The TLC™ Estate Plan Maintenance & Fee Guarantee Program offers all of the services listed below. Remember: This information is intended to provide you with an idea of what a maintenance program can offer. Your program must reflect your clients’ needs and your firm’s capabilities.
The TLC™ Estate Plan Maintenance & Fee Guarantee Program EPLC includes:
- A quarterly newsletter
- The hosting of an annual social event
- Free review of documents with agents and/or family members at disability and/or death
- Invitations to public events sponsored by EPLC
- Phone calls by clients or their advisors to office staff at no charge
- An annual client meeting for groups of clients aimed at keeping client documents current within the changing legal environment
- A complimentary meeting for family members to explain the client’s estate plan upon his or her death or disability
- “Word processing” amendments to estate planning documents requested by the client
- Specialized and Advanced planning workshops offered throughout the year
- Assistance with funding new assets
- An annual trust review
- A guaranteed, discounted fee to administer the client’s estate plan after death. For clients who remain in the program, we will guarantee the family (in writing) a fee of 1% rather than the customary 5-7%
As you can see, this is an extensive program. You might also have discerned that the components of the plan involve services that do not cost you a great deal of money or “attorney time.” For example, let’s say a client wants to make a simple change to a will or trust, like swapping out a daughter for a son. You already have the client’s documents in your system, so making a change like that is easy. Or consider the annual client group meeting, where all of the clients’ changes can be made at once. Your staff can handle the vast majority of such changes, as well as client calls, a newsletter, and the program’s various social events.
Your maintenance program provides enrollees with easy access to your firm and a sense of belonging to the “firm family.” It will also provide them with the peace of mind that comes from knowing the plan will work, and that the firm will be there to counsel family members in the event of the client’s incapacity and/or death. All of this sets your firm apart from competitors that do not offer a maintenance program. In addition, your program creates loyalty, a bond with your clients. We’ll talk about the benefits of that next time.
