Collett P Small

My sister and I used Collett for estate planning and elder care advise regarding my recently widowed mom. Collett was simply sensational: warm, knowledgable, professional and meticulously detailed. She listened attentively to our needs and our concerns about protecting the small amount of income that... my mom is receiving, and then presented different options, and their implications. I loved how she was focused on my mom, her needs and wishes. It was also immediately apparent that she was incredibly knowledgable about all aspects of elder care law, and different legal implications for a range of related service (power of attorney, health directive, Medicaid eligibility requirements, trusts, guardianships, etc). I liked that she is specifically certified as an elder care legal specialist. Her fees were clearly laid out and very reasonable, I appreciated that she had a flat fee, so we knew exactly what we were paying for and what to expect. Unlike a lot of lawyers, we had to pay for our initial consultation which gets deducted from the fee if you contract her. In retrospect, it was totally worth it. In that time she reviewed a range of documents, a long intake form she sent to us prior, listened carefully and laid out different alternatives for us to consider (whether or not we hired her to execute them). Both the initial consult and the cost for services are flat fees, not hourly. Even though it was a flat fee, I loved that at no point did we feel rushed, quite the contrary, she gave us her complete undivided attention for a pretty long visit and made it clear that we could call on her for any additional questions that might come up. She didn't try to sell us anything we didn't need (we already had an older will for example, which she reviewed and found that it was still valid, and still reflected my mom's wishes) and didn't rush us to make any decisions. We walked into her office anxious and worried, and left breathing a sigh of relief, not only because she took care of what we needed in a timely manner, but because we felt this was someone we could trust. As an added plus, she has a Spanish speaking assistant a few days a week, but she understands quite a bit of Spanish. The office is not that centrally located, but that probably also helps to keep her cost under control. Highly recommended!