Grief Counselling

Last week I went to an estate planning conference where one of the keynote speakers specialized in grief management counselling. I think it is a brilliant idea to have this type of speaker talk to estate planning attorneys. Most attorneys do not understand how to relate to a grieving widow who is the going through the most difficult time in her life. These type of counselling issues are not addressed in law schools. However, you will find many courses on probate and tax adminstration of estates.
Do most attorneys have any idea what a widow is going through emotionally during and after the funeral? I believe an attorney must ask himself/herself how they can truly provide support to the family during traumatic events such as disablilty and/death. I think these are the real issues that attorneys should be focusing on in addition to the "default" estate administration issues. I put the word "default" in quotes because I feel that estate settlement issues are poorly addressed with most clients; and families have no idea what steps are involved when a loved one becomes disabled or passes away. I will speak more of this issue in my next post.

INSIGHT LAW BEGINS

Over the past 2 years my practice has gone through some major changes for the better. First of all, our firm is now called InSight Law. The name actually comes from the negative experience my family has had with estate planning attorneys. The lack of proper planning basically has cost our family $500,000 in long term care expenses to date. My father has been living at home for the past 8 years and the monthly expense for his care is now at $6,000. The estate planning attorney viewed our family as a transaction and basically sold us a document. The financial advisor was barely in the picture and was more worried about his commissions than what my dad really needed. He never talked to us about long term care or any type of insurance for that matter.

My goal in creating InSight Law is to create a counselling experience that peels back the layers and addresses the real issues your family will face. InSight Law is designed to provide families with our InSight and the specific questions families need to be asking their estate planning lawyer. Unfortunately, the majority of families do not know the right questions to be asking in order to be good consumers. It is just going to get worse. Hmm....I wonder where I have said that before. Recall the real estate bust?

This lack of planning will hit us worse because we are even less prepared. That is why I am so confident that InSight Law is on the right track. There are so few us who really care enough to do the right thing for the client. I am excited to be back blogging again. Stay tuned. . .

This blog is for informational purposes and is basically a diary of my daily experiences. It is not intended to be a marketing vehicle or to be used as any type of legal or tax advice.