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.
1 comment:
Thank you for talking about this subject.
I have written a book on grief - "Baby Boomers Face Grief - Survival and Recovery" and I do many speaking engagements on this subject to hospices, palliative care associations and employers. Although the book is aimed for the Baby boomers it is a general book about grief. I have written several articles for different websites dealing with grief.
Part of the problem with grief is our society/culture will not allow people to talk about their feelings. It has been my pet peeve - hence the book. My background is a degree in nursing and 20 years working in the community health care system.
If you would like more info on the book you can find the introductory chapter and my bio etc at www.trafford.com/05-2319. It is available through myself (receipt provided), Trafford.com and Amazon.com.
I have been humbled by the comments I have received by people - my goal has always been to change the way we handle this in our society. I hope that you might include my book on your list of resources for your clients.
Bravo to you for bringing this to the attention of others- best of luck.
Jane Galbraith
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