.
A review at the signing meeting could include the following:
- Visual aids. A one- to two-page flowchart of the estate plan can enhance understanding without overwhelming the client.
- Confirming important information. Before signing, the client can confirm key decisions (e.g., trustees, distribution instructions, structure).
- Providing an overview. During the review, the attorney can provide references to corresponding clauses in the document.
- Answering questions. Provide the client with a clear opportunity to ask questions before execution.
This method helps clients understand their plan without requiring them to wade through complex legal text on their own. It also provides the attorney with additional liability protection by ensuring that a documented review occurs at the time of signing.
Conclusion
Each attorney’s decision about whether to send draft documents prior to the signing meeting will depend on their assessment of their client base and the pros and cons outlined in this article. Regardless of which practice the firm adopts, it is crucial to establish well-thought-out processes and adhere to best practices. Doing so will help ensure not only that clients are satisfied but also that the estate planning firm operates efficiently and successfully.
