How We Are Different

Before Hiring an Estate Planning Lawyer, Understand the Difference

Many estate planning attorneys take a “one-size fits all” approach with their clients; they do this so that they can work with as many people as possible in a short period of time.  The problem is that the client has an impersonal experience; but worse than that, this way of planning can lead to unintended results in the long run for the family.

When lawyers do not take the time to listen and consider a family’s personal circumstances, the result is that your Will & Trust Documents do not end up reflecting what your family really wants to happen.  And usually there is no review or updating, so the plan quickly becomes outdated and does not work when your family needs it most.

So even though you may pay less up front to get a standard set of documents (or even documents that are customized for your family), things end up much more expensive in the long run.  Plus, you leave your family at risk of having to deal with an expensive, unnecessary court process during a time of tremendous grief.

Terzian Law Partners is right for you if you want to know that your plan will actually work when you and your loved ones need it the most.  If all you want is a set of legal documents, there are plenty of online resources you can use to create them.  Or you can go to a traditional estate planning lawyer.

If what you want is to know you’ve got a plan in place that will make things easy for your loved ones no matter what happens when, we’re the right fit for you.

Here are some of the ways we are different from most estate planning lawyers:

1. All of our fees are fixed fees agreed to in advance, so there are no surprises. At our initial meeting you will choose the level of planning and fee that works best for your family, so there will never be any surprises.
2. We keep you informed and make sure your plan works.  We don’t just prepare a set of legal documents for you and send you on your way.  We make sure your assets are owned in the right way, we make sure your kids’ well-being is properly planned for, we ensure everyone you’ve named in your plan knows what to do if anything happens to you.
3. We review your plan at least every 3 years and annually through our Family Wealth VIP Membership program.  We foster a lifetime, ongoing relationship with our clients.  Throughout your life, things change.  You change; your assets change; your family changes; the law will definitely change.
4. We have a whole team in place to answer your quick questions and to make the planning process incredibly easy and painless for you and your family. We have a process for helping you make sure that your assets are titled in the right way, both now and over your lifetime.
5. We help you get your legal and financial house in order by helping you makesmart choices about things like buying insurance, saving for college, and retirement planning so you never spend more than you have to or get taken advantage of by unscrupulous sales people.
6. Legacy Planning.  We believe that planning is about much more than just the transfer of your financial wealth. With all of our plans, we include a process to help you transfer your most important personal wealth to your loved ones, including your intellectual, spiritual and human assets – who you are and what’s important to you.

Before you engage an estate planning lawyer to help you plan for the well‐being of your money, your family and your life, there are questions you need to ask.  You need to ensure that the estate plan you put in place will really work when your family needs it and won’t end up just a pile of worthless paper after you are gone.

Don’t let a set of legal documents become false security that keeps you from doing what’s best for your loved ones.

Our Firm Helps You Prepare for Life

What makes our firm different is that we were built with the needs of growing families in mind. We understand you are BUSY, you are growing, you are planning for a life of prosperity and you value ease, convenience and efficiency. You want to know you’ve made the best decisions for your family and that your plan will work when your loved ones need it most. You want to make sure your children would be taken care of in the best way possible and will be prepared to receive your wealth if anything happens to you.

That is our focus as well. We’ve developed unique systems to give you the same access to a personal family lawyer as was previously only available to the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Sam Walton so you can have the guidance you need to build and maintain a life of prosperity and wealth.

We encourage communication with our clients. In fact, we’ve thrown out the time clocks so you never have to be afraid to call with a quick question. Everything we do is billed on a flat-fee basis, agreed to in advance, so there are never any surprises.

We have a whole team to serve you. When you call our office to ask your quick question, you won’t have to wait hours or days for a phone call back. You’ll get your question answered, right away. And, if you need to schedule a more in-depth legal or strategic call with your personal lawyer, a call will be scheduled when you’re both available and ready for the call so we can make the very best use of your time and not waste your time by leaving voicemail after voicemail back and forth.

And, we ensure the most important details of your planning are followed through on and your plan continues to work throughout your lifetime.

We have a “funding coordinator” to ensure your assets are protected throughout your lifetime and none of your assets will end up going through a long, expensive court process or being lost to the state because they were missed after your death.

We’ve created unique membership programs to keep your plan up to date year in and year out as well as give you access to our Trusted Team of Legal Experts for guidance on ANY legal or financial matter. One day you will need a lawyer. I don’t know why and I don’t know when, but when you do, you will be grateful you can call on us and we’ll be here to advise you or get you out of a jam.

Lastly, we believe your financial wealth is only a small part of your overall “Family Wealth” which is made up of your far more valuable, Intellectual, Spiritual and Human assets – who you are and what’s important to you.

Most estate plans are only able to transfer your financial wealth onto the next generation. The intangible nature of your much greater wealth has made it difficult to capture and it is most often lost when someone passes. How much do you know about your grandparents values? Their most prized personal possessions? How they felt about you? What they had learned during their lifetime?

If you are like most people, you know very little. But, the wealthiest families capture these assets and pass them along right with their financial wealth. And, that’s part of the reason the rich keep getting richer.

We’ve developed a tool that allows us to pass on your whole family wealth, including your Intellectual, Spiritual and Human assets. I can’t go into all of the details here, but we’ll definitely talk about when you come into meet with your Personal Family Lawyer.

We look forward to seeing you and caring for your family soon!

Vanessa Terzian