Dad said yes to a durable power of attorney. Good. Do not reward the moment by handing him the first broad form you find or asking a lawyer only, “What do you charge?”
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The useful question is: What work is included, and will the finished document let the person Dad chooses do the jobs Dad intends?
A durable power of attorney is Dad’s delegation of authority. It does not transfer ownership of his property, remove his right to act, or give you permission to overrule him. Missouri law also says an agent cannot require the principal to act, or stop him from acting, against his will. The document is a side door Dad controls, not a set of handcuffs. See Missouri Revised Statutes sections 404.705 and 404.710 on the Sources page.
Start with the jobs, not the document package
Before calling lawyers, make a one-page list of the jobs Dad wants someone able to perform. Use verbs: pay utilities, speak with an insurer, manage a checking account, sign a tax return, deal with a landlord, sell a vehicle, handle real estate, or run a business.
Then list the jobs he does not want delegated. A narrower document can take more drafting than a generic one, but “general” is not automatically better value. Missouri law treats some powers as special enough that they must be expressly authorized. Trust changes, gifts, beneficiary arrangements, health care decisions, successor appointments, and other estate-sensitive acts deserve direct questions, not assumptions. Missouri Revised Statute section 404.710 is collected on our Sources page.
If Dad owns only an ordinary bank account and a car, the interview may be fairly contained. If he owns rental property, a business interest, property in another state, a trust, complicated beneficiary designations, or accounts with transfer restrictions, expect more review. That review is one of the legitimate things that drives the fee up.
Ask what the quoted fee actually buys
Get the scope in writing. Ask whether the quote includes:
• A private meeting with Dad so the lawyer can take his instructions directly.
• Review of his existing power of attorney, trust, will, deeds, and beneficiary arrangements.
• Both financial and health care documents, or only one of them.
• Advice about choosing one agent, co-agents, and successors.
• Drafting special permissions or restrictions for gifts, trusts, real estate, digital property, or a business.
• One round of changes after Dad reads the draft.
• The signing meeting, acknowledgment, witnesses, and notarization.
• Certified or duplicate originals and instructions for storing them.
• Recording work if a later real estate transaction requires it.
• Help presenting the document to a bank, brokerage, insurer, or other institution.
• A later call when an institution rejects the document or requests its own form.
A low drafting fee can become an expensive stack of separate tasks if the signing, revisions, recording, or first use are outside the engagement. A higher flat fee may cover those tasks. The number by itself tells you very little.
The people named can change the work
Dad may want two children to act together because it feels safer. That choice can also make routine transactions slower if both signatures are required. Missouri permits multiple agents and allows their authority to be joint, separate, prioritized, or divided by subject. Ask the lawyer to explain how Dad’s chosen arrangement will work at the bank counter, during a property closing, and when one agent is unavailable. See Missouri Revised Statute section 404.707 on the Sources page.
Name the successor question too. An otherwise careful document can become useless when the only agent dies, refuses, becomes unavailable, or cannot qualify. Missouri law permits successor agents. Deciding the order and any limits adds interview and drafting time, but it can prevent a fresh legal problem later. See Missouri Revised Statute section 404.723 on the Sources page.
Do not hide a difficult signing situation
Tell the lawyer before accepting the quote if Dad cannot travel, has trouble hearing, communicates slowly, tires quickly, reads poorly, or wants someone else in the room. Those facts may change the meeting length, location, staffing, or number of visits.
Do not answer for him to make the appointment go faster. Dad is the client if the lawyer represents him. He must provide the instructions and decide whom to appoint. A lawyer may want to speak with him alone. That is not an accusation against you. It helps establish that the document reflects his choice.
Missouri requires a durable power of attorney to use durability language and to be signed, dated, and acknowledged in the manner required for real estate conveyances. Recording is generally not required merely to make it valid, although transactions affecting real estate can create a recording issue. See Missouri Revised Statute section 404.705 on the Sources page.
Price the agent’s working file
The document is not the whole job. Once an agent begins acting, Missouri law imposes duties to act in Dad’s interest, avoid impaired conflicts, use care, communicate with him when reasonably possible, and follow his instructions. See Missouri Revised Statute section 404.714 on the Sources page.
Ask whether the lawyer will provide a short operating memo for the agent. It should cover how to sign in an agent capacity, keep Dad’s money separate, retain statements and receipts, document instructions, and record any reimbursement. If that guidance costs extra, put it on the comparison sheet. Saving on drafting and then paying to reconstruct undocumented transactions is poor arithmetic.
Compare the same assignment
Give each lawyer the same facts and ask for the same breakdown: consultation, document review, drafting, revision, signing, copies, implementation help, recording work, travel, and later questions. Ask whether the fee is flat or hourly, what triggers additional billing, who performs the work, and what happens if Dad decides not to sign.
Do not ask the lawyer to promise that every institution will accept the document without review. Instead, ask what the engagement includes if an institution raises a problem. That answer tells you whether you are buying a document or a usable plan.
Tonight’s move: sit with Dad and write three headings on one sheet: “Jobs I want help with,” “Jobs I keep,” and “People I trust to act.” Then call two Missouri estate-planning lawyers with that same sheet and ask each for a written scope covering drafting, signing, and first use. If the situation is already tangled, use Local Help in St. Louis to identify the right kind of help before anyone signs anything.