People buy from those they know, like and trust, so your first 3 steps should focus on those elements. Obviously, people need to know you exist before they can start a relationship with you. That means you should consider all the ways you can put your firm image and message out into the community. There is an endless list of strategies to be visible, but some of the most effective are:

• Having a 1st page ranking on the search engines. Google, Yahoo and Bing, both on the organic and Local Places listing

• Drive people from your search engine listing to a special landing page where you offer a free report or CD

• Advertising free seminars on estate planning topics by direct mail, newspapers, radio and even TV

• Networking with centers of influence by sending out monthly e-alerts on topical issues in the law

• Create endorsed seminars for clients of related professionals

• Producing a monthly or quarterly online or offline newsletter

• Write a regular blog and create articles on the web

• Speak before local groups on the latest estate planning strategies

• Book yourself on radio and TV talk shows as an expert guest

• Stay in constant contact with your existing clients who can spread the good word about your firm

In the process of spreading your message on all these platforms, you’ll inevitably be seen as a likeable, trustworthy expert in your field.

One of the best ways to get known and liked is to offer something of value for free. Let your prospects sample your outstanding services. It’s a risk-free way to let them see what you can deliver. In fact, we believe that you should “move the free line” out as far as you can. In exchange for a prospect’s contact information, you offer free reports on various estate planning issues. You can offer CDs where you take on a topic in more depth or a DVD of you presenting a seminar. These can be physical products or offered online on your web landing page. Of course, the absolute best way for people to sample your services is for them to see you live and in person presenting an estate planning seminar. They see your personality, your presence and hear your expertise right before their eyes.

Of course, once you have their contact information you can start to move them down the sales funnel. It’s like they’ve raised their hands saying, “Yes, I want that free report on Special Needs or that CD about Living Trusts or to attend a free seminar.” Once their hand is up, you can start a drip marketing campaign to them, offering more information, a free consultation or just general news around their topic of interest. This can be by newsletter, e-mail, postcards or any other method that moves them toward retaining your firm.

Once they retain your firm, the communication really starts in earnest. We recommend a minimum of 12 touches per year. They can be greeting cards for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays or special events you’re holding. You can touch them with invitations to additional seminars, client appreciation events, or by sending articles you find interesting in magazines and newspapers. The idea is to build up the lifetime value of each client by offering them new services. It might be funeral trusts, advanced planning, or if you’re properly licensed, investment products.

After you’ve had them sample your services, retain your firm, buy additional services, you’re ideally positioned to have them refer their friends, their family members and their co-workers.

So there you have it in a nutshell. You can use this as a framework to launch your own successful marketing campaigns.

Robert Armstrong
President & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92123
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

As I wrote last week, New York now allows same-sex couples to marry. The first marriages took place on Sunday, July 24, 2011. (While Gov. Cuomo signed the bill legalizing same-sex marriage a month ago, it had a 30-day waiting period before becoming effective.) It is interesting to note that, unlike other states allowing same-sex marriage, New York has no residency requirement for marriage. So, this could open the door to same-sex couples from states which do not allow same-sex marriage to take advantage of New York’s law with a quick visit to the state.

However, while there is no residency requirement for marriage in New York, there is a one-year residency requirement for divorce. Thus, while an out of state couple could get married in New York, they would not be able to get divorced there. In fact, they may not be able to get divorced at all.

Divorce typically requires two elements under state law. First, at least one member of the couple must meet the residency requirement, as in New York. Second, there must be a marriage, which is recognized under the laws of the state, to be dissolved.

So, if a couple lives in a state that does not recognize same-sex marriage, they could travel to New York and become married. However, if they later decided to divorce, they would not be able to do so without moving to a state that did recognize their marriage.

While we talk about the right to same-sex marriage, it is also the right to same-sex divorce. Same-sex couples contemplating going to New York for marriage should be advised that divorce may not be as simple as hopping on a flight. Perhaps the couple could agree that, upon certification of problems by a mediator, the more mobile one of them will agree to change residency to a state that allows same-sex marriage and divorce. The mediator could even determine which one of the couple is the more mobile.

Marriage can be a wonderful institution. However, not every marriage is successful. Same-sex couples who choose to marry may have unique difficulties in getting divorced.

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, CA 92123
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

How Many of You Conduct Estate Planning Seminars In Your Community?

We’ve been noticing a huge change in the way Academy Members are filling rooms. In the old days you could run a newspaper ad, possibly use an insert and get a standing-room-only crowd to talk to about all the planning pitfalls to avoid, the things to make sure they address and a mention of all of the options available to handle some of these complicated issues.

These days, it’s interesting, with newspapers folding like a cheap suit… newspapers have not been getting the results that they used to.

Using a Sunday ad the Sunday before your seminars (if you can get a great deal and if the paper still has a little clout in your community) or an insert, along with a direct mail letter about 3 weeks prior, a follow up postcard 1 ½ weeks prior, a blog highlighting a problem and a brief “tip” on the solution (with link to registration for upcoming seminar), a Facebook event invitation, a stuffer in your newsletter and a mass email is doing GREAT in most communities.

No longer can you do THE ONE QUICK (usually expensive) THING and fill the room, it pays to have a number of efforts aimed at your audience. Most of those I mentioned just take a little labor and once set up in those areas, it’s not a lot of labor I’m talking about.

What are you doing to fill a room?

Jennifer Price
Director, Member Services
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

Are you a LinkedIn Lawyer?

We always endorse the idea of all of our Members connecting with professionals and groups so they can gain exposure with those in their field or geographic area. LinkedIn is a hotspot for professional connection. The Academy has created a group on LinkedIn (Legal Marketing and Practice Building Strategies) so we can connect and idea share with other interested attorneys, office managers and marketing coordinators at estate planning firms. Most Members of the Academy are connected with us, and many are joining the group we created.

Here are some great tips and thoughts to help you become a LinkedIn Lawyer:

1. Make sure your profile is “sexy” – It needs to include keywords that people would use to find you if they were using the search feature in LinkedIn or on Google. For example (see the italic keywords that may apply, create your own keywords similar to these):

“I have been protecting and helping families pass on their legacies and assets through quality estate planning services in the greater Chicago area for over 30 years. Pet planning and Asset protection has become our main focus. I’m also the co-author of the best-selling book, “Estate Planning for You,” and I enjoy providing Continued Education for financial advisors and local attorneys.”

2. Join Groups – Make sure you search out various groups that could have interesting discussions that provoke thought or keep you updated on the changes in this field. One such topic on the Academy’s group has been generating a lot of comments and ideas on “going paperless.” Who has done it, how long does it take, is it worth it, what glitches arise and does it take extra staff? Other groups may deal with Search Engine Optimization, Estate Planning Legal issues, Direct Marketing and other hot topics. By joining groups, you’ll get to know other professionals all over the country or perhaps just in your area.

3. The time you need to invest is actually minimal – It takes about 20 minutes to open an account. The emails sent to me with activity from the groups I’m in may take another 15 minutes per day to scan and see if I want to read more about any of the comments or topics that have been generating activity. If I don’t have time right now – the group threads are there forever, I can go in later and review them or contribute a comment (which puts YOU in front of the others in the group, giving you an opportunity to become known for your input.)

If you’re on LinkedIn – by all means, please join our group!

If you are not on LinkedIn, we do encourage you to open an account, watch how other lawyers participate in groups and become familiar with connecting with professionals using this tool. There are 100 million professionals currently on LinkedIn (Wikipedia).  According to the 2010 Corporate Counsel New Media Engagement Survey, “Lawyers currently represent 1.5 million of the platform’s 50 million users”.- Greentarget

The issues discussed and the business referred through the connections on this social media site are absolutely worth the learning curve!

Jennifer Price
Director, Member Services
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

Same-sex marriage recently became legal in the state of New York. New York now joins Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia as the U.S. jurisdictions which currently allow same-sex marriage. (California allowed same-sex marriage for a few months before the passage of Proposition 8, which ended it. California only recognizes those same-sex marriages performed in the state in that narrow window. Maryland recognizes same-sex marriages which were valid where formed.) The addition of New York doubles the population in the United States living in locales which recognize same-sex marriage.

What does this mean for estate planning for same-sex couples in New York? Does this mean that the estate plan for a married same-sex couple would be identical to that of a similarly situated traditional married couple? Unfortunately, until the federal government repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) and all states recognize same-sex marriage, it does not.

As we know, state law impacts on many parts of estate planning, including intestate succession. However, if a client moves from one jurisdiction, like New York, to another jurisdiction, like Florida, their same-sex marriage would not be recognized in the new state. Thus, a “plan” by relying upon intestate succession would be in jeopardy if the spouses move. Thus, it is imperative that same-sex couples confirm their dispositive desires, even if it is the same as the default provisions under state law. So, while a traditional married couple might choose to rely on intestate succession, it would be unwise for a same-sex married couple to do so.

Further, federal law does not recognize same-sex marriages, even those validly performed under the laws where the couple lives. As a result, if one same-sex spouse gives his or her spouse money, it will not qualify for the federal marital deduction, in life or at death. For these and other reasons, it is best to continue to plan for same-sex couples with two separate trusts rather than a joint trust.

New York and other states have moved closer to allowing same-sex couples all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities available to traditional married couples. While this may be welcome news to same-sex couples in those states, it may make the estate planner’s job more difficult, keeping track of, and planning for, the disparate treatment of the couple under state and federal law.

Stephen C. Hartnett, J.D., LL.M
Associate Director of Education
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

The quote, “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard,” has been attributed to actors throughout centuries. Comedy can help make the hard topic of death, funerals, and estate planning easier to discuss.

Lately, I’ve been screening a number of comedy films with scenes related to funerals or death. As I speak to groups on getting the funeral planning conversation started, I’ve started using clips from funny films and television programs to great effect. (I do have a license to do this, addressing that threat of a $250,000 fine and five years in prison you see in the FBI warning at the beginning of every home DVD.)

The Six Wives of Henry Lefay, a comedy released in 2009, could be a great tool for estate planning attorneys to help their clients get serious about their wills, trusts and other estate planning issues.

Audio-video salesman Henry Lefay (Tim Allen) disappears while parasailing in Mexico and is presumed dead. His daughter Barbie (Elisha Cuthbert) returns to her Upstate New York hometown for the funeral. Tensions mount into comedic explosions when Henry’s current wife, his five exes, and a mistress wage a fierce power struggle over the final arrangements.

Wife #1 is Kate (Andie MacDowell), Barbie’s mother. Wife #2 and #4 is Ophelia, an intensely passionate, if somewhat crazy, woman who Henry continues to “date” on a regular basis. Wife #3, Veronica, owns half of Henry’s successful business. Wife #5, Autumn, who’s Barbie’s age, thinks she’s in charge and will inherit everything since she’s the current wife.

None of them knows there was yet another wife before Kate, and the mistress Henry was with in Mexico expects to become wife #7. Things really get crazy after the body is returned to the U.S.

Wives #2 through #5 each have handwritten letters from Henry with different funeral arrangements. Veronica has side-by-side plots in Pleasant Meadows cemetery. Autumn has side-by-side plots in Shady Glen cemetery. And Ophelia has a letter saying he wants to be cremated and his ashes scattered in the ocean off a catamaran near the Bahamas.

Now, your clients probably don’t have as complicated a love life as Henry Lefay’s. You know issues of inheritance, business succession, trusts, funeral plans, and pre-nup agreements, especially after divorce(s) and remarriage(s) require detailed diligence and regular updating.

However, your clients might be like Henry Lefay in that they probably won’t sit still long enough to absorb much heavy information. You might consider investing in a copy of this DVD and loan it to your clients as a light-hearted lesson in the serious business of wills, trusts and estate planning.

Gail Rubin is the author of A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die (http://AGoodGoodbye.com), a finalist in the 2010 Book of the Year Awards, Family & Relationships Category, and The Family Plot Blog, http://TheFamilyPlot.wordpress.com. She’s “knocking them dead” with her Funny Films to Start Serious Conversations talks.

Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

Many attorneys struggle when it comes to figuring out how to boost profits in this often challenging business climate. So we decided to put together a call that will dive deeper into the five major areas that can have the most immediate impact on your profit and the three common mistakes that are most often in the way of law firm progress for estate planning profit and fulfillment.

The conference call on July 20th at 2:00 PM Pacific is intended for non-members who have an interest in significantly improving these areas and who also may want a closer look at the proven systems, tools and exceptional coaching available at the American Academy.

The call will be hosted by the founders of AAEPA, Robert Armstrong and Sanford M. Fisch, and it will last between sixty to ninety minutes. The information will be actionable, relevant, powerful and transformational, as many prior attendees can attest to. As co-founders, Robert and Sandy have seen many success stories from attorneys who have attended similar calls over the last 18 years.

We are holding nothing back on this call as we will share some of the top strategies that we used when successfully supporting hundreds of attorneys in their efforts to build an estate planning practice. We have only shared these tips with Members of the American Academy, so this is a rare opportunity for you to look behind the curtain and apply whatever you want to your very own estate planning practice. You will be able to walk away from this call with real information that you can implement in your business immediately.

Each participant will receive an autographed copy of “The E-Myth Attorney” which was co-authored by Robert and Sandy. Also, there is an additional free gift given away on the call, so you’re encouraged to register, put the call on your calendar, dial in and don’t miss a minute. I know you will get a lot out of this call and we’re looking forward to getting to know you a little better!

We do recommend that you register as soon as possible, as seats are limited, by clicking the following link: http://www.aaepa.com/legal/strategy/blog. You can also call us at 800-846-1555 and we’ll register for you.

Jennifer Price
Director of Member Services
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

The estate of Anna Nicole Smith recently lost its claim in the U.S. Supreme Court. A narrowly divided court decided 5-4 that the bankruptcy court exceeded its jurisdiction by awarding Anna Nicole Smith $475 million. The Court determined that the bankruptcy court did not have the jurisdiction to try what amounted to a probate case.

In 1994, Anna Nicole Smith married oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall. At that time, Smith was 26 and Marshall was 89. Marshall died the next year and did not name Smith in his Will. Smith claimed that Marshall had promised her $300 million.

A protracted legal battle commenced between Smith and E. Peirce Marshall, J. Howard Marshall’s son. Smith was awarded $475 million from the Marshall estate by a bankruptcy court in California. That award was later reduced to $88 million by a different federal court. The matter was before the bankruptcy court due to Smith’s insolvency. However, the probate estate was under the jurisdiction of a Texas probate court.

The matter is now resolved, but only after the deaths of J. Howard Marshall, his son, E. Peirce Marshall, Anna Nicole Smith, and her son Daniel. The matter had been before courts in multiple courts in Texas, Louisiana, and California and had been appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court—twice. After all of that, Smith’s heirs did not get the millions which they sought. Likely, this case will end up in Civil Procedure textbooks in the years to come. Here’s a link to the final opinion in the case: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/10-179.pdf

Is there a moral to this story? Perhaps, the moral is that there are few winners in a Will contest, except the lawyers.

Nobody wants the sort of emotional, financial, and legal mess which resulted after J. Howard Marshall’s death. But, how could it have been avoided? A valid prenuptial agreement between the parties would have spelled out their exact agreement. If that had been done, J. Howard Marshall’s son and Anna Nicole Smith probably would not have spent the last decade of each of their lives in a toxic court battle.

Stephen C. Hartnett, J.D., LL.M.
Associate Director of Education
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

Last month, I wrote about how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has begun enforcing HIPAA by imposing large financial penalties against healthcare providers for HIPAA violations. (In the first case, a healthcare provider received a $4.3 million civil penalty for failing to provide timely personal health information to patients upon their request; in the other, a different provider agreed to a $1 million settlement for disclosing patients’ personal health information without their approval.)

What will be the fall-out for you and your clients from this new enforcement? If healthcare entities intensify their efforts to avoid HIPAA financial penalties, we may see a few things happen:

• Patients themselves may have an easier time gaining access to their own medical information. And some may even get it more quickly. At the same time;

• Patients’ family members — and others whom the patient wants to have access — may have a harder time getting the patients’ information.

What does this mean for your clients’ legal needs?

1. Clients need a Health Care Power of Attorney (HCPOA) more than ever. This document may increasingly do double-duty. In addition to its primary function, the HCPOA also serves as a de facto HIPAA Release, even if you haven’t specified this in the document. The HIPAA law expressly authorizes the health care agent to receive the patient’s personal health information (called “PHI” under HIPAA).
2. Clients may increasingly need a separate HIPAA Release designating individual(s) — in addition to the health care agent — who can receive their medical information. Why? Clients often rely on someone other than their health care agent to help them navigate the healthcare system. This might be another family member, a friend, or a neighbor. Healthcare providers may be increasingly apt to request written authorization from the patient to deal with any of these folks on your client’s behalf. (If you are getting feedback to this effect from your clients, please let me know.)
   
   Alternatively, some firms are addressing this need within their HCPOA document itself, rather than drafting a separate HIPAA Release. They are creating a section in the HCPOA naming additional individuals to receive PHI under HIPAA, but who are not authorized as health care agents. (I’d like to report back on the trend in how attorneys are handling this. Please share your approach with me at rsiegel@docubank.com.)

The stricter HIPAA enforcement may also create heightened challenges particular to college students and other young adults. More on this in another post.

Randi J. Siegel, MBA, is the President of DocuBank, the largest advance directives registry in the U.S., which ensures that the healthcare directives of its 190,000 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. She is active in health policy pertaining to advance directives and serves as a Senior Fellow at the Jefferson School of Population Health in Philadelphia. Randi is an ongoing contributor to the Academy blog.

Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com

To many lawyers, marketing a law practice is collection of dark arts, where the focus is on a confusing array of the latest tactics. This kind of approach is bound to fail and waste a lot of money in the process. Because attorneys are often a logical group, I thought I’d offer some strategic step-by-step concepts so you can see if your marketing activities are on track.

Step number one is to identify your ideal clients. No use having a fabulous marketing campaign generating lots of business from clients that are unprofitable, or worse, that you hate working with. Construct a virtual avatar of all the perfect clients’ traits and demographics. That’s right, actually construct a vivid picture of these folks or companies. Where do they live? What kind of income and net worth do they have? What organizations do they belong to? Where do they spend their leisure time? You get the picture.

Next, identify the lifetime value of those ideal clients. In other words, over the full lifetime relationship with your firm how much revenue will they generate. This is an important and often surprising number because it will influence how much money you spend on marketing efforts. After all, if you knew that over many years clients typically generate $35,000 in fees to your firm you would have no problem spending more money acquiring that client as opposed to focusing just on the $3,500 initial transaction. The question you should always be asking is how much would I gladly pay to acquire a client worth $35,000 to my firm. The answer will change the way you look at marketing expenses.

With the ideal client profile and the lifetime value of the client firmly fixed in your mind, you’re ready to start the 7 step marketing funnel that we can discuss in our next blog.

Robert Armstrong
President & Co-Founder
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
6050 Santo Rd Ste 240
San Diego, CA 92124
858-453-2128
www.aaepa.com