1. How do you bill for your services?

There is no need to be afraid to talk with your lawyer about how he/she bills for the work they will do on your behalf. In fact, when you first call a lawyer’s office, this is one of the very first questions you should ask. No one wants surprises!

If when you call the attorney’s office, they will not give you any information about how they charge for their services or any expectation of what things will cost, beware you could be in for some big surprises about what things cost down the road. That said, don’t judge the lawyer on only price.  You need to know a lot more about the attorney and the firm before you decide if the price is worth it.
Look for a lawyer who bills all of their services on a flat-fee, project basis and never on an hourly basis, unless required to by the Court for limited purposes. In every event, be sure the lawyer you choose promises to never send you an unexpected bill in the mail for quick phone calls or emails.

2. How are you able to be responsive to my needs on an ongoing basis?

One of the biggest complaints people have about working with a lawyer is that lawyers are notorious for not being responsive. In fact, I’ve heard of situations in which clients have gone weeks without getting a call back from their lawyer.

This generally happens when a lawyer does not have enough administrative support in his or her office. Far too many lawyers believe they can take care of everything in and around their office themselves, from paperwork to client meetings to calendaring to returning phone calls to connecting with their clients other advisors, the list goes on and on. Truth is, a lawyer who is a true solo practitioner without administrative support or in a firm without adequate support will become overwhelmed and non-responsive to your needs.

You can and should ask your lawyer how he or she will respond to your ongoing needs, how quickly calls are returned in the office, if there is someone on hand to answer quick questions and if you should expect to get right through to your lawyer when you call the office.

A great way to test this is to call your prospective lawyer’s office and ask for him or her. If you get put right through or even worse sent to a voicemail, think twice about hiring this lawyer because it means they do not have effective systems in place for managing and responding to calls or answering your quick questions. Instead, what you want is for the person answering the phone or another team member to offer to help you and if he or she cannot then to schedule a call for you to talk with your lawyer at a future date and time when he or she will be ready to focus on your matter.

Your lawyer cannot be effective and efficient if he or she is taking every call that comes through to him or her – all calls should be pre-scheduled when you are both ready and your lawyer can focus on your specific needs.

3. How will you proactively communicate with me on an ongoing basis?

Unfortunately, most lawyers do a horrible job of proactively communicating with their clients on an ongoing basis. The general thinking in the legal industry is that legal work is transactional in nature and clients will call when something changes. But this is faulty thinking and in my opinion just pure laziness on the part of lawyers.

You want to look for a lawyer who will proactively communicate with you at least quarterly by mail via an informative, easy to read newsletter and monthly by email. I prefer to hear from the professionals I work with monthly by mail and weekly by email, but progress can only happen so fast.

If you are considering hiring a lawyer who does not proactively communicate with his or her clients, think again. This lawyer might be stuck in an old, outdated mindset that won’t serve your needs in the best possible way.

4. Can I call about any legal problem I have or just about matters within your specialty?

In today’s complex world, lawyers must have specialized training in one or more specific practice areas, such as divorce, bankruptcy, wills & trusts, estates, personal injury, business, criminal matters or employment. You definitely do NOT want to be working with a lawyer who professes to be an expert in whatever walks through the door. However, you do want your personal lawyer and/or business lawyer to have a broad enough expertise that you can consult with your lawyer on all sorts of legal or financial issues that come up in your life and he or she will be able to guide you right.

Trust me, you probably don’t want the lawyer who designed your estate plan to also handle your personal injury claim, your dispute with your landlord and advise you on your divorce, but you do want him or her to be there to hear your story, find you the exact right lawyer and be available as a consultant to you. That way, you can call you personal lawyer before signing legal documents (even loan documents), any time you have a legal or financial issue, or whenever anything that could affect your family or business adversely comes up and know you’ll get great guidance.

Look for a lawyer who has an ongoing service program or membership program in place so that you can pay a low monthly fee and be able to call with all of your legal and financial questions without being charged hourly for the consultation. And be sure that when you call, you’ll get to schedule time to talk with your own personal lawyer who you know and trust and not get passed off to one of any number of lawyers who happen to work in the office and may not know who you are or what’s important to you.

5. What happens if you die or retire?

This is a critically important question to ask any service professional when beginning a relationship and a question that is far too often overlooked. Sure, it may feel uncomfortable to ask, but a truly excellent, client-centered service provider will have in place a plan to ensure their clients are taken care of no matter what happens to the lawyer in the future.

Answers you want to look for here are that your lawyer has a clear plan in place for someone warm and caring to take over your matter without providing any interruption of service to you. If your lawyer prepared a Will, Trust and other estate planning documents for you, or you are in the middle of a divorce or lawsuit, you want to ensure your lawyer has a plan in place so you won’t need to start everything over from scratch. And, if you are on a membership program with your lawyer, you’ll want to make sure he or she has a relationship with a lawyer or network of lawyers who can continue to service you under that program.

When you ask these 5 questions before hiring a lawyer for any type of legal matter, you will know you are engaging a trusted advisor who will help you to make the very best decisions for you, your family and your business.

Most veterans and their surviving spouses are not aware of a certain veterans pension benefit known as Aid and Attendance.  A veteran who is over 65 and now disabled may qualify for much-needed money to pay medical bills!

In a free guide titled “Nuts and Bolts guide to Veteran Pension Benefits”, you will:

• Learn the TRUTH about the veteran pension.
• Learn how these “secret benefits” are available to certain veterans over age 65.
• Learn how these benefits can be used to pay for home health care and assisted living.
• Learn how a veteran with a spouse can receive up to  $1,949 per month in assistance.
• Learn how surviving widows can qualify for $1,056 or more per month in assistance.
• Learn why certain ways of qualifying for this benefit can become a “Medicaid Time Bomb”.

The veteran pension is a monthly check mailed directly to the veteran.  It can mean the difference between moving to a nursing home and staying at home.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.  Once the VA has approved the veteran for a pension, they also get:

• Free Veterans Affairs medical treatment (no co-pay).
• Free prescriptions through VA pharmacies for fomulary drugs.

There are certain criteria that every veteran must meet:

• At least 65 years old.
• Served at least 90 days in active military service (24 months if entered service after 9/1/1980).
• Served at least 1 day during a period of war, although do not have to have served in combat.
• Discharged for any reason except “dishonorable”.

A wartime injury or disability is NOT a prerequisite for qualifying for the veteran pension.

Veterans’ service organizations (VFW, American Legion) can assist in filing a claim for the pension.  What they can’t do is advise on Medicaid qualification in conjunction with veteran pension planning.  For example, even if you are in a nursing home and receiving Medicaid, receiving this pension can reduce the amount your estate (and therefore your family) would be required to pay back to the state.

The rules for Medicaid and Veteran Pension are different.  For example, the VA doesn’t care if you give your assets away to qualify.  But that’s a huge trap for someone who is unaware of Medicaid rules.  Giving assets away can make you ineligible for Medicaid benefits for as many as 5 years.

You need a comprehensive senior life plan that includes estate planning and planning for the possibility of applying for the veteran pension and/or Medicaid.  Call us at 508-281-7900 to receive your FREE: “Nuts and Bolts Guide to Veteran Pension Benefits”. No pressure and no obligation.

Members of the PFL network focus on the needs of growing families to ensure life-long enjoyment of prosperity and financial security, without the traditional hourly billing associated with working with an attorney.  They provide their clients with the guidance of a trusted advisor throughout, and at the end of life to guarantee all assets are secured for the future of their clients’ families.

Currently, less than 100 other lawyers in the country have received this designation.

“I’m thrilled to be included in this elite group of lawyers.  I love helping people, being their trusted advisor, and helping them make the best financial decisions for their family for a lifetime.  It has been my life’s ambition to be this type of lawyer and not just prepare form documents, but develop a real personal relationship with my clients.  I’m very fortunate and honored,” said Ingle.

#1 Children are Legal Adults at Age 18. Yes, little Bobby may still leave his clothes on the floor or your baby girl might have no idea now to properly fill the dishwasher, but once they turn age 18 they are adults in the eyes of the law.  This means that health privacy laws kick in preventing doctors from freely sharing medical information or parents from making medical decisions in a crisis.  It also means that parents can no longer handle banking or sign financial and business papers.  The only recourse might be a living probate – a guardianship proceeding – in the probate court, something that can take weeks and thousands of dollars to put in place, all at a highly emotional time.

The Solution: A properly drafted health care proxy, medical privacy release and durable power of attorney.  Completed during senior year, before children head off to college, these can thwart any surprises that creep up during those years away.  And for clients who are part of our VIP multi-generation membership program, Ingle Law will put this solution in place for FREE!

#2 An Estate Plan Must be Reviewed Periodically. Lives change.  People move.  Asset portfolios evolve.  An estate plan must be reviewed periodically to guarantee that it will work for you and your family when you need it the most.  It’s not something to be completed, checked off on the to-do list, and put on the shelf to gather dust.  If you have a trust as part of your plan, all the more reason to review your plan regularly.  Your trust only gives you maximum protection if your assets are actually titled to it.

The Solution: A quick review with your attorney to update him or her on any new assets, confirm ownership, and confirm that decision makers remain the same.  This is so important that Ingle Law is starting to reach out to our clients from three years ago or more to conduct this review for FREE!  Clients we’ve worked with recently already know that we’ll do this every three years at no additional cost.  Of course, plan amendments may come with a modest price tag, but the review was included as part of the original estate planning fee.  Clients who are part of our VIP membership programs not only receive this review annually (instead of every three years) they also get no cost updated health care proxies, durable powers of attorney and plan amendments to accommodate life and law changes.

#3 You Won’t Risk Your Home and You Can Leave Your Family a Modest Inheritance. Just a few incorrect statements that I hear all the time include, “Everything must be paid to the nursing home” or “We’re protected, we have a trust” or my particular favorite, “The state will take my house.”  Not so. We spend countless hours trying to figure out how to use tax laws to our advantage, why shouldn’t our seniors be allowed to do the same thing with the Medicaid rules?

The Solution: You must consult with an elder law attorney well-versed in Medicaid planning, not just filling out the application. (Look for someone who is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.) This kind of planning is controversial.  But notice I said that the solution was a “consultation”, not necessarily  taking any active steps based upon that conversation.  We have a philosophy at Ingle Law that we can support a client in any decision they make, so long as it’s an informed decision (and of course, legal).  Our job is to make sure you have all the information you need to make a thoughtful, considered decision.  And, you guessed it, for our VIP multi-generation membership clients, you can give this consultation to your parents as a gift, and there will be no charge.

#4 Death Creates Paperwork. How Much Depends Upon Prior Planning. While the probate process isn’t always necessary, wouldn’t you rather know than guess, or worse, wait and see? Alternatively, you can just watch to see if your loved one’s name appears on the abandoned property list years later.  You could also wait for creditors to sue because you didn’t know who to pay, how much or when.  (I don’t recommend any of these alternatives.) Why go through all that at a time when things are already emotional, nerves are raw, and family may not agree on how to proceed.

The Solution: If you’re the executor or trustee, meeting with a qualified probate and trust attorney can educate you on your responsibilities. Probating an estate can take as little as a year or as many as several.  That’s a long time to go without knowing what should be happening, when it should be happening, or who’s responsible for making it happen. I’m sure you’ll be shocked to hear this, but for our VIP membership clients, we offer a substantial discount on administration fees to you or the loved ones you leave behind.

Call us the next time you have any legal question, or any question at all.  Think of Ingle Law as the Main Street lawyer of old—the person you called when you weren’t sure where to turn.  We’re here to help you with a solution, whether it’s with legal services, notary services, deciphering a form, or trying to find the best electrician.  Of course, you don’t need to be part of one of our VIP membership programs to call, but you might want to ask about them so you save a bundle, and have the peace of mind of knowing a solution is only a phone call away.

1.  You may have named a couple to act as guardians and you have not indicated what should happen if the couple broke up or one of the partners in the couple died.  This means your kids could end up in the care of someone you wouldn’t really want.

2.  You may not have named enough alternates to serve if your first choice cannot serve.

3.  You may have considered financial resources of potential guardians when deciding who should raise your children. Your guardians do not have to also be financial decision makers for your kids. Your guardians are the people who will be in charge of your kids’ emotional, spiritual and physical well-being, not necessarily their money.  It’s your responsibility to leave enough money behind to take care of your kids either through savings or life insurance and you can name someone other than your guardians to take care of that money if the best choice guardians are not “good with money” people.

4.  You may have not provided for someone to take care of the money you are leaving behind and that means your money could go outright to your kids’ at 18 – unprotected!

5.  You very likely only named long-term care guardians and did not make any arrangements for the immediate term care of your kids if you were in an accident; this means your kids could be taken out of your home and into the arms of strangers until the authorities could figure out what to do.

6.  You probably did not exclude anyone who might challenge your decisions or who you know you would never want raising your kids.

The good news?  Avoiding these mistakes is easy.  Naming legal guardians is so critically important for Moms and Dads, we offer a free online resource that guides you through the process of creating a Kids Protection Plan®: www.makidsprotectionplan.com.  Of course, you can also contact us directly for a Family Wealth Planning Session.  As a matter of fact, protecting your kids is so vitally important, we’ll waive the usual $750 fee when you attend one of our seminars or mention this blog entry.  Kids protection planning is not something you do for yourself, it’s something you do for your kids.  Your loved ones will thank you!