Talk directly with attorney Ryan P. Duffy about your family, your assets, and the right estate plan for your situation. You will leave with a clear recommendation and a flat-fee quote before any work begins.
Book Your ConsultationA focused, honest conversation designed to give you clarity — not a sales pitch.
Ryan reviews your family situation, assets, and concerns so you understand exactly where you stand today.
You’ll know whether a will-based plan or a trust-based plan fits your needs — and why.
The total cost of your plan in writing, before any commitment. No hourly billing, no surprises.
You won’t be routed to a paralegal, a sales rep, or a junior associate. The 30-minute call is with the attorney who will write your plan.
Ryan P. Duffy is the founding attorney of Estate Planning of the Carolinas, a virtual estate planning law firm built around flat-fee pricing, plain-language documents, and remote planning with coordinated mobile-notary signing. He is admitted to practice law in both states the firm serves:
Ryan earned his Juris Doctor degree and built a practice focused exclusively on estate planning, probate, and trust administration — not a general practice that dabbles in wills on the side. Ryan handles the legal planning and document review; mobile-notary assistance supports the signing appointment.
The firm is based in Belmont, North Carolina, in the Charlotte metro area, but serves clients across both Carolinas through secure video meetings and coordinated mobile-notary signing. There’s no need to drive to an office to get a high-quality estate plan.
Service areas include Charlotte, Raleigh, Asheville, Greensboro, Wilmington, and Durham in NC; and in Greenville, Charleston, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, and Bluffton in SC. Your flat-fee quote reflects your family’s planning needs and the agreed scope.
Tell us a little about your family and what you want help with. It is fine if you are unsure who to nominate as guardian or how a trust should work—we can talk through those questions together.
A practical, structured 30 minutes — agenda below so there are no surprises.
You’ll know the total cost of your estate plan before you commit. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices.
The 30-minute consultation is free. There is no charge, no card on file, and no obligation. Most people walk away with enough clarity to decide whether they need a plan at all — and many take weeks before booking the next step. That’s fine.
If you decide to move forward, everything is flat-fee priced. You’ll get the total cost in writing before signing an engagement letter. Rough ranges for current packages:
Final pricing depends on your specific situation. The whole point of the free consultation is to give you a real number, not a brochure number.
A simple path from your first call to a written quote — on your timeline.
You receive the meeting details so you know how to join the consultation.
Ryan walks through your situation, answers your questions, and recommends the right approach.
Your proposal describes the scope, price, and next steps before drafting begins.
Trust-based planning typically involves two Teams meetings, some homework, and a mobile-notary signing appointment. These stages show the sequence—not a guaranteed week-by-week delivery schedule.
Discuss your children, your assets, and the decisions you want help making.
Complete the requested homework while Ryan prepares your plan for review.
Work through your questions, trustee and guardian choices, and any revisions before signing.
Sign with mobile-notary assistance and the required witnesses and formalities for your documents. Receive instructions for putting the plan into practice.
The questions we get most often before someone books the call.
Ryan opens by asking about your family, your assets, and what’s prompting you to look at estate planning right now. He’ll spend most of the 30 minutes listening so the recommendation actually fits your situation. The last few minutes are for his recommendation — will-based plan, trust-based plan, or something narrower like a stand-alone power of attorney — and a clear next step.
You receive a plain-English explanation of the recommended approach and a written flat-fee proposal describing the next steps before drafting begins.
You do not need a finished plan or a final list of decision-makers. A rough picture of your family, home, accounts, and life insurance is useful. If guardian or trustee choices feel difficult, bring the questions rather than waiting until you have resolved them. Ryan can help you compare the roles and think through backups.
If you already have a will, trust, or power of attorney, you don’t need to send it ahead of time — we can review it on a follow-up call if you decide to move forward.
Ryan is licensed only in North Carolina and South Carolina, so estate plans are limited to residents of those two states. If you’re moving to NC or SC soon, we can still talk — we’ll just wait to draft documents until you’ve established residency.
If you’re in another state, we’re happy to point you toward a flat-fee estate planning firm in your state. We don’t take engagements we’re not licensed for, even when asked.
Yes. The 30-minute consultation is genuinely free — no card on file, no “consultation fee credited toward your retainer,” and no obligation to hire the firm. You can use it to decide whether you need an estate plan at all.
If you do decide to move forward, everything else is flat-fee priced, with the total cost in writing before you sign an engagement letter.
Yes — in fact, we strongly recommend it. Estate planning decisions for a married couple work best when both spouses are part of the conversation from the start. You’ll need to align on executors, guardians for minor children, and how to handle blended-family or second-marriage issues, and it’s much faster to do that in real time than over email.
Both spouses can join the same Teams meeting from the same screen or from two devices. There’s no extra charge for a joint consultation.
Most people aren’t ready to commit on the first call, and that’s expected. Estate planning is a significant decision — you’re naming who handles your money, your children, and your medical decisions if something happens to you. We’d rather you take the time to think it through than rush a decision you’ll regret.
After the call, you can consider the written proposal and Ryan’s recommendation, ask questions, and decide whether you want to move forward.
Most plans take about 4–6 weeks and involve two Teams meetings, some homework, and mobile-notary signing assistance. Timing depends on your decisions, document review, and signing arrangements.
If you have an upcoming trip, procedure, or other deadline, let Ryan know so you can discuss what is feasible.
The consultation is a good moment to find out whether your existing plan is still doing what you need. Common red flags include: documents older than 5–7 years, an out-of-state move since signing, a divorce or remarriage, the death of a named executor or trustee, or major changes in assets (selling a business, inheriting property, retiring).
If your existing plan is solid, Ryan will say so — even if that means there’s nothing to hire him for. If it needs a will-vs-trust rethink, updated beneficiaries, or a clean rewrite, you’ll get a flat-fee quote for the work.
Book your free 30-minute consultation. No pressure, no obligation — just a clear answer.
Book Your Consultation