As estate planning attorneys, we have the privilege of assisting our clients in many ways. We help them plan for the welfare of their own family, through the use of trusts and Wills. We help them provide for their disabled children, through Special Needs Trusts. And, we help those with the desire to help the […]

You have probably seen the spooky coffee shop prank designed to promote the new Carrie remake. The video obtained over 25 million likes in just a couple of days. While the prank itself scared most patrons, the video was well-received and successfully hyped up the blockbuster movie. The viral video even received coverage on headline […]

 In the estate planning world, we’re all familiar with the importance of creating a legacy, and putting that legacy into a form that can be passed from one generation to another. One’s legacy can be to leave our children with the structures and ambitions to make a difference in this world, another may be to […]

Last week it was my privilege to make two presentations at the annual state meeting and retreat of the South Carolina chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. The first presentation I gave discussed the ins and outs of trusts as beneficiaries of IRAs and retirement plans. Trusts can be used to protect […]

This October 30th is the 14th annual Create a Great Funeral Day. This “holiday” right before Halloween provides an upbeat excuse to start a conversation on a topic most families hesitate to discuss. The first Create a Great Funeral Day, started by attorney and mediator Stephanie West Allen, took place in 2000. She registered the […]

This summer, as part of the training course on Creating Your Marketing Plan, we discussed “Effective Copywriting” in great detail. It was fun to see so many offices engaged in the topic by writing headlines and sharing them with others in the course. In fact, we found it so beneficial we decided to cover this […]

As I discussed in previous blogs, we had our semi-annual Academy Summit event last week in San Diego. Our Academy events tackle many legal technical issues, such as the Core I presentation I discussed in my blog last week. But, the events also discuss marketing and other issues of interest to estate planning attorneys, such […]

The decision by a senior citizen to stop driving can be loaded with symbolism: of decline, dependence, aging. Small wonder that relinquishing this signature privilege of adulthood is so often difficult for drivers and uncomfortable for the driver’s family to discuss. But professionals — both doctors and attorneys, can help. What, you don’t want to […]

As the couples walked into the workshop, the women stopped short, looked around, smiled and expressed pleasure. When their husbands walked into the room, they paused and wondered, “What have I gotten myself into?” They all had come with hopes of learning how to protect their wealth and plan for the next generation, but they […]

Academy Summits are always exciting! It was great to see so many friends and make new ones. In addition to the traditional Academy Summit, which started last Thursday and went through Sunday, I presented an optional training, “Core I.” Core I provides an in depth look at estate planning tax concepts. We went through estate […]