You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘A Band Beyond Description’ category.
I got a lot of good vibes sent my way from insurance professionals after I posted this the first time. Enjoy the flashback!
“You know, the only people that are grateful when someone’s dead is the recipient of life insurance, man.”
-Phillip Morrow, Pan America Insurance, Salesman of the year
Okay, this cracked me up, but it also made me think. “My name is Marc and I am a Dead Head who believes in the power of life insurance!” Hi Marc! I know many people both inside and outside of the Grateful Dead community who like to live in the moment and not think too much (or at all) about the future. Don’t get me wrong, it is completely alright to live in the moment. Ram Dass put it like this: “Remember, Be here Now.” While it is critical for everbody’s mental health to do a decent amount of living in the moment, it is equally important to take some mental trips into the future and to make some plans for that future. It’s like doing future you a favor- you dig? I have seen the power of a good, properly placed life insurance policy. The next time your taking a mental trip to the future- think about what life insurance could do for you and your family. After all according to Mr. Morrow, after you purchase a life insurance policy “Your going to be so free man…You’re going to be like flying!”
Since it costs a lot to win, and even more to lose,
You and me bound to spend some time wondering what to choose.
Goes to show, you don’t ever know.
Watch each card you play and play it slow.
Wait until that deal come ‘round.
Don’t you let that deal go down, no, no.
-Deal written by Robert Hunter
Sure, I learned the law behind what is involved in a Will Contest in law school but the practical, nuts and bolts end of a Will Contest can be learned just by listening to one song. A successful Will Contest has the effect of undoing a Will or proving that one Will is valid over another Will; or that the person making the will made some sort of unnatural disposition of assets that was procured by fraud, duress or mistake, among others.
Will Contests are almost impossible to win, largely due to the fact that the person with the best evidence as to whether or not the Will was improper is deceased. I have never really seen anyone win a Will Contest. Even if you “win” do you really “win”- after all it’s going to cost a lot to win and even more to lose (truer words have never been spoken). Something to keep in mind: your worst case scenario- a battle that goes on forever, is your attorney’s best case scenario-a “billable” battle that goes on forever- or at least until the money runs out.
Most of the time a Will Contest amounts to not much more than a common street level shakedown- I bother you until you give me money to go away. Sometimes people use Will Contests not so much as a shakedown, but as an attempt to hurt others- now this is no good for the soul. I propose a better (non legal solution): Avoiding Will Contests is easy- work really hard to make things right during life and not after death by initiating a Will Contest. To paraphrase: make peace with people during their lives not war after they are gone- after all world peace starts at home!
At least once a week I get a call from a potential client. The question is always the same: “How much does X document cost?” This is always a perplexing question. Usually the answer is “I don’t know.” It is nearly impossible to quote somebody a price over the phone. I know of an attorney who agrees to quote the client a price over the phone if they can answer one simple question: “What color tie am I wearing today?” Usually, (good)lawyers don’t ask questions they don’t already know the answer to. This lawyer knows that people will protest- “how can I know what color tie you are wearing if I am not there?” The lawyer then points out (if the client has not gotten it already) that both questions are similar. The lawyer is not one of those scanners at Target- he’s not reading the barcode on the back of the document and spitting out the suggested retail price. A quick conversation over the phone does not usually provide enough information to adequately assess what is needed to be able to give a good quote.
Get ready folks: Here’s where I pull back the curtain and you get to look into how attorneys price out a job. Most attorneys either charge by the hour or a flat fee for the specific project. Now there is a time and place for the hourly rate. Some firms worship at the altar of the billable hour, and this is okay, however one could argue that the hourly rate certainly benefits the slow, inexperienced attorney in that the more time he or she takes to do the job, the more money they can charge. The hourly rate can also be abused by doing needless work that certainly sounds important and necessary but really is not. Lawyers who bill a flat fee take several things into consideration when determining their fee. The process involves fact finding: learning about your situation and goals. Your attorney should ask lots of questions. It also involves thinking about what course would be appropriate to accomplish your goals. Estate planning attorneys then consider the work involved in putting your estate plan into place: the writing, revising, explaining and execution of your plan. With the flat fee you know from the start the total price for the work agreed upon.
If your shopping for price understand that the lawyer who charges either a flat fee or by the hour will be hard pressed to give you a price over the phone, it takes time to collect information and to think about what needs to be done. If you can find an attorney who can quote you a price over the phone- think twice. An attorney (or any professional) who can blindly quote you a price over-the-phone may not be thinking about what is really involved in the job. If the attorney is not thinking too much about the price, which is important to his or her bottom line, how much time will they put into thinking about your case. I suggest that you look tothe value, not the price when deciding on an attorney. What value or benefits will you receive for the fee charged? Regardless of what price you are quoted, you can be sure that there is another attorney in town who can and will do it cheaper. But are you getting the same value from the cheaper priced attorney? Do they charge you for telephone calls, additional consultations, copies, faxes, postage, or any other hidden fees? Do they offer a guarantee? What happens if once you complete the process, you are not satisfied? All of these issues should be taken into consideration when choosing an estate planning attorney. Price is an important factor (especially in this economy) but it should not be the only factor considered. Shop for value not price when you’re looking for an attorney.
Typical Clients Involved in Their Typical Daydreams: How Much Does a $200 Last Will and Testament Really Cost?
My wife and I are big music fans (understatement). The other day we were out on our back porch enjoying a little music and a brief dance. My neighbor seeing this, took an opportunity to come on over and chit chat with us. The conversation quickly turned to her ailing mother and her estate plan. My neighbor, let’s call her “Sandy” expressed to me that she was worried about the plan her lawyer had in place for her mom. From previous conversations with Sandy, I knew who her mother’s lawyer was- a real pro, and someone I hold in high regard. I told Sandy that I knew who her mother was using and she should feel very secure that the plan was done correctly. At that point Sandy explained that they decided not to use the lawyer I thought they were using. “Marc, do you know how much she wanted to charge my mom?” Now understand- the lawyer we are talking about is a specialist and is very good at what she does- kind of like myself- so I knew the price range. When she told me the amount- I told her that it seemed reasonable. “Is this what you would charge?” Sandy asked. I told her it was certainly in the range of what I could charge. She seemed a bit put off by this. “My real estate attorney did my mom’s Will for $200!” (yes the same plan she was very worried about).
It turns out that Sandy should have been worried about the plan- in discussing her mother’s situation with her briefly it was clear that this attorney was not asking the right questions and had done a pretty poor job. In short, the real estate attorney masquerading as an estate planning attorney got my neighbor hooked on the idea that this type of planning should only cost $200. Even though she knew this plan was not good for her mom she jumped on it because it was cheap. I could tell it was going to take a lot to wean her from this idea of practically “free” planning. She had turned into a cheap estate plan junkie- and needed detox quick.
“How can he charge so little?” asked Sandy. She was clearly hung up on the price. I explained to her the real cost of a $200 estate plan. I explained that he could charge so little for two possible reasons: First, he charged such a small amount because he only did a small amount of work. A lot of my work as an attorney is just thinking and asking questions and thinking some more. Sure, it doesn’t look like work necessarily but things are going on inside that brain of mine. You’re not really paying for the documents, you’re paying for the counseling. And if you go see a specialist (which in most cases you should) you’re paying for their expert knowledge.
The second reason he could have charged such a small amount for the estate plan is a bit more sinister. This attorney is investing in Sandy’s mother’s death. When her mom does pass he hopes to get to handle her estate. When he probates her estate he can then charge her mom-big bucks and there will be nobody to complain about the bill.
A $200 estate plan is much more costly than the initial bill. That $200 is merely a down payment for some very expensive work in the future. It’s kind of a pay now or pay later situation. If you pay a specialist now you may greatly mitigate or eliminate a large bill later.
There is an old lawyer joke that goes something like this: A lawyer and a doctor find themselves at a cocktail party. The doctor is bombarded with medical questions all evening: “Doc my elbow is bothering me…” “Will grapefruit really lower my blood pressure?” “Can you look at this thing on my back?” During a free moment the doctor strikes up a conversation with the lawyer. He asks him how he deals with the relentless questioning outside of the office. The lawyer explains that when people ask him a legal question- he gives them the appropriate legal advice and then he sends them a bill. This seems to make sense to the doctor- he vows to bill everyone who had asked him a medical question that evening. The next day he prepared the bills and went to put them in his mailbox. When he opened the mailbox he was surprised to find… a bill from the lawyer.
I have to chuckle a bit when a new client tells me that he or she has a Last Will and Testament and they will avoid probate with said instrument. I then have to break the bad news to them, A LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT IS A TICKET TO PROBATE. Most people want to avoid probate, but are not quite sure why. There are many good reasons to want to avoid the probate process. One of these reasons is privacy. There is no privacy in probate. Anyone can go down to the Probate Court and take a look at your Will. Celebrities, being somewhat less astute than the average person also haven’t gotten the news about how to avoid probate and settle their estates quietly. Click the link below to take a look at Grateful Dead front-man and counter culture icon Jerry Garcia’s Last Will and Testament.
http://www.courttv.com/archive/legaldocs/newsmakers/wills/garcia.html
P.S. Jerry we all miss you!
Recent Comments