Wise Spending

One of my favorite things about my clients is that they’re all different. Some are men, others are women. They come from all classes and have all sorts of interesting quirks and eccentricities. They usually have one thing in common though, and that is that they are interested in setting up their estate for the future in the best way possible. However, because all of my clients are different, I rarely run into one that will not let me do the best I can do for them.

I had a client, a nice, elderly woman who was sweet, but she had one fatal flaw. She saved too much money. How does this make sense?

She came to me seeking to have her belongings in order, but would not allow me to prepare for her a living trust for her assets. She said that the upfront cost was too much. Let me pause here. It is one of my goals as an estate planning lawyer to offer the best prices to my clients, which is why her response confused me. I feared that when she was to die, she would end up losing more money in the probate process than she would have saved by skipping out of my services.
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Sure enough, the woman passed away and her belongings came under the jurisdiction of the state to distribute accordingly.

I tried to warn her on the dangers of living too miserly. Saving money is good, but spending wisely is just as important. When my client passed away she paid several HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS in taxes. All of this money could have easily been saved and passed on had she allowed me to work tax planning into her portfolio, but unfortunately, she learned too late.

​Gladly, my other clients understand that the wise spending of money is very important. They come to me and are assured that avoidable and expensive taxes will not harm their living trust.

Call me to learn about how wise spending for your estate could save you thousands.