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Iowa estate planning and probate attorneys you can trust.

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Hope Wood, JD helps you leave a legacy for your loved ones, not a to-do list.

Estate planning isn’t something you do for yourself. It’s a love letter to your family, friends, and beneficiaries. It’s a way to ensure that your loved ones, especially your children, will be taken care of in the future, no matter what life throws your way.

As experienced estate-planning attorneys, we’ll help you put a plan in place that reflects your own personal wishes, meets Iowa legal requirements, and considers all eventualities.

By investing just a few hours of your time in the process, you’ll secure a peace of mind that will last a lifetime.

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We provide personalized support for your unique situation.

Estate Planning

Protect your family’s future.

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A family of three interacting at a kitchen table with food, a pizza, and bowls of salad and toppings, while a man in the background works on a laptop.

Having a will is beneficial in almost every circumstance. Wills help us translate conversations into legally binding actions. We design comprehensive estate plans to help protect your family’s future. We can prepare a full estate plan in less than two hours with our Will in a Day® program.

Learn more about estate planning

Probate

Close a loved one’s estate.

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An elderly woman with white hair and glasses kisses a young woman with brown hair on the forehead. They are outdoors with green foliage in the background, and the young woman is smiling.

With compassion and respect as our guiding values, our goal is to help grieving families in Iowa close their loved ones’ estates with ease and peace of mind. We navigate the complex probate process for you. Ensuring that the deceased’s wishes are fulfilled and that their estate is settled correctly in Iowa.

Learn more about probate

Find peace of mind with a Will in a Day®

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Will in a Day® is a comprehensive
estate-planning package available for a flat fee that includes:

  • A last will and testament

  • An asset-transfer plan

  • Power of attorney documents

  • Living Will

  • A testamentary trust for those with minor children

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Get your will and power of attorney documents finalized and signed in approximately 2 hours.

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Book your appointment with an experienced attorney.

Receive an intake form in advance (about 30 minutes to complete).

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Illustration of a black cat with a curved tail, standing and facing left.

Meet in person (90 minutes), over Zoom (60 minutes), to discuss and finalize your estate-planning documents.

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Sign your documents in the presence of witnesses and have us notarize them.

Store your completed documents in a safe place and tell your executor where they are.

Your family deserves the best.

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Best Estate planning lawyers in Des Moines

Hope Wood, JD, has been consistently named one of the three best probate attorneys in Des Moines by Expertise.com. With more than a decade of experience working probate cases in Iowa, she has the expertise — and the compassion — to make the process as painless as possible for you and your family.

“Thank-you Michelle and Hope Wood for excellent communication, prices, support, planning.... everything.”

-Vulky S.

“Kind, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and comforting - everything a professional should be, but rarely is. Working with Hope was pure pleasure.”

-Rick S.

How to get started

We’ll show you that estate-planning can be simpler than you think. Here’s how to get started:

Learn More.

01

Read about the estate-planning process and get your questions answered. Check out FAQs about last will and testament, revocable trusts, power of attorney, probate, and living wills.

Hear From Clients.

02

Read testimonials from my previous clients to get a sense of who we are and what to expect.

Make An Appointment.

03

Set up a time to meet with us virtually or in-person (your preference). You don’t need to call or email to set up a meeting. Just book a time directly on the calendar found here.

Meet the Team Behind Hope Wood, JD.

Meet the Team Behind Hope Wood, JD.

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A woman with glasses smiling in front of a white brick wall.
A smiling woman with long, wavy blonde hair wearing a multicolored tweed blazer, black top, and large pink pearl necklace against a plain white background.
A smiling woman with long, wavy blonde hair wearing a multicolored tweed blazer, black top, and large pink pearl necklace against a plain white background.
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A woman with short hair and blue eyes smiling, wearing a light pink top and a maroon cardigan, standing in front of dark curtains.
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At Hope Wood, JD, we spend every day immersed in legal details and paperwork in order to meet our client’s needs as quickly and effectively as possible. When the days get long, our fun-loving team — along with our dogs — keep us going. We support one another with smiles and compassion, just as we do our clients.

Get to know us

“All the details were covered and explained and all our questions were answered in one session. It was an easy, painless way to get our revocable trust and will properly prepared-- thanks to the pros at Hope Wood JD.”

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Large white quotation marks on a black background.

-Brian B.

Get the answers you need.

Have a question about estate planning, power of attorney, or probate? Reach out today and let us know how we can help you. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

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