Attorney Candice McPhillips’ estate planning practice focuses on making things right for your future. I help you transform the unknowns of life into a roadmap that your loved ones can follow. I understand how complicated and stressful the estate planning process can be. I guide my clients to ensure that my clients are educated on all of the estate planning options and tools available for their situation. I will work with you to memorialize your wishes and empower you to preserve wealth and harmony within your family.

I received my Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of Virginia and my Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. I also earned a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in Taxation with an additional graduate certificate in State and Local Taxation from Villanova University Law School. As a tax attorney, I am uniquely qualified to guide my clients through the often complex maze of estate planning and business issues.

Prior to founding McPhillips Law, I worked in major global law firms in Virginia, D.C. and New York. I focus my practice on Florida law, but am also an active member of the bars of the District of Columbia, Arizona, Hawaii, and New York. I have provided hundreds of hours of pro bono legal assistance to military families and nonprofits. I have served over the years on numerous law firm committees focused on diversity in the law and law firm associate development issues.

I have a passion for educating the next generation of lawyers about the benefits of owning their own firms. I have taught Law Office Management as an Adjunct Professor at Lincoln Memorial University Law School. In her spare time I enjoy hanging out with my husband, daughter, and golden retriever.

McPhillips Law is a virtual law firm founded on the principle that sophisticated legal services should be more accessible to busy professionals, military families, and small businesses. I designed the firm to prioritize client convenience through innovative, secure legal technology.

After 14 years as a litigator in global law firms, I shifted my practice to tax, business, nonprofit law, and estate planning. I opened the firm in 2018 while living in Japan. As a military spouse, I love to focus on military family legal issues.

I have an easy, 3-step process designed to have your trust and other estate planning documents created and signed in 4-6 weeks:

1. The first step is to attend your Peace of Mind Planning Session. You’ll fill out a secure online questionnaire (“Family Profile”) before we meet so we can make the best use of our time together. At this Zoom session, you’ll learn all about your options and my flat fees. When you are ready to move forward, I’ll email you an engagement letter and invoice, both of which can be executed online.

2. Next is your Estate Plan Design Meeting. We’ll roll up our sleeves and design your will or trust and other estate planning documents, working off the information you provided in your Family Profile. After this session, I’ll send you a summary of your decisions, draft your documents, and send a copy for your review about two weeks later. I’ll then make any changes or updates you’d like to make. When everything is good to go, we’ll coordinate a Signing Ceremony.

3. Your Signing Ceremony is where you’ll sign your documents with the proper legal formalities, in front of two witnesses and a notary. This session can take place at a location convenient for you. You will receive a Lifeproof Estate Planning Portfolio as well as digital copies of your documents. Following execution of the documents, I am available for free, unlimited annual lifetime consultations regarding your estate plan. Any future updates to your estate will be performed at then-current rates.

An attorney who listens without interrupting and makes sure you fully understand your options before making any decisions! I wouldn’t be doing my job as an attorney otherwise. It’s very important to me that you feel heard and have your questions answered. I’ll also review my process, flat fees, and overall client experience so you know exactly what you are getting and what the investment will be.

When you are ready to move forward, whether at your Peace of Mind Planning Session, or later, let me know. I’ll send you an engagement letter electronically and an invoice via our secure online payment provider. Once these housekeeping items are taken care of, you’ll schedule your Estate Plan Design Meeting.

Let me start by saying what I do NOT need! I do NOT need account statements, social security numbers, or tax returns. I DO need information on what kind of assets you own (house, retirement account, life insurance, etc.), their relative value, and how they are titled (jointly, individually, etc.) Beyond that, I simply need answers to questions about your personal estate planning preferences, including:

* Who you would want raising your minor children if something happened to you and your spouse or partner?

* Who you want to be in charge of your children’s money until they are old enough to mange it themselves?

* Who you want making medical and financial decisions for you in the event of your incapacity?

Don’t worry if you don’t have the answers to these questions right away! You’ll have plenty of time to think things over throughout the process.

Estate planning is the process of getting legal documents in place so that your chosen individuals are appointed to take care of you, your children, your assets, and your finances in the event of your death or incapacity. The process also involves naming the people you want to inherit your assets when you are gone. An “estate plan” is simply a bundle of all the documents needed to accomplish these objectives.

If you don’t currently have a will or trust, you may think you don’t have an estate plan….but you do. It’s just that the state of your residence has written it for you! All states have a default plan for your family and assets in the event of your incapacity or death. That’s the plan you have now. Estate planning is “opting out” of the default plan and putting your own wishes in place.

It depends! Estate planning is not one size fits all, so it’s hard for me to give you a quote without knowing more about you. Even if you believe your situation is relatively simple, there are likely nuances you are not considering. I discuss my fees and process at length in the Peace of Mind Planning Session, after I have counseled you on all your options. I do not discuss my fees outside the Peace of Mind Planning Session or a live Webinar.

I understand that cost is an important factor in choosing an attorney, and that estate planning is a significant investment for many. It is my goal to be as transparent and fair as possible. For that reason, I offer flat fees as opposed to billing by the hour, so you know exactly what your investment will be. I also offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are not happy with our services, I will make it right, or refund your money.

My process is designed to have your estate planning documents signed within 4-6 weeks of your Peace of Mind Planning Session. It depends in part on your schedule and how long it takes for you to review your draft documents.

You will sign my Engagement Agreement electronically at the start of our relationship. In some states all estate planning documents, including wills and trusts, can be signed electronically with an online notary. We will discuss the signing options available to you during the Design Meeting.

I take on a limited clientele each month so I can offer a high level of service to each family. I work with people who value my advice and are seeking a long-term working relationship. I welcome all types of clients, whether individual or married, as well as all types of families including military, LGBTQ+, and blended families.

If you are looking for the cheapest attorney you can find, do not want to devote time to learning about and understanding your options, or do not feel comfortable completing the Family Profile before our session, I am not the right law firm for you, and would be happy to refer you to a lawyer who may be a better fit.

You have two options with your estate planning: a will-based plan, or a revocable living trust-based plan. The vast majority of my clients choose a revocable living trust. A revocable living trust is a document where you appoint a chosen individual to manage your assets should you become incapacitated and distribute them to your family at your death. It is almost always preferable to a will because it is designed to avoid the time, expense, and publicity of probate, which a will cannot avoid.

It comes as a surprise to many of my clients that wills do not avoid probate court…they guarantee it!

I go over the difference between a will and a revocable living trust in depth during the Peace of Mind Planning Session. The most common question I get at the end of this session is, “Why would anybody ever do a will?!” Ultimately, however, the decision is yours.

Probate is the court-supervised process of administering your estate upon your death. If you die without a will, your estate must go through probate before all your money can be distributed to your heirs. And if you die WITH a will…your estate still has to go through probate! The only way to avoid probate is with a revocable living trust.

What’s so bad about probate? Even a simple probate can take years to complete and eats up a percentage of the estate assets for lawyers fees in the meantime. It’s also a public proceeding that makes your will available to anybody who wants to look at it.

Although a will is subject to the probate process, a revocable living trust is designed to bypass it completely.

Unfortunately, even a simple will is still subject to the expense and delays of probate. It’s not the complexity of the document that cause the time and expense, it’s the probate process itself. For this reason, most of my clients choose to create a revocable living trust instead of a will, which is designed for simplicity and to avoid the probate process completely.

However, as part of an overall, comprehensive estate plan, a special “pour-over” will is used to appoint guardians for any minor children alive at your death.

No. This is the biggest myth out there. Estate planning is in no way related to how much money you have, whether you are a married, or whether or not you are a parent.

Estate planning is putting legal documents in place that ensure your assets will go to the people you want, the way you want, when you are gone. It’s about making this as easy as possible on your loved ones during an otherwise difficult time. And we all care about that, no matter how much (or little) money we have.

It’s also about appointing people to manage your property and make health care decisions for you if you are incapacitated, something that matters to all of us regardless of wealth status.

A power of attorney lets you appoint someone to manage your property in the event of your incapacity. You will name someone you trust implicitly as your “agent”. They will step into your shoes and pay your bills, file your taxes, manage your business, etc. if you cannot.

I include a power of attorney for both spouses in every estate plan I create.

A designation of health care surrogate allows you to appoint someone you trust to manage your medical decisions should you be unable to do so. You can also designate a health care surrogate for your minor child in case you are unable to make health care decisions for your child. A living will (not to be confused with a revocable living trust or last will and testament) allows you to make certain medical decisions regarding end-of-life decisions, ahead of time.

I include a designation of health care surrogate and living will for both spouses in every estate plan I create.

Yes! I am happy to have a quick, 15-minute complimentary discovery call before your schedule your Peace of Mind Planning Session. I do not discuss fees outside the Peace of Mind Planning Session or a live Webinar, but I am happy to answer any basic questions you may have. Please email me in order to receive a link to book a 15-minute discovery call.

No problem! A revocable living trust can be changed or revoked entirely as long as the creator is alive and has mental capacity to do so. If you have a will, any guardians for minor children can also be changed through an amendment (called a “codicil”) to your pour-over will.

All other estate planning documents (power of attorney, health care proxy, etc.) are typically recreated as it is more cost-effective.

The main point is that your documents can (and probably will be) updated as your life, your assets, and the law all change.

Yes! In some ways, you need estate planning MORE than married folks. Many non-married individuals want to leave their money to charities and friends, not their closest living relative. Unfortunately, if you die without getting this in writing, your estate could end up in the hands of that distant cousin you’ve met twice. And it’s important for everyone to have a Health Care Proxy and Financial Power of Attorney.

Great question! I have yet to meet a parent who actually wants their kids to inherit a big lump sum on their 18th birthday (which is the age you are legally entitled to inherit). Yet that is exactly what will happen if you don’t get an estate plan saying otherwise. The good news is that with a trust, you can choose a later age for your kids to inherit – say 25, or 30. You have lots of options. We’ll discuss them at your Peace of Mind Planning Session.

You nominate legal guardians in a will, or a pour-over will that goes along with your revocable living trust. If you pass away without nominating guardians, a judge will make the decision for you. You also run the risk that family members will fight over who gets custody because you didn’t make your preference clear.

My firm goes the extra mile and helps you nominate short-term guardians to care for your children in the interim while the long-term guardians are appointed. And did you know you can “confidentially exclude” people you would never want raising your children no matter what? We can help with that!

You can. Keep in mind that online document providers and law firms are two different things. They provide two different services. This is why the cost is different. Online documents providers offer form documents you fill out and execute yourself with extremely limited, if any, access to attorney advice. They are not a law firm and do not give legal advice. An attorney, on the other hand, counsels you and gives you legal advice based on your specific circumstances. As an attorney, I will customize your documents, ensure they are signed with the proper formalities, and pick up the phone when you call with questions. If these things are important to you, you should work with an attorney. If they are not, online document providers may be a better option.

Estate planning is an area of law that is state-specific. That means you should work with an attorney licensed in the state in which you reside. I focus on Florida estate planning clients. If you are not a Florida resident, message me, and I will be happy to refer you to an estate planning attorney licensed in your state.

If you are a business owner or nonprofit, I also help with LLC and nonprofit corporation formation, contracts, tax issues, website legal notices, and much more, if your matter relates to Florida, D.C., Arizona, or Hawaii.