Have you or your parents or loved ones been invited to a free estate planning seminar with dinner provided? If you have, be careful. There are quite a few trust-mill lunch and dinner seminars going around.
Things to watch out for include estate planning seminars that are not taught by actual attorneys, but by annuity salesmen. Also, be mindful of seminars where they quote you a price for a living trust up front. For example "$2,295 and updates for the rest of your life!".
Living trusts are not one size fits all documents. As a Michigan living trust attorney, there is no way I could quote you a fee for planning without sitting down with you to discover what your goals are.
For further proof, take a look at this out of state, slightly dated article on how these borderline scams work. Quoting the article:
"the companies sponsor free estate-planning seminars for seniors as a way 'to learn about the senior's assets and manipulate them into purchasing manifestly inappropriate financial investments for seniors, namely annuities.' "
You can read the article here.
Christopher J. Berry, Esq., A Oakland County Wills and Trusts Attorney, is a Partner with Witzke Berry PLLC, which practices in the areas of Michigan Estate Planning, Elder Law, and Michigan Probate.
