Questions estate planning firms ask me

Yes, in its first sentence. The draft opening is: "Thanks for calling [your firm]. I'm an AI assistant that answers calls for the firm through an outside phone service, and this call is recorded." It never claims to be a person, even when asked to, and your counsel approves the final wording (read a sample call).

Yes, and the first sentence says so. If a caller objects at any point, the AI asks nothing more and ends the call, so nothing further is recorded. If their number came through, it tells them someone from your office will call back during business hours; if not, it gives them your office number and hours. Your office gets a short note to call them back.

No. It doesn't explain the law, say whether someone needs a trust, a will or probate, predict outcomes, or quote fees beyond the lines you approve. When asked, it says: "That's a good question for the attorney. I can't give legal advice, but I can set up a time for you to ask them." It also tells every caller who books that a consult doesn't make them a client yet.

Your firm sets the rules, for example a recent death, a hospital stay or a probate deadline. The AI takes the caller's name, number and reason, alerts the people you choose right away, then tries to transfer the call to a number your firm names in writing. After hours it transfers only if you want it to, and if nobody picks up, your office still has the message, marked urgent. Anyone in danger is told to call 911, and the AI never judges whether something is legally urgent.

No. Your staff still answer during office hours, and the AI covers the calls they can't get to: lunch, a busy line and after hours. Your office gets a short summary after each call, and your staff call back anyone who didn't book. The AI never places calls; it only answers.

Only callers who agree during the call, and only once the phone carriers approve your firm's text registration (A2P), usually a few weeks after kickoff. It's one text confirming the consult time, sent to the caller's own number, and it never names the matter. It skips texts on sensitive calls, such as disputes or a call made on someone else's behalf. No marketing texts, and STOP is honored right away.

Recordings and transcripts belong to your firm, and your firm decides who can open them and how long they're kept. Each call summary goes to your firm's intake email. By default I see totals only, with no caller names, numbers or recordings, and I never sell caller data, share it with another client or use it to train AI models. A one-page data sheet comes with my proposal: the vendor, every company that processes the data, where it's stored, the default retention and the training setting. Your firm approves it before launch.

$3,500 a month, flat, plus a $2,500 one-time setup. Estate planning is a new focus for me, so the first 3 firms that sign by January 29, 2027 get $2,900 a month and no setup fee. Ad spend is separate and goes from your firm's card straight to Google.

It depends on how many people search for estate planning in your area and what clicks cost there. That's what the 20-minute call is for. Afterward I send a one-page plan with a starting budget based on Google's own keyword data for your city. You set the budget, I never raise it without your written approval, and you can lower it any time.

Billing starts when you're live or 30 days after kickoff, whichever comes first, monthly in advance by ACH. The first term is three billed months: $8,700 at the founding rate, or $13,000 standard including setup, plus your ad budget. Give 30 days' notice by email during your second billed month and you're done when the third ends; after that it's month to month on 30 days' notice. If you leave during the first term, the rest of it is still due, except under the agreement's two early exits: I can't run your account myself for more than 10 business days, or your professional obligations require it.

Two, both paid by your firm directly. Your ad budget goes to Google, and the receptionist's phone line, AI minutes and texting are billed to you by the provider. I don't mark up either one, and none of it passes through me. Optional add-ons, like a website, start only if you sign for them separately.

No. My fee is flat: never per lead, consult or client, and never a share of your fees. Local Services Ads do charge per lead, but that's Google's ad pricing, paid by you to Google like a click. I get none of it, and my fee doesn't change.

I'm the founder of Willstone, a brand of my company, AuraVenture LLC, in San Diego. I've run my own businesses for about six years, and I've run Google Ads for local service businesses, including my own. I keep Willstone small on purpose, so I build your ads, watch them every week and answer your email myself.

California (outside San Diego County), Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Utah. Your own state's lawyer-advertising rules apply, and your attorney approves every ad and page before it runs.

Estate, trust, probate and elder-law calls need a different kind of care. A family member after a death, an adult child calling about a parent, a probate deadline: the receptionist, the intake questions and the ads are built around calls like these. Staying with one kind of practice lets me get those details right.