The Number One Problem With Estate Plans

You might be thinking that the biggest problem with creating a trust is meeting with the attorney, and the drafting of the documents. That unfortunately is not the case. Most attorneys, experienced in drafting trusts, have a very thorough source of language and expertise to draw from to accomplish your trust desires. The drafting and signing of a trust is not as difficult for the experienced attorney, and does not count toward the failure of an estate plan.

A recent article in Worth Magazine, October 2007 interviewed attorneys and wealthy persons as to why their estate plans were not implemented. The conclusion of the article was that even though documents were signed, attorneys did little to follow through with clients that did not fund their trusts. Clients typically do not want the attorney to charge for tasks the client feels they can handle, such as changing the name on bank accounts. It really is a simple process, but clients get distracted. Attorneys, for their fault, do not follow through and make sure all has been completed. The attorney does not want to be a pest, and the client is too busy.

We at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis & Leslie are not surprised. Time and again, potential clients come to us with a trust that has not been implemented properly. In our skeptical view, we believe that lawyers want to be paid for the trust drafting, and then really don’t want to do any more. If the client does not fund the trust (See this article how to fund a trust), then the attorney on the death of one of their clients simply blames the client and gets paid again. This time the fees are greater, because a probate has to be opened. There is no other reasonable explanation for such behavior.

What is worse is that the persons seeking a trust, are under the illusion that they are protected when they try to do a trust through internet forms, lawyers that offer $500 costs for any trust and other nonsense, without even speaking with a client. One such attorney promotes a solution in his offer for a $595 dollar trust, to provide a letter fully explaining all the steps to take to compete the transfer of property. However, this does not really address the difficulty of doing these tasks with the knowledge that they are done right and without immediate tax consequences.

We find that the attorney can assist far better with specific questions, stress the importance and follow-up with the client on issues that arise, than to dump the problem at the lap of the client. Just as in any purchase or service, the do-it-yourself patron will pay far less that someone hired to do the trust for you. However, we are not changing oil in your car. A qualified attorney should help you through your process with ease and without excessive charge.

But wait! The client thinks, I do not want to pay an attorney to do what I can do. The fact is that most competent attorneys charge a flat fee for all the work. We know the work involved in changing title to your home, assets and accounts. Some work can be done with a simple letter. Some changes require a form. In all cases, the work is not significant and should be included with your trust to allow you the best protection. Call us for your consultation if your attorney is not doing his or her job at 1-888-752-7474 or Contact Us online.