In this video blog, Associate Director of Education, Steve Hartnett, discusses same-sex marriage update and planning opportunities. This blog gives a brief update of the status of same-sex marriage as it expands to more states. It also examines two planning opportunities which still exist for same-sex couples, which would disappear if the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is held to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. A decision in Windsor, which examined that issue, is expected in June.
The new film The Great Gatsby, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s enduring 1925 novel, provides an opportunity to ponder estate planning lessons through the author’s own life story.
In his 1926 short story The Rich Boy, Fitzgerald wrote: “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand…”
Fitzgerald was born into an upper middle class family, raised in Buffalo, NY and St. Paul, MN. He went to a Catholic prep school in Hackensack, NJ and went on to college at Princeton.
Fitzgerald enjoyed literary and financial success with his first novel, This Side of Paradise, released in 1919. During the Jazz Age, he and his wife Zelda lived the high life depicted in The Great Gatsby, living in New York and Paris.
He was an alcoholic throughout his adult years, starting in his college days at Princeton. Zelda suffered from schizophrenia and was often hospitalized. Their only child, daughter Scottie, was born in 1921.
Only his first novel sold well enough to support the couple’s opulent lifestyle. As Zelda’s mental state deteriorated and the medical bills mounted, Fitzgerald was in constant financial trouble and obtained loans from his literary agent and his editor at his publishing house, Scribner’s.
He went to Hollywood in 1937, and made his highest annual income that year – $29,757.87. However, most of that income came from short story sales. Hollywood was hard on this novelist who could not make it as a screenwriter.
By 1940, when he died in Hollywood of a heart attack at the age of 44, he was financially destitute, estranged from his insane wife, and a broken man.
Because he was a non-practicing Catholic, the Archdiocese of Baltimore would not allow Fitzgerald to be buried with his father’s family in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Rockville, MD. Daughter Scottie had to fight to overturn the ruling and her parents’ remains were finally moved to the family plot in 1975.
Over Fitzgerald’s grave is the last line from The Great Gatsby: “And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Surely, someone as volatile as F. Scott Fitzgerald could have benefitted from the sage advice of an estate planning attorney. What advice would you suggest? What direction can you provide to a similar client in this day and age?
Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death®, is author of the award-winning book, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die. She hosts a television/DVD interview series, A Good Goodbye TV and Internet radio program at RockStarRadioNetwork.com. She uses humorous film and TV clips to help start funeral planning conversations. Her website is www.AGoodGoodbye.com.
Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. 9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128 www.aaepa.com
The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, a premier membership organization providing legal education and business support for attorneys nationwide, celebrates 20 years of revolutionizing the practice of law. The Academy’s focus is to provide its members with the support they need to offer cutting-edge legal solutions while making the estate planning process a relaxed, enjoyable, and positive experience for their clients.
The Academy was co-founded in 1993, by nationally respected attorneys and authors Robert Armstrong and Sanford M. Fisch, out of an aspiration to share their vision and systems with other attorneys and inspire them to look at the practice of law from an entirely different perspective.
The first attorney Boot Camp in 1993 captured the attention of entrepreneurial attorneys who were ready to innovate, not just the practice of law, but the business of law. The epiphany and renewed hope that the first attendees of the Boot Camp felt, inspired the launch of the American Academy. According to Sanford M. Fisch, “When Robert Armstrong and I started the Academy in 1993, we had a vision and a passion for helping other attorneys transform their law firms into thriving enterprises with deep meaning, not just for the attorneys, but for their staff, clients and their communities.”
Now, 20 years later, over 100 estate planning law firms from around the country gathered in Philadelphia, PA to celebrate this milestone anniversary at their annual Spring Summit. The 4-day conference kicked off with the Founders’ Message, “The Academy’s Reinvention: A Blueprint for the Next 20 Years.” In this message, Armstrong and Fisch shared their vision for the future and the new role every law firm will need to play to stay competitive in the ever changing landscape where technology has started to commoditize the legal industry. Armstrong said, “I’m excited about how the Academy will be able to continue to innovate and help our members meet the evolving challenges of practicing law in the 21st century.”
This was followed by a keynote address titled, “The Lighthouse in the Storm: Our New Role in Turbulent Times,” given by speaker Frank Maselli, from the Maselli Group. The highlight of the event was the Academy’s 20th Anniversary Gala Reception, where they celebrated this milestone, not only for the Academy, but for the estate planning landscape nationwide. The conference also offered a variety of legal education sessions, on estate planning and elder law topics including Medicaid planning, asset protection and trust funding strategies, developments in estate tax law, and the use of trusts as beneficiaries of retirement plan benefits.
The education the Academy provides is only one of the benefits members receive. The holistic and innovative business model approach and training provided allows members to stay on the cutting-edge of the estate planning legal industry. Paul Kraft, from Frank & Kraft in Indianapolis, IN, expressed, “Over the last 20 years, the Academy has helped our practice tremendously by creating systems for marketing, business development, firm management, financial-related, hiring, IT solutions and practice management. The Academy has been invaluable and attending the first Boot Camp in March 1993, was the best decision we ever made!” The Academy continues to expand on the services they offer, which include Practice Management Systems, Business Coaching, Marketing Strategies and Tools, Legal Education, Document Creation and Database Software, and Law Firm Websites.
Since 1993, the Academy has been a highly-regarded and sought-after resource for attorneys and consumers alike. They have been recognized numerous times by Money Magazine, Consumer Reports, and by Suze Orman in her book, 9 Steps to Financial Freedom. In 2010, Academy founders Robert Armstrong and Sanford M. Fisch co-authored The E-Myth Attorney: Why Most Legal Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It with small business expert Michael Gerber. The E-Myth Attorney combines business development expertise with legal practice management system to bridge the gap between attorney and entrepreneur.
Susan Russel Director of Member Services
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. 9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128 www.aaepa.com
If a client dies without leaving a Will or Trust or other instructions regarding their assets, the assets pass via intestacy. Intestacy, essentially, is the default Will for each person dying a resident of that particular state. Every state has such a default Will for its residents.
The default Will that is provided by intestacy varies slightly from state to state. However, they typically provide for the spouse and children in some percentages. If those people do not exist, then assets go to the decedent’s family of origin, typically. At the end of the line, the state has put in an heir of last resort. Therefore, if there are no living relatives of the specified degree, there is always somebody standing there to take. Guess who states have chosen for the role of heir of last resort? Themselves. That’s right, the state of residence is the heir of last resort. The assets “escheat” to the state.
You may think this never happens. Or that it last happened in 1865, right after the Civil War. But, that’s not the case. It even happens nowadays. Roman Blum recently died a resident of New York. Lucky New York! Blum left no Will. Blum also left no spouse, descendants, or relatives. Blum was a holocaust survivor who was childless and whose wife predeceased him by more than a decade. Thus, his entire estate of $40 million will go to the Empire State. Here is a recent article in Forbes about the situation and an article in the New York Times about Blum.
Of course, if you can prove you are related to Mr. Blum, then you would inherit and the estate would not escheat to New York. You better start looking back at that family tree!
Stephen C. Hartnett, J.D., LL.M.
Associate Director of Education
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
I recently attended the Academy’s 20th Anniversary Summit in our home base of Philadelphia.
First-off, it was wonderful to finally have the Academy in our own backyard. This is the first time in 20 years that a Summit has been held here, and I’ve been waiting for this for almost that long! And judging from the reaction of the attendees, I think it’s fair to say “what took you so long?” In a shameless plug for my City of Brotherly Love, I’m happy to report that Academy members found Philly to be (surprisingly to them) clean, exciting, and obviously full of interesting history to explore. (If you are planning a professional or personal trip to Philadelphia, feel free to email me for the list of sites and attractions that we put together for the Academy’s visit.)
It was also great to be local because we were able, for the first time, to have Academy members visit our office (and feed them local fare). It was gratifying to us, and rewarding for them, to see firsthand how we protect their clients’ advance directives and emergency medical information (and eat Philly pretzels), observe the client registration process (Tastycakes), and witness the outstanding customer service we provide after that (cheese steaks).
Regardless of venue, it was terrific, as well, to be celebrating with the Academy on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. As an affiliate of 17 years, we have seen the impact this organization has made on the lives of its Members and their clients. I have watched the Academy mentor new and transitioning attorneys into successful practitioners. I have seen established firms hire associate attorneys, who then develop into full-fledged partners. I have watched these Members retire, executing their succession plan just as they had intended, with their junior partner(s) taking over the firm.
In a culture that so often focuses on the negative and on failures, it’s nice to step back every once in a while to celebrate positives and successes.
Randi J. Siegel,MBA, is the President of DocuBank(docubank.com), the largest advance directives registry in the U.S., which ensures that the emergency information and healthcare directives of its 200,000 enrollees are immediately available 24/7/365. Working with estate planning professionals since 1997, Randi frequently speaks at national estate planning conferences and has appeared on radio and television as an authority on registries. A member of the Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, the International Society of Advance Care Planning, and the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care, she is active in health education and public engagement related to advance care planning and advance directives and serves as Pennsylvania liaison to the National Healthcare Decisions Day initiative. Randi is an ongoing contributor to the Academy blog.
Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. 9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128 www.aaepa.com
We are pulling together THE ACADEMY’S GREATEST HITS—1993 through 2013. There are eight courses that we’ll be offering to non-members at no charge during our 20th year, (members feel free to sign up and review!).
Each week we’ll give you the summary of ONE course. You can begin the course any time you want. Once you register for the series of sessions, the courses will be delivered to you one at a time over an 8-week period.
Looking back over the past 20 years that the Academy has virtually invented the services, coaching, marketing, legal education and legal documents estate planning attorneys deserve to build their practices with has been fun and exciting. We’re honored to make these sessions available in an effort to celebrate our two decades of support with attorneys in every state!
YOU ONLY NEED TO REGISTER ONCE (If you previously registered for this course, you were already added to the class schedule. No need to register again.)
Session 1:Presented by the Academy’s first keynote speaker, Michael E. Gerber, author of The E-Myth, Why Most Small Businesses Fail and What to Do About It
Session 2: Top 10 Estate Planning Legal Questions (and Answers) that Come in From Around the Country Steve Hartnett
Session 3:Mastering 1st Consultations – Controlling the Economy in Your Conference Room, Sanford M. Fisch, Academy CEO
(2 hour audio session with slide images, MARKETING)
This session is presented by Co-Founder of the Academy and CEO, Sanford M. Fisch
Of all the systems offered by the Academy few have more immediate impact on the satisfaction your clients have, the energy of your staff, your revenue and your own state of mind than mastering how you conduct initial consultations. Each consultation is handled the same way. Every time. There is an agenda, a clear way to work through the meeting… and the client is never pressured or pushed. Helping clients do what is in their own best interests and having them feel relief and appreciation in the process is an art and a discipline.
Your initial consultation should be enjoyable for you as well as the attorney. Controlling the meeting with questions that expose the real concerns clients have is the best way to make sure every need is addressed and to keep clients from procrastinating!
Practice makes this meeting perfect. This session is a must!
Stay tuned, we’ll feature another session in the next few weeks! We hope you enjoy the series and share the registration link with the attorneys you feel would get the most out of this instruction.
Jennifer Price Chief Operating Officer
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. 9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128 www.aaepa.com
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of communication. We all know it is essential for lawyers to communicate with their clients. It is only through such communication that the client knows what is going on with their case. The lack of such communication is a leading cause of bar complaints and malpractice suits. But, clients often do not know that it is also essential for them to communicate with their loved ones about their estate planning.
It is difficult to think about one’s own mortality. It is even more difficult to talk about it. That is why clients don’t like talking about the plans they’ve made to address what should happen in the event of their incapacity or death.
The problem is that client goals may be diminished or even thwarted without such communication. For example, clients almost uniformly want peace and harmony among family members after the client’s death or disability. The best way to achieve that goal is through… communication.
A surprise in the disposition of assets or the selection of those to serve in key roles, such as trustee, can disrupt family peace and harmony. Long-buried hostilities may resurface. Sibling rivalry, which had seemed long-vanquished, can rise again. Does the choice of one sibling rather than the other as trustee indicate that “mom loved you best”? If mom explains her reasoning in person, the matter may be settled relatively easily. However, if mom is dead or in a coma, she cannot explain her choice. Then, the emotions due to mom’s death or incapacity and the emotions of anger and fear can become mixed and amplified. Before you know it, the family’s peace and harmony is shattered, which is exactly what mom did not want to happen: family conflict.
Communicate with your clients. And, encourage your clients to communicate their wishes to their loved ones. It’s the best way for them to achieve their goals.
Stephen C. Hartnett, J.D., LL.M. Associate Director of Education
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. 9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128 www.aaepa.com
Now that we can access data anywhere via the use of mobile devices attorneys must be very conscious of the potential for security breaches.
An interesting article that was published on the LawTechnology News website recently looked at a number of different threat categories. The first one was that of human error.
Loss of a Mobile Device
People sometimes lose their cell phones, tablets, or laptops, it’s as simple as that. Many attorneys spend a lot of time on the go, and their mobile devices are extraordinarily useful on multiple levels as they are conducting day-to-day business.
At the same time, you have to ask yourself what data would be available to someone who found the device if you were to leave it behind somewhere. It is important to do everything possible to limit access to this information.
If a device is lost the firm should be contacted immediately because the information technology team may be able to remotely remove sensitive information.
Overt Attempts to Steal Data
In other cases individuals or entities overtly attempt to steal data by compromising mobile devices. There are different types of information that hackers can use for different purposes.
If a hacker was to somehow gain access to confidential attorney-client communications the consequences could be devastating for the attorney and his or her client.
This information could be used for extortion purposes on a personal level. On a business level stolen data could include trade secrets, proprietary information, access to networks and databases, etc.
Preventative Measures
Firms should take certain preventative measures in the age of digital mobility. One of these would be to create a security policy that everyone in the firm must adhere to with regard to the use of mobile devices.
This would include exactly what types of information can be accessed, the types of devices approved for use, and steps that members of the organization must take if a device is lost or stolen.
In addition, a mobile device management system should be implemented to ensure adherence to security best practices.
You should also prohibit people in the firm from using cloud-based commercial backup services. All data should stay secure within your own well-protected systems.
Our last suggestion would be to raise awareness by educating users about the consequences that could come about due to a single loss of focus or lapse in judgment when traveling with a mobile device.
We thank Steve Fletcher, who serves on the Law Technology News advisory board, for inspiring this post. You can read his article on the subject by clicking here: Confidential Data Threats.
Jennifer Price Chief Operating Officer
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. 9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128 www.aaepa.com
The 5 Biggest SEO Mistakes You’re Making
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys Blog
May 3, 2013
Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam Team, recently revealed five of the biggest basic SEO mistakes webmasters make and suggested a few ways to improve your site.
Mistake #1 – Your website isn’t easily navigated
Next to not having a domain at all, Cutts thinks the biggest mistake is having a site that can’t be easily navigated by visitors or crawled by search engines. If you make your good content difficult to find, visitors will click away and Google won’t crawl, index, or rank your content.
Solution: Surf your website! Click on every link to ensure you can reach all your pages and content.
Mistake #2 – Your website copy is not optimized
If your copy doesn’t include the words people are actually using when searching, your website won’t appear in their search results.
Matt Cutts used a page about Mount Everest’s elevation as an example. He advises not to just use “Mount Everest elevation” but to include “how high is Mount Everest?” because that’s the term people are actually typing into the search box.
Solution: Include the right words on your page! Use one of the many available online resources, such as Google’s Adwords Keyword tool, to discover which keywords are most popular in your niche, then include the information people are looking for on your page.
Mistake #3 – You’re Focused on Link Building, Rather Than Marketing
Your primary focus should be on developing compelling content, then marketing your site, not on link building. Having interesting, valuable content will organically draw people to your site and make them want to stay. Once you have that great content archived, think in terms of broadly marketing the site, not just building links.
“I wouldn’t put too much of a tunnel vision focus on just links,” Cutts said. “I would try to think instead about what I can do to market my website to make it more well-known within my community, or more broadly, without only thinking about search engines.”
Solution: Market your site, don’t just build links. Use social media and video marketing, as well as traditional marketing techniques to market your website. Reach out to local media and your Centers of Influence to build relationships, not links.
Mistake #4 – Your Website Uses Bad (Or No) Titles & Descriptions
Cutts advises that you pay close attention to the titles and descriptions, especially on your home page and other important pages.
Both the title and description should inspire people to click on to your page. The title is what the user will see when they bookmark your page, so you’ll want to make it memorable. The description will usually appear as the snippet of text below your website link, so you’ll want to make it enticing enough to motivate folks to click on the link.
Solution: Run tests to experiment with different titles and meta descriptions on high traffic pages to see which descriptions result in the most clicks.
Mistake #5 – You’re not using Webmaster Resources
Google provides some great resources, includingWebmaster Tools, articles, forums, blogs, and videos, which you should be using to maximize the effectiveness of your online marketing efforts. Some great additional Google resources can be found here: “Top Google Website Optimization Resources“.
Solution: Use all the tools available to you to maximize the effectiveness of your online marketing efforts. For example, make it a habit to log into your Google Webmaster Tools account. If Google identifies a problem with crawling your site, duplicate content or myriad of other issues, they’ll send a notice via WebMaster Tools.
Making your site easy to navigate, including the right words on your pages, creating compelling content and then marketing it, improving your titles and descriptions, and making use of the free web sources are just five basic ways you can improve your SEO and user experience.
Learn more about Search Engine Optimization from Matt Cutts here or contact the Academy’s SEO team for additional information.
Rita Chaires SEO and Social Media Manager
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. 9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128 www.aaepa.com
A recent case caught my eye. First, the facts had an interesting twist. But, second, divorce is sometimes considered by couples who wish to protect assets from Medicaid or for other financial reasons.
In Burnett v. Burnett, the court looked at a divorce case. But, this was no ordinary divorce case. The traditional couple was married in 1984. However, in 2003, the party to the marriage who was born a man underwent gender reassignment surgery and became “Bobbie.” At that time, Devon, who was born and continued to be a woman, was not competent. Devon’s children, as her conservators, sued for divorce.
There were two primary issues in the case. First, since Michigan does not recognize same-sex marriage, did the gender reassignment surgery act as an automatic divorce? Devon’s conservator/children argued that the reassignment surgery acted as an automatic divorce. The court found that it did not. The parties were not the same gender when they were married back in 1984. The fact that one party underwent gender reassignment surgery did not invalidate the marriage.
Next, the court addressed whether a conservator can bring a divorce action for the conservatee, or, if divorce is a personal action and only exercisable by the individual himself or herself. The court found that a conservator may bring any action on behalf of the conservatee, including a divorce action.
Thus, in Burnett v. Burnett, Devon’s children/conservators were able to bring a divorce action on Devon’s behalf.
While few of your clients will have these circumstances arise, it is interesting to note that divorce is still a possibility, even after the incapacity of a client. Divorce is a drastic step that Medicaid rules now make less attractive. Medicaid now allows a substantial Community Spousal Resource Allowance that keeps the “well” spouse from being completely impoverished. But, if the circumstances require a divorce, it may be possible to achieve, even if one of the parties no longer has capacity.
Stephen C. Hartnett, J.D., LL.M. Associate Director of Education
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. 9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128 www.aaepa.com
