Reimagining Estate Planning: A Modern Approach to Protecting Families at Legacy Sentry Law.
For decades, I’ve worked for my family's funeral business. We emphasized the "fun" in funerals to highlight that funerals are about celebrating the beautiful life of loved ones as they have passed on. Jokes aside, the loss and grieving of a family member are extremely difficult and taxing experiences to go through. Seeing firsthand those who pass away without leaving any guidance in place for their loved ones, this only worsens the toll on those they leave behind. There is nothing more gratifying than serving families in need during such tough life transition.
After law school, I worked for boutique firms litigating against Fortune 500 companies for illegal business practices but ended up working for one of the largest law firms defending the same companies in high stakes class action litigation at $720/hour (or $12/minute!). The work tested me intellectually but felt devoid of purpose and was far from the kind of meaningful practice I’d envisioned – connecting with people and their families, creating lifelong relationships with them and protecting their legacy. Eight years later and after the birth of my third child, I could no longer work up to 80 hours/week while raising a family and the importance of family became even more clear when my friend with two minor children died without an estate plan. I saw the havoc and pain of not having an estate plan wreak on his family as they were dragged through the courts for years and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars due to a lack of financial inventory of his cryptocurrency holdings. So, I left the big law firm to open my own estate planning practice to serve families because I care about what happens to and for the families in my community and ensure that what happened to my friend’s family doesn’t happen to anyone else’s.
The Traditional Estate Planning Model Is Broken — and How We’re Fixing It.
I also learned that the traditional model for estate planning is broken. Most of my friends and family members do not have estate plans because they don’t understand their value, find them overcomplicated, or consider them too expensive. This means they are subject to the State’s default plan which rarely aligns with their wishes and fails to consider their spiritual and intellectual assets. They also didn’t realize that by not naming guardians for their kids or creating healthcare directives, they were leaving those critical decisions to the State if something ever happened to them.
For the few that have estate plans, they could not understand their plans, or worse, the plans that were left for their loved ones had failed. For example, my mentor had this happen when her father-in-law died. Even though he had spent $3,000 on an estate plan 20 years ago, after his death, her family was stuck dealing with his ex-wife and probate court in different states. Her father-in-law did everything right – hired an estate planning attorney to keep his family from having to deal with his ex-wife or probate courts. It turned out, however, that his plan had not been updated and his assets weren’t titled properly. His plan had been prepared years before, never reviewed or updated. You might think this was malpractice, but it turns out that this is common practice and unfortunately many plans fail even when prepared by lawyers.
By facing the potential for incapacity and the guarantee of death in a new way, I vowed to provide guidance for clients who are going to make better life choices for the people that they love by keeping them out of court, protecting their assets, and passing on their legacy with a peace of mind.
How We’re Changing the Way Families Plan for the Future.
Here is how Legacy Sentry Law is different than the traditional estate planning firms:
First of all – Nothing we do is on an hourly basis. Everything we do is billed flat fee, agreed to in advance, so there are no surprises. Previously, the hourly billing model prevented me from forging relationships with clients, talk about their kids and my kids as they were afraid to know how much a call would cost them – not anymore! You’ll know exactly what it will cost to work with us after we’ve got clear about what you want, and you’ll even be able to choose your own fee. Then, after the initial planning process, we have options so that you can ensure your plan stays up to date throughout your life, and again you’ll know exactly what that costs and choose your own fee there.
Second – I’m part of a network of Personal Family Lawyers dedicated to a more collaborative, forward-thinking approach to estate planning. We share knowledge, stay current on the law and tax strategies, and support one another on complex matters.
Third – We see planning as just the beginning of the relationship whereas in the past the plan was viewed as a one-time transactional event. Based on the plan you select, I’ll either walk you through retitling your assets or take care of the arduous process entirely for you, so your plan works exactly when it’s needed. Once you sign your planning documents, that is when the relationship really begins. At no additional charge, we review your plan at least every three years.
Lastly – we don’t just focus on passing your financial assets, but your legacy, stories, and whole family wealth. During our Legacy Interviews, we guide you to pass on more than your money, but also your intellectual, spiritual, human assets, and beloved stories. We include that with every plan and our clients and families love telling their stories to their families. This is the best part of working with my clients.
These are just a few of the things that make our firm different. We’re the best fit for people who don’t just want to leave their family a set of documents that may or may not work, but instead want to use the estate planning process to pass on a legacy of love and care, and ease. And keep their family out of court and out of conflict.
On a personal note, I’m a dad – and, what my children bring to this experience for me is the awareness that planning is something that you do for the people you love the most. You won’t be the one to benefit from the plan we are going to design for you today – the people who will benefit are the people you love the most who will be dealing with things if you become incapacitated or after you’re gone.
Ready to protect what matters most?
Schedule your 15-minute Discovery Call today to see if we’re a good fit, and take the first step toward preserving your family’s legacy — and the peace of mind that comes with it.
