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Widespread Panic!

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Overwhelm is in the air. Seems most of our  attorney clients are creating/experiencing some form of overwhelm here in Mid-January. We want to start with stating that overwhelm is a state of mind and a way of being. It is NOT a set of circumstances. It is resistance to what is. The DISTINCT difference of how to STOP overwelm is what you are willing to do about it and how to take responsibility for your part in it. Here are 3 tips to help you out.

1. Don’t Ask…Present! Think about it… Lets say for example you are asking your boss, the business owner, for a raise, you want to speak his language, right? You want to put it in terms that make sense to him. Well, let’s consider how he gets paid. Ultimately, he puts dollars in his pocket from getting clients to hire him. Now, to obtain this money, he doesn’t ask clients to hire him… he has to make a presentation of your company’s services and conclude it with the price it will cost the client to have these services. 

So often we forget that we, as employees, should treat our bosses as we treat our clients. We would never show our worst side to our clients. We make the extra effort to make sure things are presented and prepared well for them. We should do the same for our bosses. Often, when working in a small business, things are casual and you work closely with your boss, which is great, but it can allow us to get too comfortable, or even sloppy, in our presentation to our boss. It’s not that you can’t be comfortable or even have a friendship with your boss, but you should always make sure you are presenting yourself as a valuable resource. Make sure they have facts about the results you produce–tracking reports, sales numbers, clients billed, and so forth. This is never more important than when you are making a presentation for a raise.

So, when you feel it’s time to discuss a raise, schedule a meeting and prepare a presentation. Never bring personal issues into the conversation (i.e., personal financial struggles, the cost of childcare or tuition, your divorce, etc.) Again, working in a small office can lend an aura of intimacy that sometimes just isn’t appropriate in certain conversations, like asking for a raise. It’s often hard to draw a line between “what goes” and “what doesn’t,” but you should be able to tell by instinct and by reading your boss’s personality. So, discussing personal issues with your boss depends on your relationship. However, even if you do talk about these things, they don’t belong in this discussion about a raise. You should never request or receive a raise based on personal need. You should request and receive a raise based on your value to the company.

2.There’s a Time and a Place. Nothing can hijack a conversation more than the wrong time or place. In an already potentially awkward conversation, eliminate distractions and disruptions that can make you lose control of the setting. Carving out quality time to present your proposal is a slippery slope. This doesn’t have to be a desperate thing. Don’t grab any 10 free minutes your boss might have. That would result in bad timing, lack of his attention, and usually a “let me think about it and get back to you” answer because there isn’t enough time to work it through together.

3. Getting Down to It. So, now you’re here for the meeting. Your boss is paying attention, and it’s Show Time!

First, always thank your boss: “Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with me today. I appreciate it.”

Next, acknowledge him. “I know you have a lot to do, so I’ll keep our time commitment and make sure we stay on track.”

Then, get to it. “I’d like to go over with you where I’ve grown over the past and share the value I have produced and talk about where I would like to grow over the next year. I want to make sure it’s in line with what you need from me and that you see how I can support you and the firm more. And I’d like to talk about how to value the role I currently play in the firm. I have some ideas I’d like to share with you.”

Usually, a boss is more than willing to listen to your suggestions and give feedback, and prefers this to having to come up with all the ideas himself. And usually you end up with a decision closer to what you ultimately wanted if you initiate the ideas!

Now, there’s a dangerous pause where you can lose control of the meeting. Let your boss reply, but don’t let him start throwing out ideas and thoughts. Go over what you have prepared before you start brainstorming about the future. So, if your boss starts to toss around ideas, politely interject:

“Great, let me jot down what you said so we don’t forget that idea, and if I could, let me run through what I’ve accomplished over the past (time frame since last raise). I found it very interesting when I reviewed it, and I think it will help us see what I am capable of in the future as well.”

See how we just “spun” this from being a laundry list of things you have done to an essential part of the “future idea” process? It’s much more engaging for a business owner.

So, are you willing to let some things go and acknowledge your full plate and schedule? Can you find a peaceful center when dealing with things that normally seduce you into worrying? Can you find the right question to ask yourself? Tony Robbins recommends these questions when faced with a big problem:

1. What is not perfect yet?
3. What am I willing to do to make it the way I want it?
4. What am I willing to no longer do to make it the way I want it?
5. How can I enjoy the process while I do what is necessary to make it the way I want it?

The idea is to focus on solution rather than the problem itself.

Overwhelm is in the air. And now is the time to embrace the reality that you CAN stop overwhelm dead in its tracks if  you are willing acknowledge it, take responsibility for your part in it and recreate your interaction with it.

Molly Hall co-author of — Don’t Be a Yes Chick!

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New Tax Act Enhances IPUG ™ Planning

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Bigstock-Money-Lockdown-7642848-300x206Over the last several months, everyone was waiting with anticipation as to what Congress and the President would do about the expiring estate tax exemption. We know now that they made the enhanced estate tax exemption of $5.21 million permanent and attached to it an inflation rider for inflation adjustments.

This is great news for IPUG™ planners. IPUG™ (irrevocable pure grantor trusts) (IPUG™) trusts are a strategic asset protection trust that allows individuals to protect their assets without having to give up control and allows them to maintain many benefits from them. An IPUG™ trust is an irrevocable trust where the grantor remains trustee with the power of appointment.

An irrevocable pure grantor trust allows the grantor to remain in control and change the beneficiaries or the investments in any manner he deems appropriate during his lifetime. These trusts have become extensively popular for middle-aged and elder Americans who want to protect their assets from the government, lawsuits, and nursing homes. The new expanded estate tax exemption just over $5 million ensures that these trusts can be utilized by 99.5 percent of Americans. Only one-half of 1 percent of Americans have an estate over $5 million.

Further, couples with up to $10 million can utilize these trusts. Since the grantor maintains sufficient powers, no separate tax returns are required and it's included in their taxable estate but since inclusion in their estate provides for a step-up in tax base, this actually provides an extended benefit to users. The permanent extension now expands the application of these strategic trusts to essentially the entire estate planning marketplace.

For more information on IPUG™ trust planning, you can read my law review article on irrevocable pure grantor trusts at Syracuse University College of Law.

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Meet Kristen M. Lewis our Resident SNT Expert

by with No Comment SNT

Lewis1Greetings and Happy New Year from the Lawyers with Purpose Special Needs Trust consultant, Kristen M. Lewis, a private practice attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia. As we start 2013 together, I wanted to introduce myself to all of you brave practitioners making your way in the SNT world.

I graduated from Cornell Law School in 1984, and proceeded to develop a traditional estate planning private practice. In the late ‘80s, I prepared my first SNT in the context of a personal injury settlement for a baby who was severely injured at birth. The vast majority of my early SNTs were in the context of personal injury settlements, while a very few were in the context of traditional estate planning where the beneficiary’s disability was no one’s fault.

25 years later, those percentages are reversed: 80% of my SNTs are in the context of traditional estate planning, and 20% are in the context of personal injury settlements. Furthermore, a full 75% of my estate planning clients have special needs issues that must be addressed, whether for themselves, their children or extended family members. Special Needs Estate Planning is an area in which many, if not most, traditional estate planning attorneys know just enough to be dangerous.

Instead of becoming proficient in SNT planning, many traditional estate planning attorneys simply recommend that the intended beneficiary with special needs should be disinherited, and his or her share left to another family member who will “do the right thing” and utilize those funds for the benefit of the person with a disability. This is outdated advice, and probably grounds for a legal malpractice claim. The good news is that Lawyers with Purpose helps its members to tackle the complex issues presented by Special Needs Estate Planning, and equips them to ably represent their clients in this evolving area of the law.

It will be my honor and privilege in the weeks ahead to share with you my thoughts and other “pearls of wisdom” gleaned from many years of Special Needs Estate Planning work, as well as to keep you updated on current and cutting-edge developments in the SNT arena. As we spend virtual time together each week, it is certainly my hope that my blog entries will assist you in your practice, and perhaps even with your own family members or friends who may be challenged by a disability or other special needs. In my 25 years of speaking about SNTs to attorneys and other allied professionals, it has never ceased to amaze me how many of the seminar attendees approach me after the presentation with questions that pertain to their personal situations rather than those of their clients. 2013 promises to be a year of major developments in the SNT world, and I look forward to our journey together in the weeks ahead. – Kristen Lewis

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Know The Criteria To Qualify Your Client As A Widow of A Veteran

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Bigstock-Veterans-Day-4591292-300x205Veterans and Widows of Veterans can obtain tax free income to help pay for unreimbursed medical expenses through a program called Improved Pension, often referred to as Aid and Attendance. The question often arises as to if a person is a widow. Usually this is in the context of when the Veteran and the spouse were divorced or separated. If the couple was divorced, then they are considered EX-spouses, not widows. But what about separated? Or, what if the divorce was set aside?

The initial criteria to establish widow status is that the Veteran and the spouse:

(1) had a valid marriage (not to include same-sex marriages that are legally recognized),
(2) were married for at least one year prior to the Veteran’s death, and
(3) were continuously cohabitating when the veteran died.

As with any law, there are exceptions to the law. With regard to being married at the time of death, there is a possibility that a divorce can be set aside or vacated after the Veteran died. If so, the VA Regional Counsel, upon review of all relevant documents, such as the court decree that set aside the divorce, can determine that the decree setting aside the divorce is a valid means that the claimant was the legal surviving spouse of the Veteran.

But, the issue of continuous cohabitation must still be established. Continuous cohabitation sounds like the Veteran and the spouse must have lived in the same place, without separation, until the Veteran’s death. For most couples, that is the case. However, there are acceptable exceptions.

The couple may be separated and living apart if the separation is due to:

(1) medical reasons,
(2) marital discord wherein the surviving spouse was not materially at fault in the separation, or they
(3) lived apart for other reasons that do not show an intent on the part of the surviving spouse to desert the Veteran.

When in doubt, seek counsel from an attorney who is accredited by the Veterans Administration. VA benefits can be instrumentally helpful, but navigating the system can be daunting. Attorney Members of Lawyers with Purpose, LLC receive continuous education about how to assist Veterans and their Families.

Written by Victoria L. Collier, CELA and Co-Founder of Lawyers with Purpose

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What Your Client’s See

by with No Comment Legal Marketing

Bigstock-Businessman-s-Hand-With-Thumb-33620552-300x287Yes, that's about it. It takes the first three seconds for a person to meet you, or walk into your office, take a quick look around and declare their opinion of you and your firm. And let's take that a step further, what if they are calling on the phone, looking at your website, or just seeing your business card. The first impression that you make lasts and is almost impossible to undo.

Take a quick look around and see what impressions your making and see if there is anything you can improve on. Is your conference room professional and do you offer coffee and water to make them comfortable? Is the information on your website fresh and offer credibility? What is the tone of the voice over the phone when they call your office?

Keep in mind that you don't have to have it all. It doesn't need to be the best, but it has to represent your vision of how you want them to receive you. So, for example if you meet clients in your office do you have piles of work stacked everywhere that only you can make sense of? To anyone else, it looks like clutter and overwhelming. Make sure your conference room is tidy and doesn't have boxes full of old cases.

You want people to want to do business with you and for you to come across organized and on top of your game! The impression you make is important because let's face it, you've spent a lot of marketing dollars getting that phone to ring and the client in the door. And each first impression needs to count. Be yourself, smile …. WOW them with a fantastic first impression!

Getting to Goal

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We are major advocates on team goals. Having each team member have individual, professional goals is a great way to keep each team member not only playing as a team, but growing individually. And the same goes if they don’t have balance in personal and professional goals.

We start a new team member with goal setting at their 30 day review. This provides enough time for them to have figured out the basics and at 30 days, they start getting overwhelmed at how much they don’t know and want to start feeling like their creating value. Setting goals of what they should be trained on, etc. over the next few months gives them something to focus on and see they are making progress. From there, a 90 Day, 6 month and then annual review is a great place to review and update your new team members goals. Creating and sharing their goals is always a great way to find that they each like a certain part of their job and then you can start training them and letting them grow into pieces of the job. That means they can then move up and grow into new opportunities as well. If we can’t free up some of our time, we can’t grow either! Knowing each other’s goals lets us all grow together.

Everyone working together on goals first and foremost, allows you to use all of your unique abilities to get something completed. You have talent, use it! Second, it allows your team to focus and work together which avoids a lot of “territorial” issues, such as the marketing department thinking they are more important than the accounting department. And the accounting department thinking the marketing department spends too much money on useless stuff. Team goals allow everyone to understand the purpose of an overall goal and how each person contributes to it. For example, if you set a quarterly revenue goal to meet, the accounting department might appreciate that the “fluffy marketing cocktail hour” the marketing department is hosting will bring in a flood of new client appointments to follow. They may offer to help prepare a budget since that’s what they are good at. The receptionist may offer to make outgoing confirmation calls in her spare time to help the event be a success. After all it’s not the marketing department’s event now; it’s a team event that benefits a team goal.

Incentivize!

Every single time we teach or meet entrepreneurs we are asked the exact same question – every time! “How do I get my team to implement when they are so busy already?” The answer is really, really, really simple. Pay them. It’s funny what we find time for when a bonus is attached to its completion. It’s usually not conscious. I rarely meet a team member that refuses to do something because they aren’t being paid extra for it. And they typically get offended when we recommend it, “I don’t need to get paid extra to do my job…I just simply don’t have the time.” But if you bonus a team member on the completion of something, that makes it stand out in the crowd of “to-do’s” screaming for their attention. It also lets them know it is really important – it draws their focus to what you consider most important for them to complete. We recommend:

1. Quarterly Team Revenue Bonuses – Always have a team bonus that focuses on bringing money in the door. Brinting money in the door makes sure that the company is profitable. We recommend quarterly bonuses. A month is too quick and a year is too long to run at a high intensity without reaping the rewards to get keyed up for next quarter and monthly is not big enough of a check (after taxes) to get very jazzed or committed to the goal;

2. Project Bonuses – these are group projects with one or more team member working together to implement or create something. A project can be an event, a new marketing brochure, a new website, a huge clean up in the office, remodeling….anything that is important to your business to be completed.

3. Individual Bonuses – Designed around the three most important things the team member does for the company so the company makes money. We hate to keep going back to money, but remember, a company without profit + out of business = you out of a J-O-B. And your clients will lose out as well.

If you give great client service, you can serve your clients and make money at the same time! Examples are: for a marketing or sales person, the bonus may be around # of appointments booked, new clients closed, money collected. For a behind the scenes team member, the bonus may be around billings collected, work completed before a deadline or cost cutting project on office supplies. Individual bonuses should be reviewed annually and adjusted as a team member masters how to achieve what you are incentivizing, move the goals so they grow and achieve.

For instance, begin with a bonus for number of appointments scheduled, and then adjust the bonus after a year to number of appointments that go forward and hire the company to encourage the team member to help close the deal by getting preparatory materials out in time and following up to close the deal.

It's tough leading. Learn to balance the needs of yourself with others needs of you. Remember that the stronger the team you build, the more they can support you and provide you the opportunity to grow as an entrepreneur and owning a business versus owing a job. If you let yourself be surrounded with mediocre team, you are boxing yourself into a corner where you can’t get out because you have no one to help you.

This information was shared by Molly Hall, co-author of Yes Chick. To learn more about team building

Three Core Elements of Asset Protection

by with No Comment Asset Protection

Over the last ten years I have the privilege to speak to virtually every major national legal estate planning and elder law organizations. As I speak at each one I come to the conclusion that there is massive confusion among attorneys as to what asset protection planning is.

The biggest challenge for most lawyers is when they think of asset protection planning, they think of domestic asset protection trusts (DAPT). While that was popular, I find this really not relevant to the typical estate planner. Why? Because most every day clients don't want to have their trusts held in some other state, let alone some other country. Asset protection planning today is really very different.

Asset protection planning today must encompass three core elements:

1. Protection from losses and other general predators;
2. Protections from nursing homes so that the clients can become eligible for government-based benefits if the need should arise; and
3. Protection of family values.

The key strategy to employ this is by utilizing trusts such as the Irrevocable Peer Grantor Trust. Why this is critical is that it allows the client to be in control of the trust and to change all elements of it except that which they want to protect. While many practitioners are "concerned" around this approach – as a practitioner that has utilized this thousands of times over the last 20 years – I profess that anyone who doesn't do it, just doesn't understand it.

If you have any questions as to how you can create asset protection for a client where they can still be the trustee and retain the power of appointment, I encourage you to read Irrevocable Peer Grantor Trusts, the Estate Planning Landscape has Changed published in Syracuse Law Review. Or, we're happy to provide you with a copy. Just email Roslyn Drotar at rdrotar@lawyerswithpurpose.com. This article will provide the legal analysis based on case law all the way up to the Supreme Court that supports these positions. Okay don't let fear stop you from serving the clients that need this great tool. Thousands of attorneys across the country are using it every day. When will you?

Have You Ever Heard of Chronic Appendicitis?

by with No Comment Uncategorized

For six months my energetic, vivacious daughter has been bent over in pain and fearful of riding in a car to go over bumps. After every possible exam, sonograms, scan, endoscopic, colonoscopy, and every other exam that could be done, the doctors were stumped.

We went to our local Children's Hospital who were prepared to do surgery on what they thought was appendicitis. After a second opinion they reneged their opinion and decided to send us to a bigger city. After a trip to Boston, the chief of staff of pediatric gastroenterology in 45 minutes diagnosed my daughter with "chronic appendicitis."

What was different about chronic appendicitis was that it does not host the usual symptoms of acute appendicitis which occurs when the appendix is about to burst. Instead, the appendix doesn't work properly and causes pain. As a result, for six months my daughter suffered severe abdominal pain in her lower left section from her pelvic bone to her ribs.

Unexplained to all doctors finally the pediatric gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital declared "get the appendix out." When bringing my daughter back to the local hospitals they were hesitant to do it nonetheless. After persistence by my wife and I they agreed to remove it reluctantly.

Amazing and as predicted by the gastroenterologist all pain was gone upon the completion of surgery. We later found out that the appendix was actually acute not chronic. Wow! Wow! Can you imagine this? All these doctors, all these exams, and no one caught it. So, if any of your loved ones have this pain in their lower abdomen region that's unexplained and can't be traced, consider chronic appendicitis. My hope is that a loved one of yours never has to spend the six months in paid as our daughter did.

In retrospect however, I forgot how vivacious my daughter was. Her full personality is back. She sings and dances and is back into the full swing of things. It's great to have her back.

David J. Zumpano

March Madness for Veterans

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As College Football comes to an end with Alabama crushing Notre Dame to take the BSC Title Championship, College Basketball is gearing up for March Madness.

Historically, Veterans receiving Pension benefits, to include Aid and Attendance, also experienced a March Madness of their own. On March 1st of each year, the annual Eligibility Verification Report (EVR) was due to the VA to substantiate that the Veteran was rightfully eligible for and receiving tax free income, called Improved Pension, to help offset medical expenses.

This year, the VA decided to dispense with the red tape and is eliminating the need for Veterans to complete an annual EVR. Instead, the VA is implementing a new process for confirming eligibility for benefits. The new process will involve the VA working directly with Social Security and the IRS to verify the Veteran’s annual income.

This will, presumably save the Veteran and the VA a lot of time and money, while allowing the VA to redirect staff to more pressing issues – claim backlogs.

Unfortunately, as a practicing lawyer who assists Veterans with their annual reports, I see a madness of another kind about to happen in March! The EVR did not just verify annual income. It also verified net worth, which now will not be verified. But, more importantly, the EVR provided a means to advise Veterans that they can and should submit an accounting of all unreimbursed medical expenses they pay out of pocket for on a regular basis. Many people would not be eligible for the pension but for the amount of money they personally pay for medical care. Without being prompted to submit this report each year, many Veterans will inadvertently lose their VA pension. This will lead to appeals and more backlog. But, more devastating than that, most Veterans will not seek the advice of counsel to see how they can get benefits reinstated. Instead, sacrificing medical care they no longer can afford.

For information on how you, as an attorney, can help, contact Lawyers with Purpose.

By Victoria L. Collier, CELA

Is Document Drafting Software Enough?

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I speak with so many lawyers who crave their document creation software. As a practicing estate and elder law attorney I couldn't agree more, but, it's really a false sense of security. In reality what lawyers really crave is the confidence that the trust they provide their clients is legally correct.

As a result many attorneys settle for a short-term solution in trying to solve their long-term needs which is being effective for clients. The problem with most document creation software today is that it is so attorney dependent. While that sounds good, the reality is the result is that lawyers are working 60‑plus hours a week.

A good document creation software should have the legal technical sufficient to provide the client what they need, but more importantly, should be able to be generated by someone other than the lawyer. For example, a good document creation software should have a design template which allows the attorney to customize the estate plan they want for the client, without having to physically enter the software to do it. This is something that I have become very comfortable with in the legal document creation software that I utilize because it allows me to be creative and create a custom plan for each client, without having to physically open up the software.

Instead, I can document my wishes on a design template and provide that information to a key member who can generate the trust just as I designed it! The distinction between traditional document creation software and the software I use is systemization. I can identifying the core elements necessary to design an effective and efficient estate plan that allows the client access to all legal avenues, not just the same ones you consistently do.

With most lawyers, if you take a look at the last ten trusts they did, they're all the same with the exception of the names. While the attorney feels good, the reality is the quality of the customization is minimal. Even worse, to customize a plan requires excessive work for the attorney because they have to manually do it in the software.

Bottom line is that good document creation software will not only allow the attorney the freedom to customize each plan, but also will allow them to delegate the drafting confidentially so that he can focus on the real needs of the client not the technical applications of the software. So does your software allow you the freedom? If not it's time to consider changing. Dave Z