S. Craig Stone

Craig Stone of Stone Law Offices, in Las Vegas, Nevada, prepared a trust for our family in 2017. Though I don’t necessarily have any issues with the trust document itself, I do remember him growing short-tempered with me for taking too long, in his estimation, to read and make changes to the document.... Mind you, this document is over 100 pages of some of the driest legalese you can imagine. Mr. Stone threatened to charge me at his hourly rate ($400/hr at the time), in addition to the flat fee I had paid, because he had to make a few changes that I requested. It seemed surly and churlish, but I let it pass. He has subsequently exhibited irritable and arrogant behavior. More recently, Mr. Stone misled my probate law attorney, Stephen Mayfield, in a conversation. Mr. Mayfield came away from that conversation believing that Mr. Stone had assured him that he would not ratify my removal as management trustee, only to come to find out a month later that he had. In fact, he did so the same day he spoke with Mr. Mayfield. Though he will disagree, I found Mr. Stone’s behavior to be deceptive and will no longer be able to trust him. I have instructed my attorneys to only communicate with him in writing from now on. (The above is my opinion as a lay person based on my dealings with S. Craig Stone, II. I do not present it as a statement of irrefutable fact.)

Mr. Stone took the time to get to know my disabled wife's situation and crafted a trust that might allow her to receive means-tested government benefits such as Medicaid in the future. In addition, the trust he created gives us the opportunity to be directly involved in the investment of the trust as...sets. Moreover, he regularly encouraged us to take the necessary steps to finish the process when he saw it was dragging out. Though he chose the type of trust that he felt was best for our needs, he did so in a way that took our desires into consideration and let us make the ultimate decisions--even when those decisions might not have been what he would have chosen. Mr. Stone clearly understands the concept of the attorney-client relationship, which is to counsel the client but not impose his will. Before hiring Mr. Stone, we had another estate attorney here in Utah who took it upon himself to make all the decisions for us. That, and his lack of relevant knowledge, is what led us to fire him and hire Mr. Stone, though we have never met Mr. Stone personally since he is located in Nevada. Despite the fact that Mr. Stone's hourly rate is much higher than the rates attorneys in Utah charge (different market), his flat fee for the preparation of the trust was very reasonable--and, in fact, even less than what we had been charged locally in Salt Lake City. Mr. Stone's staff also worked hard to ensure our needs were met and also to prod us to hurry up and choose a trustee when they hadn't heard from us for a while. Even though we weren't too happy about it at the time, it ultimately redounded to our benefit to complete the process expediently. In conclusion, I would uncategorically recommend Stone Law Offices to anyone who needs an estate-planning attorney, or, more specifically, who wants to create a Nevada trust.