Hope Wood receives Expertise Award for her probate services

Hope Wood, JD, has been named one of the best probate lawyers in Des Moines by Expertise.com.

Expertise.com finds and reviews the top service professionals in over 200 industries across the country. When selecting the best probate attorneys, the team reviewed each attorney’s accreditations, licenses, awards, and continued education; analyzed reviews from clients; and used mystery shoppers to gauge their knowledge, friendliness, and professionalism.

Hope Wood is an estate-planning and probate attorney in Des Moines with a JD from Drake University Law School and nearly a decade of experience in the field. In addition to handling probate cases, Hope creates wills, living wills, power of attorney documents, and revocable trusts for Iowa families and individuals using her exclusive Will in a Day® flat-fee program. 

Hope has always had a special interest in helping families navigate the complicated probate process, which is the court-supervised procedure for transferring the assets of a deceased individual when they don’t transfer by law or contract.

Unlike many attorneys — who only take on large estates in order to increase their income — Hope focuses on small estates where the sum of the assets is $200,000 or less. Her goal is to help average Iowans, who are otherwise overlooked by probate specialists, quickly and easily close their loved one’s estate during the grieving process. 

Hope’s transparent and affordable fee structure also makes her stand out among probate attorneys. For regular estate administration in Iowa, attorneys are able to charge 2% of the value of the estate, excluding life insurance (Iowa Code 633.197). Unlike most probate attorneys, for a regular estate administration, Hope bills either an hourly rate or the statutory probate attorney fee, whichever is lower. As a result, many beneficiaries receive thousands of dollars more from the estate than they otherwise would.

As an attorney, Hope cares about the well-being of all Iowans, not just her own clients. She provides free education on probate and other estate-planning issues through webinars, online FAQs, and blogs. Her goal is to teach Iowa families how to protect themselves and their loved ones through estate planning, even those who don’t go on to become her clients.

This focus on service and education is backed up by feedback and testimonials from Hope’s clients. She has over 150 five-star reviews on Google, with a total rating of 4.9 stars.

If you need assistance navigating the probate maze or other estate-planning challenges, don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or schedule an appointment today.