When it comes to designing an estate plan, we draft your documents: wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills/medical powers of attorney, and any other appropriate documents. These documents are drafted in such a way as to meet the client’s objectives and to take maximum advantage of all tax credits and exemptions available to the client and his or her family. For most attorneys, that is where the work ends. For me, it is just the beginning.
When someone dies, their documents don’t do the work themselves. It takes a family member and/or an attorney, hired for that purpose (this process is called “probate”) to file to the appropriate paperwork and execute the directives of the will. Sometimes this takes an amount of interpretation, but it always involves the process of going through the deceased’s personal belongings, locating life insurance policies, accessing safe deposit boxes, and retitling of assets. Almost all my clients (as with most other attorney’s clients) virtually ignore the process of organizing their affairs in such a way as to make things as easy as possible on their survivors. I am yet to deal with an estate, whether small or large, where things aren’t at least somewhat of a mess. Many clients have asked me whether I had some information that described the probate process and gave them some tools to organize their affairs for their loved ones.
I am, therefore, in the process (about 2/3rds of the way) of creating a publication that will be entitled “For My Heirs: A Journal of Guidance & Instructions”. This booklet will include sections to leave letters of love and guidance for surviving heirs, places to list assets, personal belongings, funeral directives, obituary statements, insurance policies, sample letters for benefit requests, as well as general information about the local probate process. From my research, there does not appear to be any type of publication of its kind, at least nothing this comprehensive.
The booklet will be offered to existing and future clients for approximately $30 to $50 if they want to prepare it themselves; probably $300 to $500 if they would like to firm to prepare a customized version for them. Perhaps we will offer it at a different price to the general public.
I am still accepting suggestions based upon personal experience from anyone wishing to contribute. If we use your ideas, I will give you a set for you and your spouse to complete – free of charge. Also, if you’d like to get on the advance purchase list, please email us. We will send you information as soon as it becomes available.
If you have a personal story regarding a difficult situation you’ve faced with a deceased loved one, I ask you to share it. It will help those in the future avoid such unintended circumstances.
So remember that when some one asks you if you have organized your personal affairs, having an up-to-date will is not enough. That only starts the process. I look forward to my next entry when I address “why you need a will.”
March 30, 2008
March 25, 2008
So You Want to be a Public Speaker. . .
I do a lot of public speaking. Its good for my business and good for my confidence. I regularly speak on tax topics, estate planning, real estate, foreclosures, short sales, etc... I also cover topics such as "how to network and grow your centers of influence," and "how to motivate yourself to success." I speak to financial associations, insurance agencies, planning groups and professional organizations. I also volunteer to speak to lay groups such as retirees, business owners, and young parents.
I have always found it difficult to market my speaking services and continue to grow my business. It is always an up and down cycle. I would market until I was busy, and then stop marketing until such time as things calmed down enough to focus on it. But this never gave me continually growing success -- it was too up and down.
Then I was introduced to a group of people who were forming a speaker's bureau. Usually, speakers' bureaus seek out individuals who have already launched their speaking careers; in other words, speakers they can make money on. Each of these individuals had the same problem as me in that they were unable to focus on growing their speaking careers, but they were all too small and relatively unknown to peak the interest of a speakers bureau. So, together we formed our own. The Professional Speaker's Group is a bureau of about 13 (and growing) individuals who come from many different professions and have varying levels of speaking skills. Some of us having been speaking publicly since high school (like myself) and others are relatively new to the career.
Public speaking is one of my favorite activities. It gives me a charge and it allows me to effect people in a certain way. If you know of any groups, organizations or associations that are looking for an excellent speaker, please send them my way or send them to the bureau. I'll take on any topic, or at least consider it. I love to give motivational speeches and speak to groups about how they can network themselves and their businesses.
To learn more about our speakers and the bureau, visit http://www.professionalspeakersgroup.com/ or click here to link to my speakers bio. Or if you do some public speaking and would like to do more, please visit the site and contact us. For a relatively small investment and assuming you have the right credentials, you could grow your career in speaking.
I have always found it difficult to market my speaking services and continue to grow my business. It is always an up and down cycle. I would market until I was busy, and then stop marketing until such time as things calmed down enough to focus on it. But this never gave me continually growing success -- it was too up and down.
Then I was introduced to a group of people who were forming a speaker's bureau. Usually, speakers' bureaus seek out individuals who have already launched their speaking careers; in other words, speakers they can make money on. Each of these individuals had the same problem as me in that they were unable to focus on growing their speaking careers, but they were all too small and relatively unknown to peak the interest of a speakers bureau. So, together we formed our own. The Professional Speaker's Group is a bureau of about 13 (and growing) individuals who come from many different professions and have varying levels of speaking skills. Some of us having been speaking publicly since high school (like myself) and others are relatively new to the career.
Public speaking is one of my favorite activities. It gives me a charge and it allows me to effect people in a certain way. If you know of any groups, organizations or associations that are looking for an excellent speaker, please send them my way or send them to the bureau. I'll take on any topic, or at least consider it. I love to give motivational speeches and speak to groups about how they can network themselves and their businesses.
To learn more about our speakers and the bureau, visit http://www.professionalspeakersgroup.com/ or click here to link to my speakers bio. Or if you do some public speaking and would like to do more, please visit the site and contact us. For a relatively small investment and assuming you have the right credentials, you could grow your career in speaking.
March 18, 2008
The Fall of Bear Stearns - The Little Guy Gets Slaughtered
With the failure of Bear Stearns, one of this country's oldest financial institutions, things really seem to be going to hell in a hand basket. Ace Greenberg has got to be sick. And, although a lot of analysts believe that BS was the big bubble that came up, I am not sure if we've seen the worst.
It is also getting worse for the homeowners who are in trouble with their loans. I've noticed that banks stay right on schedule with the foreclosure process by sending the file out to their respective law firms, but they are unwilling to put the proper resources toward servicing and answering their borrowers' requests for help. And I am just sick of it. The lenders created a lot of this mess by making all these loans in the first place. And then they just walk away and leave all of us to clean things up. I know of one lender who sold out to a very large wire house. They wire house cut all their retail operations and left 50 employees to service the entire country. Over the past few years, this lender issued billions of dollars of loans. Some people will lose their homes simply because the lender does not have the resources to get back to them quick enough. That is simply unfair.
I ask you to write to your Senators and Congressmen and ask them to investigate this issue. It is a nationwide problem and it's making the crisis much worse. Lenders should be held responsible to service the loans they've put on the books. Not just close up shop and leave the general public in trouble. And all this is not just financially devastating. It is emotionally devastating, destroys marriages, effects people's ability to work and their ability to sleep on night. If a borrower submits a hardship package, along with all requested information, the lender should be barred from taking any foreclosure actions until they've taken steps to address these issues with their borrower. It should be malpractice for an attorney to initiate a foreclosure action until they verify that the lender has responded to the hardship request.
Best way to contact Congress is to visit the congressional website at www.congress.org and enter your home zip code. Tell them a story of someone who can't pay their mortgage, has requested help from their lender and the lender has told them that they can't get back to them for 3 months (if you don't have a story, email me and I'll send you some!). Tell them that these people are facing foreclosure and can't even make partial payments since the lender won't accept their checks. It should be illegal; it certainly is unethical and immoral.
And as we watch our economy falter and possibly head toward some of the most difficult economic times since World War II, it occurs to me: how did we get in this mess in the first place? It is, of course, partially the public's fault. They are not without any blame. But with Wall Street so hungry to purchase loans, thus giving lenders the opportunity to create loans which they could sell almost immediately, you have to place a lot of blame on the system. Most home buyers are unaware of how the system works - they only know one thing: they want to buy and the lender is willing to lend. And their willingness drove prices up. Its all supply and demand. More money available will drive up prices. Now money is less available and prices sink. Simple economics and, as usual, the little guy gets slaughtered. The big lenders are being bailed out, i.e. Bear Stearns. A significant portion of the deal is being guaranteed by the Federal Reserve since they are afraid BS is so large that their ultimate failure will have a terrible impact on the economy. But now the Fed has to divert funds from other uses. The little guy gets slaughtered. Wall Street backs off on buying lenders' paper, waits and then goes back in to buy at pennies on the dollar. The little guy gets slaughtered again.
If you have your own stories, please email me. I'd be happy to pass them along to Congress and the media.
It is also getting worse for the homeowners who are in trouble with their loans. I've noticed that banks stay right on schedule with the foreclosure process by sending the file out to their respective law firms, but they are unwilling to put the proper resources toward servicing and answering their borrowers' requests for help. And I am just sick of it. The lenders created a lot of this mess by making all these loans in the first place. And then they just walk away and leave all of us to clean things up. I know of one lender who sold out to a very large wire house. They wire house cut all their retail operations and left 50 employees to service the entire country. Over the past few years, this lender issued billions of dollars of loans. Some people will lose their homes simply because the lender does not have the resources to get back to them quick enough. That is simply unfair.
I ask you to write to your Senators and Congressmen and ask them to investigate this issue. It is a nationwide problem and it's making the crisis much worse. Lenders should be held responsible to service the loans they've put on the books. Not just close up shop and leave the general public in trouble. And all this is not just financially devastating. It is emotionally devastating, destroys marriages, effects people's ability to work and their ability to sleep on night. If a borrower submits a hardship package, along with all requested information, the lender should be barred from taking any foreclosure actions until they've taken steps to address these issues with their borrower. It should be malpractice for an attorney to initiate a foreclosure action until they verify that the lender has responded to the hardship request.
Best way to contact Congress is to visit the congressional website at www.congress.org and enter your home zip code. Tell them a story of someone who can't pay their mortgage, has requested help from their lender and the lender has told them that they can't get back to them for 3 months (if you don't have a story, email me and I'll send you some!). Tell them that these people are facing foreclosure and can't even make partial payments since the lender won't accept their checks. It should be illegal; it certainly is unethical and immoral.
And as we watch our economy falter and possibly head toward some of the most difficult economic times since World War II, it occurs to me: how did we get in this mess in the first place? It is, of course, partially the public's fault. They are not without any blame. But with Wall Street so hungry to purchase loans, thus giving lenders the opportunity to create loans which they could sell almost immediately, you have to place a lot of blame on the system. Most home buyers are unaware of how the system works - they only know one thing: they want to buy and the lender is willing to lend. And their willingness drove prices up. Its all supply and demand. More money available will drive up prices. Now money is less available and prices sink. Simple economics and, as usual, the little guy gets slaughtered. The big lenders are being bailed out, i.e. Bear Stearns. A significant portion of the deal is being guaranteed by the Federal Reserve since they are afraid BS is so large that their ultimate failure will have a terrible impact on the economy. But now the Fed has to divert funds from other uses. The little guy gets slaughtered. Wall Street backs off on buying lenders' paper, waits and then goes back in to buy at pennies on the dollar. The little guy gets slaughtered again.
If you have your own stories, please email me. I'd be happy to pass them along to Congress and the media.
March 14, 2008
Recession Time?
The economy is rocky. We are clearly heading into a recession. I get more and more files coming across my desk from clients in trouble with their mortgages. Many do not know their options or understand the process.
I thought it would be beneficial to share some insight into this process and alay some fears and misunderstandings. First of all, recognize that banks are businesses and make business decisions everyday. They also do not want to be in the real estate business. In a time when many lenders are cash poor and suffering from bad decision-making, you would be suprised what your lender is willing to do to help you pay them or sell your property. I have clients who've had to sell their properties for less than they owe and we've been able to negotiate with the lender to not only agree not to pursue them personally for the shortage, but to even report the loan as paid in full to the credit bureaus. We have also been successful, through some consulting relationships, to help clients clean up their credit reports after they have gotten past these problems to more easily move on with their lives.
So if you feel that your back is against the wall and you don't have any options, think again, calm down and call us. You'd be surprised at how we can help.
If you are going to negotiate on your own, remember that communication is the key. And so is persistance. Contact the lender every week or so to check in and give them an update, even if they've told you that it will be weeks before they are able to review your file. Most lenders have loss mitigation departments which offer hardship packages that they can send you to state your case and put together the proper financial information to help them make a decision and be flexible to work with you. Remember that the lender is trying to determine whether you are really in trouble or just trying to take advantage of the situation. For smaller lenders, it might take them 6 weeks or more to get back to you. Always follow up on faxes and emails to be sure they were received and have been logged in their system. It is my experience that somehow the lender seems to lose your materials a few times before things get started and you are in the system. Be persistant and don't get frustrated. Expect set backs and keep trying.
Good luck and I hope you fair well during these difficult economic times.
I thought it would be beneficial to share some insight into this process and alay some fears and misunderstandings. First of all, recognize that banks are businesses and make business decisions everyday. They also do not want to be in the real estate business. In a time when many lenders are cash poor and suffering from bad decision-making, you would be suprised what your lender is willing to do to help you pay them or sell your property. I have clients who've had to sell their properties for less than they owe and we've been able to negotiate with the lender to not only agree not to pursue them personally for the shortage, but to even report the loan as paid in full to the credit bureaus. We have also been successful, through some consulting relationships, to help clients clean up their credit reports after they have gotten past these problems to more easily move on with their lives.
So if you feel that your back is against the wall and you don't have any options, think again, calm down and call us. You'd be surprised at how we can help.
If you are going to negotiate on your own, remember that communication is the key. And so is persistance. Contact the lender every week or so to check in and give them an update, even if they've told you that it will be weeks before they are able to review your file. Most lenders have loss mitigation departments which offer hardship packages that they can send you to state your case and put together the proper financial information to help them make a decision and be flexible to work with you. Remember that the lender is trying to determine whether you are really in trouble or just trying to take advantage of the situation. For smaller lenders, it might take them 6 weeks or more to get back to you. Always follow up on faxes and emails to be sure they were received and have been logged in their system. It is my experience that somehow the lender seems to lose your materials a few times before things get started and you are in the system. Be persistant and don't get frustrated. Expect set backs and keep trying.
Good luck and I hope you fair well during these difficult economic times.
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