THE TRUST KEEPER PROGRAM™
Successful estate plans attain the goals that clients articulate. Your plan’s initial success is the result of properly counseled, designed and drafted documents together with the complete and correct funding of your trust. However, because of inevitable changes to your family and financial circumstances, your plan’s long–term success is dependent on regular reviews of your planning. Routine follow–up is important to verify that your customized planning remains current. We are committed to providing ongoing counseling to clients as a critical component of our attorney – client relationship. To ensure your planning stays effective long – term, we recognize the necessity of entering into a more involved relationship with our clients. That is why we have developed the TRUST KEEPER program.TRUST KEEPER is a structured maintenance and counseling program, designed to keep your planning effective over your lifetime. As a result of substantial research, we have discovered that an unacceptable percentage of estate plans around the country fail because they are not properly maintained. Both attorneys and clients share some of the responsibility. We are concerned that attorneys are not implementing structured service efforts to prevent problems from occurring. We are also concerned that clients may not possess the tools or knowledge necessary to keep their planning effective. We have designed the TRUST KEEPER program to be a proactive strategy for overcoming these obstacles.
What circumstances make TRUST KEEPER necessary? Initially, clients are comfortable when they establish their estate plans that their documents incorporate all of their planning goals. However, we find that over time, changes in family and financial circumstances necessitate modifying their documentation. Changes in the law also can create new planning opportunities that could benefit many of our existing clients. More distressing, many of our existing clients experience exceptional growth in their estates, causing them to outgrow the original tax planning contained in their documents. As the value of their assets grows, our clients frequently acquire new assets that are either never titled in their trusts or that are titled incorrectly.
How will TRUST KEEPER address these concerns? Clients enrolled in the TRUST KEEPER program receive regular follow-up on their planning. Our firm will verify your trust funding annually to ensure all assets are included and funded properly. On a regular basis, we will monitor your family and financial circumstances to ensure that your planning keeps pace with any change or growth. We will periodically review the language of your trusts to incorporate improvements to your documents. We will advise you regarding opportunities that changes in the law present. Along with valuable successor trustee training, we will provide ongoing client education on topics related to your planning. We will accomplish all of this and more while reducing your total overall cost of planning.
The objective of the TRUST KEEPER program is to facilitate stronger relationships with our clients and thus, improve their planning. Very few estate planning firms in the country make a commitment of this nature to their clients. We are dedicated to achieving the highest standards of quality and service. We are committed to devoting the resources and talents necessary to doing the job right. To this end, we strongly urge all of our clients to enroll in the TRUST KEEPER program to make certain their planning succeeds.
The Top 10 Reasons to Consider the TRUST KEEPER™ Program:
• Your planning stays consistent with your goals.
• Your trust funding stays current.
• The legal language in your documents stays current.
• You benefit from ongoing advice and improved legal strategies.
• Your estate plan adapts to frequent changes in the law.
• Your estate plan adapts to changing family and financial circumstances.
• You receive ongoing education through timely workshops.
• Your successor trustees receive valuable “how to” training.
• The total cost of your planning is reduced while you receive added value.
• You receive a higher standard of legal service.