We aim to be our clients’ “Lawyers for Life.”
It’s a simple motto, but it has multiple meanings. On one level, it means that we seek to maintain long-standing relationships with individuals and families that extend over decades. And of course, that is very true. We relish the opportunity to work with clients from a young age, seeing them through all the stages of life at which our services come into play—marriage, parenthood, retirement, and beyond.
But our motto has another meaning as well. It means that regardless of the age of a client, we see our role as helping them to live the best life they can. That requires more than having the right documents in place; it requires that we recognize our clients as real people, take a genuine interest in them, and understand their desires. Only then can we fulfill our mission to be their “Lawyer for Life,” as illustrated by the below engagement.
A wealthy elderly client came to Smith Legacy Law seeking updates to a few distributions in her will. In speaking with her, however, we discovered that she needed assistance with many other issues. She just didn’t realize her estate planning lawyer could help with them. These included:
Many states offer married individuals the option of filing for legal separation as opposed to divorce or dissolution of marriage. If you are unhappily married, you may wonder why there are two paths and which one you should pursue. Before you make a choice, you should...
When O.J. Simpson passed away recently, he left behind several unpaid creditors. Two high-profile creditors are the Goldman and Brown families who have unsatisfied civil judgments from their wrongful death lawsuits. A resident of Nevada, Simpson’s will has been...
Connecticut has a law that is unique among the states and is not widely known. The prejudgment remedy statute is a procedural tool that can protect plaintiffs and effectively resolve certain lawsuits before they have developed into maelstroms and significant time and...
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced the adoption of regulations barring the use of non-compete clauses in employment relationships. This regulation, expected to go into effect this summer, would effectively void all employer-imposed restrictions...
A private split dollar arrangement is an estate planning strategy that allows individuals to set up an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) providing money for heirs while minimizing gift and estate taxes. It is one of many tools that allow wealthy individuals to...