I was reading an article and Trusts & Estates that talked about how personal estate planning is. As a Michigan estate planning attorney, I couldn't agree more. The best estate planning is tailored to the personal details of client and their family. Estate planning is not one size fits all.
The clients I most enjoy working with are the ones that open up to me and open the door to their personal lives.When I am able to make the clients comfortable and they open up more, I think I am able to provide a better service to them and it is reflected not only in their documents, but also my suggestions for legal solutions to their goals and desires. By no means am I putting this responsibility on the clients, it is my responsibility as the professional to get the client to feel comfortable working with me, as a professional.
I need an intimate knowledge of their family dynamic to truly be able to tailor a legal plan that will fulfill their needs. If a client is not open and comfortable, they may not bring up an event, fact, family member, that could trigger an entirely different solution set. For example, does one of the proposed beneficiaries have a drug, or alcohol problem? Is one of the beneficiaries going through a divorce? Do some of the beneficiaries not get along?
I take the responsibility of making the client feel comfortable with me very seriously, as should any estate planning lawyer. With out the necessary rapport with clients, we are no better than the legalzooms, Quicken Willmakers, or other internet drafting solution where you enter in the number of beneficiaries, and names and it drafts the estate plan for you based on faceless, impersonal facts.
-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Bloomfield Hills Estate Planning Lawyer
The clients I most enjoy working with are the ones that open up to me and open the door to their personal lives.When I am able to make the clients comfortable and they open up more, I think I am able to provide a better service to them and it is reflected not only in their documents, but also my suggestions for legal solutions to their goals and desires. By no means am I putting this responsibility on the clients, it is my responsibility as the professional to get the client to feel comfortable working with me, as a professional.
I need an intimate knowledge of their family dynamic to truly be able to tailor a legal plan that will fulfill their needs. If a client is not open and comfortable, they may not bring up an event, fact, family member, that could trigger an entirely different solution set. For example, does one of the proposed beneficiaries have a drug, or alcohol problem? Is one of the beneficiaries going through a divorce? Do some of the beneficiaries not get along?
I take the responsibility of making the client feel comfortable with me very seriously, as should any estate planning lawyer. With out the necessary rapport with clients, we are no better than the legalzooms, Quicken Willmakers, or other internet drafting solution where you enter in the number of beneficiaries, and names and it drafts the estate plan for you based on faceless, impersonal facts.
-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Bloomfield Hills Estate Planning Lawyer
