how we’re different

Explaining how we’re different first requires an explanation of what many experience when working with a “traditional” attorney. If you’ve ever worked with a lawyer to prepare estate planning documents, this will likely sound familiar.

The Traditional Experience

During the traditional estate planning experience, you’ll go in and meet with a lawyer who will often make things seem very complicated and confusing. You’ll have a good idea that the lawyer is smart and seems to know what they’re doing, so you’ll nod and answer questions as if you understand everything. Because you want to do the right thing for your family, you’ll have the lawyer prepare the documents for you and you’ll sign the documents, feeling relieved that you’ve got that taken care of.

You’ll take your documents home, stick them on a shelf or in a drawer, mark estate planning off on your checklist as DONE and never think about it again.

You might remember your lawyer said something about moving your bank accounts into the trust. So you’ll go to the bank, forget what you were supposed to do, call your lawyer’s office, get a voicemail, have to leave the bank and wait for a call back, (which could take several hours or days), and by that time, you’ll have gotten busy with other things and never get around to moving that bank account.

A few weeks later, you’ll get a bill in the mail for $67.50 for 15 minutes of your lawyer’s time for answering a couple of questions. You’ll make a mental note – don’t call the lawyer ever again.

Several years later, you’ll refinance your house or sell it and buy a new one and forget that you were supposed to let your lawyer know or make sure you kept the title in the name of the trust.

Your children will get older, making your guardianship choices outdated, but you don’t want to call your lawyer because you know you’ll get a bill in the mail two weeks later.

You’ll hear something about a change in the tax law, but you figure you’d surely get a letter in the mail from your lawyer if it was something that affected you, so you don’t worry about it. And, you’d have to dig through boxes to find your trust documents so you could remember your lawyer’s name and find their contact information. Who has time for that?

It’s not until you become incapacitated or die and your family finds the binder you stuck up on a shelf several years before and never looked at again, that they’ll realize your plan is so outdated that it has nothing to do with your life, your assets, and the law.

Your family is at a loss. They don’t know where to turn or what to do, so they contact the same lawyer you used to prepare the documents, who is as happy to probate your assets, which never made it into the trust.

HOW DO I KNOW ALL THIS?

Because not too long ago, it happened to my family, and I swore it would never happen to my clients when I created my own firm. And I’ve seen how easily it can happen just like this both personally and professionally.

Unfortunately, what I discovered is that the estate planning industry was not designed to serve growing families who experience significant change on their way to success. It was designed to serve clients who were preparing for death.

OUR FIRM HELPS YOU PREPARE FOR LIFE

What makes our firm different is that we are built with the needs of growing families and individuals in mind. We understand you are BUSY, you are growing, you are planning for a life of prosperity and you value ease, convenience and efficiency.

Perhaps you are raising children and/or caring for elderly parents while also working hard to build your own nest egg for a lifetime of support.

You want to know you have made the best decisions for your family and that your plan will work when your loved ones need it most. You want to make sure your children will be taken care of in the best way possible and will be properly prepared to receive your wealth when it is time. You want to make sure your minor children would be raised by the people you choose, and never by anyone you wouldn't want, and that your teens and adult children are properly prepared to care for you and what you leave behind. You want to feel confident that you've made the right choices, and handled everything so that you aren't leaving behind a mess, when something happens.

This is our focus too!

We offer so much more than a “one-size-fits-all” set of documents that you will likely never update or look at again. We are here to ensure that your loved ones have a trusted advisor to turn to when you are no longer here.  And, to support you in planning for your legacy as well as your life.

We’ve developed unique systems to give you the same access to a Personal Family Lawyer as was previously only available to the super-wealthy so you can have the guidance you need to build and maintain a life of prosperity and wealth. And, with our firm as your Personal Family Lawyer, you can keep your family out of court and out of conflict, which is the greatest risk to the people you love and all you have created.

Our Team Is Here For You!

We encourage communication with our clients. In fact, we’ve thrown out the time clocks so you never have to be afraid to call with a quick question (or even a not-so-quick question). Everything we do is billed on a flat-fee basis, agreed to in advance, so there are never any surprises.

We have systems in place to serve you. When you call our office to ask your quick question, you won’t have to wait days for a phone call back. You’ll get your question answered, right away. And, if you need to schedule a more in-depth legal or strategic call with me, a call will be scheduled when we’re both available and ready for the call so we can make the very best use of your time and not waste your time by leaving voicemail after voicemail back and forth.

And, we ensure the most important details of your planning are followed through on and help you make sure your plan continues to work throughout your lifetime.

One day you will need a lawyer. I don’t know why and I don’t know when, but when you do, you will be grateful you can call on us and we’ll be here to advise you, help you find the right counsel, or get you out of a jam.

We Help Transfer Your “Family Wealth”

Family Wealth is so much more than financial wealth. We believe your financial wealth is only about a quarter of your overall “Family Wealth,” which encompasses everything you care about, your values, insights, stories, and experience — your intellectual, spiritual, and human assets.

These assets are what make you who you are and sum up what is most important to you.

As part of our Planning process, we guide you to consider and plan for those most often lost assets. And it’s included FREE with every plan.

Unlike the traditional estate planning process, our firm focuses on identifying and building your Family Wealth during your lifetime and leaving a legacy of love that goes far beyond money after you are gone.

We’ve developed a tool that allows us to pass on your whole Family Wealth, including your Intellectual, Spiritual and Human assets, which we can discuss in further detail during our Life and Legacy Planning Session.

We look forward to helping you secure your life and legacy for the people you love most!

Sincerely,

Daniel N. Carr, Esq.