My wife and I engaged Anita Shteynberg through the ARAG legal plan to establish a trust, wills,…read morepowers of attorney, and related estate planning documents. As individuals with little prior knowledge of estate planning, we were seeking legal counsel that would help us understand what these documents do, why they are important, and how they would apply to our specific circumstances.
Unfortunately, our experience fell short of those expectations. Our only direct consultation with Anita lasted approximately 30 minutes. During that meeting, we explained our goals and the recommendation from our financial advisor to create an estate plan. However, we received very little guidance regarding the available options or the implications of different estate planning strategies tailored to us. Much of the discussion relied on legal terminology that was difficult for non-lawyers to understand, and we often felt we were being asked to determine what we needed rather than being guided through the decision-making process.
Following that initial meeting, we were unable to have any additional conversations with Anita. All communication occurred through email, which made it difficult to address questions that could have been resolved in a brief phone call. As a result, simple issues often led to lengthy email exchanges and significant delays, most often with other people from her office. The inability to discuss questions directly created frustration and extended the overall timeline unnecessarily.
We were also disappointed by the quality control of the documents and overall process. We identified multiple errors that required correction, including misspelled names and incorrect information related to our designated secondary power of attorney. Because of these issues, we felt compelled to carefully review every document line by line to ensure accuracy. Additionally, despite communicating with the office regarding extensions and document timing, we continued to receive automated reminders that did not appear to reflect the status of our matter, creating further confusion.
The estate planning documents themselves appeared highly standardized and included provisions that were not clearly relevant to our circumstances. While we understand that many estate planning documents use standard forms and language, we did not feel that the final product reflected a high degree of customization or individualized legal counseling.
I want to acknowledge that the staff members we communicated with were generally courteous and responsive. However, the overall experience left us with the impression that matters referred through the ARAG legal plan were being handled as a high-volume process rather than as individualized legal engagements requiring attorney guidance and consultation.
Ultimately, while we achieved the goal of completing our estate planning documents, the process was far more difficult and time-consuming than expected. Based on our experience, we would not recommend this attorney to individuals who are seeking substantial guidance, education, and ongoing attorney accessibility throughout the estate planning process.
