The Children get Stuck with the work

I wanted to share a story with you that a good friend of mine and associate recently shared with me about one of his clients. It was very applicable to what I see all the time.

"I had the incredible opportunity to attend my aunt’s birthday party and take this photo. It was indeed a happy occasion for all – especially when she invited everyone back for her 100th birthday party in 2011.

While enjoying the celebration and festivities, I was reminded of the sobering thought of all the financial and legal plans that her only daughter has been saddled with as her mother aged. As the children of aging parents, we never know if we will be buying a celebration balloon like this for their 99th birthday – and it is usually the least of our challenges as the years creep forward for a centenarian parent.

While attending her birthday party, my mind drifted to the many issues her only child has had to deal with for nearly 25 years. Getting to this 99th birthday has been a lot more work and worry for the daughter than for the birthday mother. The daughter has had to manage finances, coordinate moves, work with doctors, screen assisted living homes, and of course, work with the attorneys.

I was personally relieved, knowing I could attend the celebration, wish my aunt a “Happy Birthday”, and return home. My cousin, on the other hand, would be at the party to the very end. She would be cleaning up the leftover cake, policing the party room at the assisted living facility, etc. And she still has to deal with all the fiduciary responsibilities that continue long after the party has ended."
 
People deal with these types of real issues every day – most of which are neither easy nor pleasant. Working with attorneys and other professionals should be the least of their worries. After all, they have to start planning for the next big birthday party for their mom!

How to eat an elephant

Aah, it is the age old conundrum.  How to eat an elephant?  It is a much used description for the large and seemingly undoable challenges we all face.  In our legal practice, it is often the best way to describe the challenge of estate planning.  It’s not a simple fast foot dish to take on.  Instead, estate planning is the proverbial “elephant” and the successful plan will address your estate plan much like the old “how to eat an elephant answer…….you take it one bite at a time.”

Estate planning is often viewed as the “elephant” challenge for many people.  And as an attorney, it is my job to help turn the “elephant” into bite sized tasks.  And advise on where to start and where to take the next bite.  Since one of the most common comments from a client is, “I just don’t know where to start”, I knew we needed to talk about “eating the elephant.”

You know the old saying, “How do you eat an elephant?”  One bite at a time.  Most people don’t know how to prepare the elephant (estate planning).  After my discussion with Bill and Sally, they understood what it was to create a process where you can reduce the different elements of estate planning into bite sized pieces.  This allowed them to take them on, one element at a time – dealing with those that were most pressing first.  After they understood it was “one bite at a time,” you could feel a huge “sigh of relief” instantly hit the room.

Just like an elephant, it might take a while to eat it one bite at a time.  But with the right plan and persistence, Bill and Sally eventually saw the successful (and less stressful) result.  The key is to approach it with a bite sized view of the challenge rather than facing a daunting elephant-sized single project.  There is a great article talking about the ways that businesses (as opposed to estate plans) use this approach to take on these types of elephant issues.  The article is by E-Myth, and you’ll find it at this location, "How to Eat an Elephant" - might give you some interesting perspectives on applying the “elephant eating solution” to your other business situations.  As for elephants, they really aren’t that hard to eat…

Top Areas of Focus - based on Client Needs

I mentioned in an earlier posting the Third Annual WealthCounsel Survey of Attorneys in Estate Planning and promised to share some of the more relevant nuggets with my readers. Here is another nugget...

Attorneys were asked what areas they were seeing as the highest growth areas for their clients over the next five years. Based on feedback from their clients and the increase in demand, here is a listing of the top areas most estate planning attorneys will most likely be focusing on in the next five years:

1. Business Entity Planning for Estate Planning Purposes
2. Beneficiary Inheritance Asset Protection Planning
3. Elder Law Planning
4. Post Mortem Administration
5. Business Succession Planning
6. Lifetime Planning
7. Tax Avoidance Strategies

Notice any patterns?  First, they are indicative of the aging population we will all be serving.  Second, there is a lot of "planning" that needs to take place.  Third, there are more "business" related issues than in the past.  Finally, and always on the list, how to I get to keep more of what I have and not pay as many taxes.

I'm seeing a very similar pattern in our geography as well and our clients are facing many of the same issues.  I guess the survey was pretty accurate.

When Grandma won't leave...

I met with Frank and Joy the other day and they described a problem that is not only very common but more and more of my clients are wrestling with the same issue.  So I thought I would share their story.

Grandma is a feisty, spirited personality who has been living in her same home for that past 40 years.  It is what she knows and it is where she raised her kids and where she spent her best years with her now deceased husband.  She wants to stay in her own home.

The problem isn't the house - it is being able to function in the house on her own now that all her kids have grown up and started their own lives.  She unfortunately doesn’t really have the ability to function safely on her own, day after day. She isn’t necessarily a danger to herself at this point but there are things that go on that make this a difficult situation.  There is the issue of physical security, getting around to the store for food and supplies, basic upkeep of the house and a host of other day to day issues.  Not overwhelming - yet - but she is headed in that direction.

She has several children including Frank and Joy, who are trying to grapple with grandma's situation. They came to me looking for an experienced voice to give them a heads up on how to deal with this very sensitive and personal issue - not to mention the accompanying financial issues. And as with many in this situation, it is a a first experience for both the adult children as well as the Grandma.  Sound familiar??

In this case, Frank and Joy were able to put together a plan over the next few years, include Grandma in the planning and allow her time to "get used to" the idea of not being in her home.  There were a lot of emotions and issues to deal with but eventually Grandma moved out, one of the children took over living in and caring for her house and it had a happy ending. 

  

The "Envelope" Please...

One of the largest and most respected attorney organizations  in the country is called WealthCounsel.  They just released their Third Annual Survey of Industry Trends and there were some "Ah-ha's" and interesting results that I thought you might be interested in hearing about.  Since this group is exclusively used "by attorneys" and "for attorneys" it isn't very often the general public gets to see this information.  Let's take a peak...

While many businesses are down, 40% of the attorney's said their business had increased - at least in the estate planning area.  Why?  More people were focused on updating and getting some plans in place to hold onto more of what they had after many had lost a bundle due to the economic crisis.  This was not only good for the attorney's but was very good for their clients to get an update and better plans in place.

Here is an "Ah-ha" from the study.  They asked the number one reason why clients plan - any guesses?  The number one reason was to "avoid probate" and minimize estate taxes.  Not the first response most would have thought.  Along the same lines, another major factor that motivates clients to do their planning is to answer the question, "What would happen if they don't plan?"  Most attorney's expect to see an increase in activity as the population of baby-boomers starts aging - which is happening right now.

Very interesting results from this years survey...I will share more in another post.

Special Forces or the whole Army?

I was in a meeting the other day with some clients and they asked me a very interesting question, “What should I tell my friend that is looking for an attorney and trying to decide between a smaller law firm and one of the larger, multi-state firms?” Good question and one that always makes you a bit nervous to answer. By the way, this is not the first time I have been asked this question.

Not knowing any of the circumstances around their friend, I decided the best way to answer it was to refer them to a blog post from a fellow Wealth Counsel attorney, Dennis Brislawn of Brislawn Lofton LLC. I thought Dennis had one of the best and simplest answers to this question I have seen in a long time. His post was titled, Special Forces or the whole Army. I would encourage you to click on the title and read his description.

What more can I say – this is perfect. We are the “Special Forces” group and whether we are Rangers or any other Special Forces team, we are all about “expediency”, and “efficiency” in getting done what our clients need. We aren’t encumbered by red tape and politics or a host of other barriers that exist in larger firms. We just simply get it done. Thanks Dennis, well said.

Where's the Personality in the Yellow Pages?

When the Yellow Pages first came out it was really great an innovative – and really the only place that was easy to go to find something you needed. And we usually made our purchases based off the size of the ad the business had placed. Why? We figured if they could dump a ton of money into something like an ad in the Yellow Pages they must be stable enough and reputable.

Then came the internet and the world changed. Today, who needs the Yellow Pages? Who cares about the size of your ad? Who actually goes to it and looks anything up anymore? For most, it goes from doorstep to recycle bin. Why? Because it is faster and more informative to do a Google search and get a list of options for anything and everything we need.

Now, we have an even stronger way to accomplish this – social media. Social media takes the internet and websites to a whole new level – again – just like the move from Yellow Pages to the website. Now, we don’t just want information, we want to know what others are saying about the law firm or business and what “experiences” have others had with them. Then, based on what others have experienced, we can make a much more informed and accurate buying decision.

This is awesome for attorneys. Now, through the use of simple blog, I can share with you my thoughts, ideas, issues and stories to help you both “learn” and “experience” what we do for our clients and how we solve their problems. So no longer do you need to pick the biggest ad in the Yellow Pages and hope they meet your need. Now you get to “hear” what others “experienced” and can decide (with a ton more information) whether we are right for you and you are right for us. The world just got easier and better.