Berea, Ohio
There is a proliferating practice by law firms that takes advantage of clients’ desire to take care of their loved ones. Law firms offer free seminars, some include fancy dinners, to bring clients in and tell them they must have a trust or horrible things will happen.
These firms inflate the cost of probate and present horror stories about individuals who have not created a trust. These firms use high-pressure sales tactics to imply if you don’t have a trust, you don’t care about people you love. The typical cost for these trusts is $4,000 to $8,000 and can require yearly maintenance fees. If they are not charging these rates, they ask to be your financial advisor and then sell financial products with high fees that leave you less for retirement.
While some trusts, like special needs trusts, are useful and necessary, all trusts are complex and if not managed correctly fail to achieve their goals.
The truth is, for most, a trust is not needed depending on what you have in your estate and with proper planning. Attorney Mark Dent, who has prepared hundreds of estate plans as a JAG attorney in the US Army and in private practice, has strong opinions about these trusts. Mark states “Many of these trusts are immoral, many never avoid probate, or work as intended because
people don’t understand them.” He goes on to add “When done right, estate plans should be done as simply as possible and the client needs to be educated on estate planning. If this isn’t done, the attorney has not done his job.”
If you or someone you know needs help with estate planning, Mark operates a law office here in Berea. He can be reached at (216) 352-0551.
