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House Bill 4351: Going After Pension Poachers

by with 3 Comments Asset ProtectionLegal TechnicalVA

House Bill 4351 should be stopped!

For the past several years, bills have been introduced for Congressional approval that would impose a three-year look back, and penalties up to 10 years, for veterans and their spouses who give away their assets and then apply for a pension program designed for indigent wartime veterans. The bills were limited to addressing the concerns of deliberate impoverishment by veterans with the help of lawyers, financial advisors, and others. The bills never passed.


Bigstock-Word-Veterans-and-stars-around-117350726In January 2015, the Veterans Administration published proposed changes to the laws in the Federal Register that would change Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The VA included penalties for transfers of assets, and used very broad definitions of transfers (i.e. the purchase of an annuity), just like the previous bills that had been introduced. However, the VA went much further, proposing to (1) extend beyond its Congressional authority and (2) extend beyond the scope of the perceived needed changes.

Beyond VA Authority.

Under the pension program for wartime veterans, the claimant must meet an income and asset standard. With regard to income, the VA deducts from gross income all permissible medical expenses. Home healthcare is a permissible medical expense. But the VA proposed to limit the deduction to the average cost of home healthcare based on a national average set two years prior to the proposed changes, which would be $21 per hour. The law is clear that if a medical expense is deductible, then the entire amount must be deducted, and a change of this nature is in violation of the Congressional right.

Beyond the Scope

The purpose of the bills introduced into Congress and the purpose of the proposed changes to the VA regulations is to prevent people from divesting themselves of assets, which they otherwise could use for themselves to pay for care, in order to qualify for tax-free income from the VA to pay for their care. The VA exceeded the purpose of these bills when they included in the proposed changes a limitation on the lot coverage for veteran’s home place. The home place and a reasonable lot area have always been exempt by the VA when applying for pension. A reasonable lot area has always been defined as the same or similar in size to those in the same community or neighborhood. Rather than keeping the long-standing laws, the VA wants to count any property value that exceeds two acres. This makes no sense under the purpose of the law changes to keep people from divesting themselves of assets. First, a 900-square-foot condo in New York City may be worth well over $1,000,000, but it would be an exempt resource under the proposed changes. Whereas, a house sitting on five acres in south Georgia would be a countable resource, even if its value is only $150,000. Moreover, the veterans may have been living in the house for 10, 20, 30 years or more and had no intention of ever filing for the VA pension when they bought the house. Thus, the change in the law has nothing to do with the perceived abuses of people trying to save their assets and qualify for benefits.

Congress has apparently given up on trying to pass a bill that specifically details a look back and penalties for wartime veterans who give money away to qualify for the pension. After all, this is an election year and that would not look very good.

Nonetheless, a few members have found a sneaky way to get the VA’s proposed changes passed by Congress without Congress necessarily knowing what they are actually passing. House Resolution 4351, submitted in the House of Representatives on January 8, was sponsored by Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania and co-sponsored by Rep. Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina. It has been referred to the Committee on Veteran’s Affairs.

Its stated goal is “To protect individuals who are eligible for increased pension under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on the basis of need of regular aid and attendance from dishonest, predatory, or otherwise unlawful practices, and for other purposes.” The act would be titled, “Veterans Care Financial Protection Act of 2016.”

This sounds really good, because Congress is professing to protect veterans from financial predators. Second, the act does nothing more than mandate that the secretary of the VA work with the heads of federal agencies, states, and such experts as the secretary considers appropriate to “develop and implement Federal and State standards to protect individuals from dishonest, predatory, or otherwise unlawful practices.” The VA would then have 180 days to submit the standards to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and of the House of Representatives. If this resolution passes, the VA can just hand over the proposed changes in the laws as the standards. The resolution does not say what the two committees are to do once they receive the standards from the VA.

The VA plans to finalize proposed changes (with modifications) by early summer. What is unclear is whether a passage of this “blind” resolution would immediately sanctify any changes the VA has made, or if the changes cannot take effect until after the two committees have taken some action of approval. What is clear is that advocates and veterans must once again push to make your political leaders, specifically those in the two Veterans’ Affairs committees, aware of these damaging changes that have no bearing on the purpose of the proposed changes – limiting home healthcare to an outdated national average and limiting the home place lot coverage to two acres instead of a reasonable lot for the area.

If you would like to know more about the VA Proposed 3 Year Lookback and Other Law Changes join our FREE WEBINAR on Wednesday, March 16th at 4EST. Click here to reserve your spot today.

Victoria L. Collier, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC; Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation; Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys; Founder and Managing Attorney of The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC; Co-Founder of Veterans Advocates Group of America; Entrepreneur; Author; and nationally renowned Presenter.

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Who Should Be Trustee?

by with No Comment Asset ProtectionDavid J. ZumpanoEstate Planning Drafting SoftwareLegal Technical

There's a constant battle between lawyers as to who should be trustee of an irrevocable asset protection trust. The primary school of thought is that it should never be the grantor, and some schools of thought believe it should never be the beneficiary. At Lawyers with Purpose, we disagree with both of those positions, but we recognize the concerns and rely on sound principles of asset protection law in making the final determinations.

Bigstock-Who--4420521Let's first discuss the question of whether the grantor should be trustee. Many practitioners believe that allowing the grantor to be trustee makes the assets of an irrevocable trust available to the grantor's creditors. Such a proposition is ludicrous. The challenge with most lawyers is that they do not allow the grantor to be trustee of his or her irrevocable trust. When pushed to explain why, they typically assume that's the way it was always done. Few dig further to see why it was done that way. So let's examine why grantors were not traditionally named trustee. The most adverse impact is that, if the grantor is trustee, they're deemed to retain enough control to have the assets of the trust included in their taxable estate when they die. For many generations, this was the death knell? of an asset protection trust. But in the last 15 years it's become irrelevant because of the rise of the estate tax exemption. Today only two in a thousand Americans have a taxable estate, so preventing the grantor from being trustee because of a potential inclusion of the trust asset in the estate of the grantor is not relevant to 99.8 percent of Americans. So why hold them to that standard?

The next major argument is a theory that if the grantor has control of the trust, then he could direct it back to himself. Well, that depends. What does the trust say? If the trust says that the grantor is not a beneficiary, or similarly the grantor is not a principal beneficiary but is entitled to the income, does that mean that the grantor as trustee all of a sudden gains a super power to violate the terms of the trust and give himself the principal when it's not allowed for? Hardly. In fact, there is consistent case law throughout all of the states, including cases that lead all the way up to the Supreme Court, that supports the notion that a grantor as trustee has all of the same fiduciary obligations as any other trustee and by no means has authority to act outside the powers granted to trustee. I specifically refer you to my Law Review article, "The Irrevocable Pure Grantor Trust: The Estate Planning Landscape Has Changed" in the Syracuse Law Review. In this article, I go through in‑depth review of all of the case law nationwide, and I'm excited to say that it is sound law that a grantor can be a trustee without risking the assets to the creditors of the grantor. One caveat, however, is if the grantor does retain the right to the income, then absolutely the income will be available to the creditors of the grantor.

So are there circumstances when the grantor as trustee's trust is invaded? Absolutely, but in every single case the invasion was not due to the grantor being the trustee, but rather was due to the pattern of behavior by a grantor trustee who violated regularly the terms of the trust in favor of themselves, and the trust was thereafter deemed a sham. In such cases, I concur with any court that makes that decision based on people who try to defraud the system. Irrevocable trusts must be managed in an arm's length manner, and as lawyers we do not plan for someone to become fraudulent. They are fraudulent to their own peril. But a properly drawn trust when the trustee is the grantor in no way, shape or form creates any risk of loss of asset protection if the terms of the trust are followed, as they are required to be in every case whether the grantor is trustee or not.

So at Lawyers with Purpose we encourage our members to do good legal work based on sound law, not fear, conjecture or because that's the way it's always been done. In the end, the client wins. It is silly to deny thousands of clients that we serve the ability to manage and control their own assets for the benefit of their families, just because some rogue case in some rogue state from some vile fact pattern allowed the court to invade against the intentions of the grantor. Protect your clients. Teach your clients. Share with your clients how these work. They are very safe and a great planning tool.

If you want to learn more about Lawyers With Purpose you can find all the information about becoming a member by clicking here to download our Membership Brochure.

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

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VA form 21-8049 – Request for Details of Expenses

by with No Comment Estate Planning Drafting SoftwareLegal TechnicalVA

For all you high Fact-finder/Follow through Kolbe types, don’t panic if the VA form 21-8049 number means nothing to you. It shouldn’t necessarily. If you file non-service-connected pension claims with the VA, you may never have had occasion to use this form, which is formally called a “Request for Details of Expenses.” It is not generally part of what Lawyers with Purpose considers a fully developed VA claim, although there are those who routinely include this form with all their VA claims.

Bigstock-Forms-Concept-with-Word-on-Fol-95979155Purpose of the 21-8049

As the name of VA form 21-8049 suggests, its main purpose is to report monthly non-medical expenses as well as expenses of dependents that otherwise are not typically reported on any other forms one submits with a fully-developed claim. The 21-8049 is usually sent to a claimant to be completed when the VA requires further information after the formal claim is filed. In fact, the VA specifically states in the instructions at the top, “We need additional information to determine whether you are entitled to benefits.” The VA may request this additional information because the adjudication manual directs the adjudicator to determine “whether or not the claimant’s financial resources are sufficient to meet his/her basic needs without assistance from VA. If a claimant’s assets are large enough that the claimant could use these assets to pay living expenses for a reasonable period of time, net worth is considered a bar,” M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual, Part V, Subpart I, Chapter 3, Section A.1.e. The 21-8049 may not be requested for every claim you file, but if it is requested, it can delay the claim process. For that reason, some choose to include this form with every formal claim they file. Or, you may decide to complete this form only when your claimant has unusually high non-medical living expenses that you want to make evident to the VA.

How to complete the 21-8049

The current version of this form is dated Aug 2007 in the lower left corner of the first page, although the VA still accepts older versions. It is a two-page form that consists of seven sections. The instructions are minimal, but the VA does provide a toll-free number to call for assistance. Like any other VA form, it is recommended that you complete every section. Non-applicable sections should be crossed out, or you should otherwise indicate that these do not apply. Sections I and II are for listing dependents – both those living with the claimant and those not living with the claimant. Furthermore, you can specify the amount, if any, that the claimant contributes to the support of dependents not living with the claimant so that the VA will consider these amounts when evaluating whether the claimant’s net worth is sufficient.

Sections III, IV, V, and VI are for “Monthly Expenses (except medical) for you and those listed above as living with you,” “Hospital and Medical Expenses,” “Educational Expenses,” and “Expenses of Last Illness and Burial of Veteran, Spouse, or Child and Just Debts of Deceased Veteran or Parent’s Spouse,” respectively. The completion of these four sections is fairly straightforward, but a few remarks should be made to avoid potential problems. Section III lists several possible monthly expenses, like Housing, Food, Taxes, etc., and it also provides blanks for inserting other types of expenses, but this section is only for reporting non-medical expenses. For example, the line item “Housing” should not be used for reporting fees for a nursing home or assisted living facility. Instead, total medical expenses that were reported on the VA form 21P-8416 “Medical Expense Report” with the formal claim should be reported in Section IV, “Hospital and Medical Expenses,” along with a brief breakdown of the medical expenses, or simply refer the VA to the already submitted form 21P-8416. Finally, section VII is for reporting “Commercial Life Insurance Payments” to the claimant. While life insurance payouts are not considered income by the VA if the insured was a veteran, these will be considered as part of net worth and could potentially put a claimant over the asset limit unless you can document to the VA that these assets have been spent down.

What to file with the 21-8049

Documentation of the expenses listed on this form is not required but may assist in your claim. If you decide you want to start including the 21-8049 with all your formal claims, you may decide not to include further supporting documentation unless later requested by the VA. If you do refer to the VA form 21P-8416 in Section IV, you may want at least to include a copy of this form for the adjudicator’s convenience. However, if the VA sent you the form 21-8049 to be completed, they may have requested other information as well. In such cases, ensure that you submit the VA form 21-8049 with anything else requested in the VA correspondence, and that you respond by any deadlines the VA may specify.

If you want to lear more about the Veterans Administration Proposed 3 Year Lookback and Other Law Changes join our FREE WEBINAR on Wednesday, March 16th at 4 EST. Just click here to reserve your spot.  Here's what you'll get:

Discover the Nuts and Bolts of the Proposed VA Changes…and What it Means for Your Practice!

On Friday, January 23, 2015, the Veterans Administration proposed changes in the Federal Register that would…

  • Impose a three year lookback for transfers of assets, including gifts to persons, trusts, or purchases of annuities.
  • Deny claims for up to 10 years due to transfers.
  • And exempt only the home and two acres from net worth. If a claimant's property exceeds two acres, it will count toward the net worth figure for eligibility.

By Sabrina A. Scott, Paralegal, The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC and Director of VA Services for Lawyers With Purpose.

Victoria L. Collier, Veteran of the United States Air Force, 1989-1995 and United States Army Reserves, 2001-2004. Victoria is a Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation; Author of “47 Secret Veterans Benefits for Seniors”; Author of “Paying for Long Term Care: Financial Help for Wartime Veterans: The VA Aid & Attendance Benefit”; Founder of The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC; Co-Founder of Lawyers with Purpose; and Co-Founder of Veterans Advocate Group of America.

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Tips For VA form 21-0779

by with No Comment Estate Planning Drafting SoftwareSystems & ProcessesVA

Purpose of the 21-0779

The VA form 21-0779 “Request for Nursing Home Information In Connection With Claim for Aid and Attendance” is used only for certain non-service-connected pension claims, and its primary purpose is to document the level of care required by a claimant or a claimant’s dependent. The VA form 21-0779 is completed specifically for individuals who are residents of nursing homes. The importance of documenting this level of care is twofold:

  1. To support a claim for additional pension above and beyond the base level;
  2. To support the need for certain medical expenses.

There are three levels of non-service-connected pension that a claimant may qualify for: Base pension, Housebound, and Aid & Attendance. The base pension is the lowest pension that a claimant may be awarded. Additional funds are granted if you can document that the claimant is housebound, and even more funds go to those requiring another individual to assist with at least two activities of daily living, or ADLs. The VA also looks at level of care when considering medical expenses to offset income. Therefore, the VA form 21-0779 should document the level of care that justifies the medical expenses being declared. This applies to the claimant’s dependents as much as to the claimant. So for example, the VA will not consider the nursing home facility expense for a veteran’s spouse unless a form 21-0779 is completed for the spouse indicating the need for this level of care.

Bigstock-Forms-Concept-with-Word-on-Fol-95979155Completing the 21-0779

The VA form 21-0779 is just a single page and is mainly to be completed by a third party; that is, the nursing home. All you need to complete the form is the veteran’s – or claimant’s, if other than the veteran – name(s), and Social Security number(s). When you are completing this form for a living veteran’s spouse or other dependent, that person’s name appears in the field that requests the name of the claimant, even though, strictly speaking, the claimant is the living veteran. When downloaded from the VA website at http://www.va.gov/vaforms/, the 21-0779 has no separate instruction pages. The form is fairly straightforward to fill out, but it still provides a toll-free phone number for those who require assistance completing the form. Despite the fact that you are not completing this form yourself for the most part, you should still review all 21-0779s once completed by the nursing home and before submitting to the VA so that you can confirm that every field is answered.

What to file with the 21-0779

Nothing in particular is required to be filed with the 21-0779 form. If you determine that you do need to file this form, it should be submitted as part of a fully developed claim in order to expedite the processing. If you are filing the VA form 21-0779 with your formal claim, then you do not need to file a VA form 21-2680 “Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance” because the former documents that the claimant is in a nursing home and requires skilled nursing care and thus by definition has a permanent need for regular aid and attendance. This will, however, not stop some VA adjudicators from requesting the 21-2680 form in addition to the VA form 21-0779, thus we generally request all our VA clients to get a VA form 21-2680 completed as soon as they have retained us.

Always remember that this form can be used for supporting both a claim for a higher level of pension and the need for certain medical expenses. Keep those two purposes in mind when you are deciding whether or not it needs to be included as part of your VA claim, and when reviewing its completion by the nursing home to make sure there are not unexpected results with your claim.

If you're interested in learning more about the Lawyers With Purpose Cloud Based Workflow System join us on Friday, February 26th at 2EST.  Finally…an AUTOMATED law firm system for Estate and Elder Law Attorneys designed to free up your time and get the work out the door quickly and easily!  Click here to reserve your spot for this FREE LIVE DEMO!  We only have a few spots left so grab your seat today!

By Sabrina A. Scott, Paralegal, The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC and Director of VA Services for Lawyers With Purpose.

Victoria L. Collier, Veteran of the United States Air Force, 1989-1995 and United States Army Reserves, 2001-2004. Victoria is a Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation; Author of “47 Secret Veterans Benefits for Seniors”; Author of “Paying for Long Term Care: Financial Help for Wartime Veterans: The VA Aid & Attendance Benefit”; Founder of The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC; Co-Founder of Lawyers with Purpose; and Co-Founder of Veterans Advocate Group of America.

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Do You Employ The “Fifty Shades of Grey” Publicist?

by with No Comment Systems & Processes

E L James is the author of the extremely popular erotic romance trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey," released in May of 2011 and followed by the movie of the same title on February 13, 2015. This was the author's first novel, but she clearly hit a home run!

Maybe that is where I had my misconnect. I write poetry, some of which is provocative. Believing the new release of the movie would be a great opportunity to connect two pieces of art, I sent a letter via email to Ms. James’ publicist, which included three topic-appropriate poems. Yes, it was gutsy and a stretch, but history is not made by watching other people take action (and neither is money).

Bigstock-Grey-pixel-mosaic-design-backg-107626922It has been a year and I have not heard from Ms. James or her publicist – not even a "We are not interested." It makes me wonder if Ms. James ever even got my letter, or if her publicist independently discarded it without discussion.

When are referrals or opportunities sent to you that you are not aware of? Often.

Just to share a few in my law office I, much too late, learned of:

  1. A resume for an administrative position received by a paralegal and discarded without bringing it to me.
  2. A referral, from a good friend, that wouldn't follow our office procedures and requested a free consult without first attending a workshop. Discarded.
  3. An offer to make a presentation to a nursing home.

Would I have accepted any of the above opportunities? Maybe, but now I have no choice.

  1. I was in fact hiring at the time the resume was discarded.
  2. I would have done pro bono consult to help a colleague.
  3. I would move mountains to get in front of a nursing home administrator.

So why were they discarded? Why was my opinion trumped?

Because of one of two reasons, or both.

  1. Employees who believe they know a) what is best for you or the firm, or b) what you would have said and didn't want to bother you. These are rogue employees in the guise of being independent and efficient.

OR

  1. You haven't been clear on your expectations. A system should be in place for each member of the firm to report opportunities of ALL kinds presented, accepted and rejected. An opportunity in this sense should be defined as "a request of some sort by another person or organization to either the firm or the managing lawyer."

I appreciate efficiency and independence, but I appreciate opportunity even more. The owner or manager of the firm should have the final say to accept or deny.

I feel certain that, had Ms. James been presented with my letter and poetry, she would have taken one of two actions:

  1. Remembered her beginnings and reached out to assist a sister in the arts.

OR

  1. Sent a reply politely denying my request.

Don't your prospects and professional community deserve the same?

What are you missing? What processes can you implement to catch them? What can you do to gently discard the others without leaving them hanging?

Did you know that Lawyers With Purpose has it's own Cloud Based Workflow System specifically for estate and elder law firms?  If you want to learn more about it, join us on Friday, February 26th at 2EST for a FREE live demo! Just click here to reserve your spot now.

Victoria L. Collier, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation; Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys; Founder and Managing Attorney of The Elder & Disability Law Firm of Victoria L. Collier, PC; Co-Founder of Veterans Advocates Group of America; Entrepreneur; Author; and nationally renowned Presenter.

Jaloza and Team

Congratulations to Andrew Jaloza, Lawyers With Purpose Member of The Month

by with No Comment Systems & ProcessesTeam Building

What is the greatest success you’ve had since joining LWP?  

The greatest success is having created a thriving Estate Planning Practice run by a cohesive team of dedicated people who are passionate about helping as many families as we possibly can.

Jaloza and TeamWhat is your favorite LWP tool?

It is not just the tools but the total client centered systematic approach of the LWP process that has allowed us to quickly go from zero to hero as an Elder Law and Estate Planning firm. 

How has being part of LWP impacted your team and your practice?

We have been impacted by our implementation coach Roz Drotar and our mentor Coach Candace Pollock, both of whom have held us accountable and challenged us to reach our highest possible potential while imparting their years of experience-based suggestions to help us achieve amazing growth over the past year.

Share something about yourself that most people don’t know about you.

Something that people don't know about me is that I am transparent. What you see is truly what you get. 

What is your favorite book and how did it impact your life?

My favorite book is called Man's Search of Meaning by Viktor Frankl. This book has impacted my life because after reading it, it has taught me that everything in your life is a matter of perspective, and how you look at something creates your world.   

 

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Is Asset Protection Dead? Pfannenstiehl v. Pfannenstiehl

by with No Comment Asset ProtectionDavid J. Zumpano

A recent Massachusetts case throws into question whether long-term asset protection is safe. This particular case was disturbing because the defendant in a divorce proceeding's share in an irrevocable trust from his parents was deemed to be a marital asset and had to be distributed to his ex‑wife. This was a third-party trust, created by the parents for the benefit of their son, that had specific spendthrift provisions to prohibit such an attack. The Massachusetts court deemed otherwise.

So is asset protection planning on its way out? Absolutely not, in light of the fact that the case had several significant factors – and as always, the devil is in the details. First, Massachusetts has a very strong statute regarding marital property interests. Second, the trust had a specific termination date wherein the son was going to get the rest, residue and remainder of his share at a specific date. Third, payments from the trust were made regularly and consistently and stopped on the “eve” of the divorce. And fourth, the trustee had ascertainable distribution standards of health, education, maintenance and support. Finally, it had the ideal plaintiff: the wife who shared two special-needs children with the defendant. Put all of that together and judges will find a way to pierce the trust. So what is one to do?

Bigstock-Breaking-The-Bank-4881450While this case was shocking to many, decisions like this are not a surprise in the Lawyers with Purpose community, which is why we have been recommending certain strategies to safeguard against even the pickiest judges and fact patterns. For example, when traditionally drafting a trust and leaving it to beneficiaries in asset protection trusts, we believe the strongest protection comes from having separate share trusts for each beneficiary, with provisions specific to the needs of the individual beneficiary. Second – and this is the most important part – we believe there should not be ascertainable standards, but rather pure discretionary rights to the trustee. Finally, whenever possible the beneficiary should not be an individual, but rather a class of people. For example, in this case, instead of naming just the son as beneficiary, we would recommend naming the son and his issue as beneficiaries, thereby opening up the class of beneficiaries and enhancing the asset protection. One may be fearful of naming the issue. Well, therein lies the trick. Who is named beneficiary is not ultimately the determining factor of who benefits, but rather who the trustee determines who benefits. Create a class of people the trustee can sprinkle income and/or principal among as they deem appropriate in their absolute discretion (not ascertainable standards).

In the Massachusetts case, this could have solved the problem. How? During the marriage, it is likely most of the regular payments provided to the son were actually used in the marriage for the children or items that the husband and wife benefited from jointly. By opening up the class of people, the trustee could have made distributions directly to the children to provide support for the children that the husband was using the money for anyway. By doing this, it surely indicates the assets were not assets of the husband's, but were truly a third-party trust that, at the discretion of the trustee, was distributed to various members in the class, thereby not making it a marital asset. The defendant could have continued to use proceeds from the trust for the benefit of his special-needs children even after the divorce; in fact, most fathers would not penalize their children for divorcing from their spouse. But the key distinction would be that the husband would have remained in control of the assets rather than having to surrender them to a former spouse, wherein there would be no control.

The challenge today is that too many lawyers are on autopilot when they're drafting trusts – or worse, their trust drafting software system doesn’t allow the customizations and protections that the Lawyers with Purpose client-centered software does. Our client-centered software advises the attorneys and allows them to custom tailor each and every option. In addition, LWP™ attorneys are trained to think like the worst court you can imagine and identify how to create provisions that are not specifically targeted at a particular goal but rather strategically drafted to accommodate multiple objectives.

Click here now to see how our trust drafting software will keep your client's needs always in the front of your planning. 

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

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Why You Might Be A Trust Mill

by with No Comment Asset ProtectionDavid J. ZumpanoEstate Planning Drafting Software

Having practiced in the estate planning field for almost 23 years, I'm amazed when I review many trust plans done by lawyers that are still "boilerplate," with nothing distinguishing them other than the names of the client and beneficiaries. Interestingly, even when reviewing trusts created by software systems from well-known organizations in the estate planning industry, I am perplexed about the over-complexity, but also the under-simplicity, of how they work. Most trust systems in the estate planning industry have many options to designate different legal technical phrases and provisions to enter into the trust document. Unfortunately, once an attorney chooses the "standard provisions," nothing else changes in the document but the client names. So while they believe they have a very comprehensive estate planning trust system, they really have a glorified trust mill system (a better mouse trap?).


Bigstock-Legal-Law-Rules-Community-Just-94090013The Lawyers with Purpose client centered document creation system is unparalleled in the industry. It is the only software in the industry that was reverse-engineered. Rather than identifying the specific legal provisions required, it instead identifies the particular needs and goals of the client. Once those goals and needs are determined, the software then allows you to custom tailor every single core element of the trust to accomplish those client objectives. As you complete the client needs and their particular customizations, the software automatically inserts the necessary legal provisions and clauses to accomplish the client goals. No two LWP drafted trusts are ever the same. There are over 5,000 combinations of choices, and that's not even including the customization element in each of the decision levels.

While it sounds scary, the systemization of it makes it quite easy. In fact, it is the only document creation system in the industry that is integrated into a complete estate planning practice module. What does that mean? The marketing, legal technical training, workshop presentation, and client design are all integrated to facilitate and work with each other. Each one supports the other. For example, the initial client educational workshop helps identify the various issues that can be addressed in planning – which flows into the vision meeting, where, based on a series of questions – the client is able to self-select one of five different plans that will accomplish the specific goals the client identified. Next, the design meeting is tailored to focus on the specific plan (legal documents) chosen by the client. Then, the most exciting part: the attorney can customize every single aspect of the general plan to meet the client’s individual needs.

The cherry atop all of this is that the attorney designs the custom plan using specific design templates that permit others in the office to actually draft the trust (the software follows the template, including all customizations). Don't be a trust mill – learn how to put the client first. Client-centered document creation software is the first key. Click here to discover how the Lawyers with Purpose Client Centered Software can transform a mere practice, and discover the impact you can have on your client. Reserve a day and time that works for you now.

David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center

Churchill Law Office Team (1) (1)

Congratulations to Churchill Law Office, Lawyers With Purpose Member of The Month!

by with No Comment Coaching & ImplementationSystems & ProcessesTeam Building

Churchill Law Office answered this from a team perspective, not an attorney perspective.  We think it's awesome!  What do you think?

What is the greatest success you’ve had since joining LWP?

Maintaining a successful firm even after crisis occurred when the Attorney was in a car accident.   A large portion of our success is the Actionstep platform and having the technical knowledge within the office to program and automate everything and staying in the black!


Churchill Law Office Team (1) (1)What is your favorite LWP tool?

This is a cop-out, but they are all amazing in that they have assisted us to maintain even in crisis.   The way the stories tie to the Estate Plan Audit, and then the Vision Clarifier have been a massive support in reminding clients of their goals in follow-ups.

How has being part of LWP impacted your team and your practice?

Being able to call for help.  The greatest example is one, Nedra’s constant ideas, two, Candace’s drive to move forward, and most of all, three, without Molly “encouraging”, e.g. “do it”, with regard to us doing Vision’s without the Attorney, we would have had to close the office after Debbie’s accident.

Share something about yourself that most people don’t know about you.

Beth is a very experienced database and lean management trainer!  Beth is a bit of a recluse.

Melissa worked for 14 years in daycare and this is her first office job and has surpassed any assistant we’ve ever had in the office.  Melissa is a HUGE prankster.

John has extensive experience in programming and automates everything in Actionstep beyond its basic programming.  John has played the piano for 30 years.

Debbie is a successful attorney with a secret passion for beading!  She makes most of her own jewelry.

Terry is retired, and was an instructor helicopter with the Guard before joining our team.  He makes a mean chocolate chip cookie for the clients.

What is your favorite book and how did it impact your life?

John – Technical programming books.  It has advanced his piano recording and office efficiency.

Melissa – To Kill a Mockingbird – It makes her sound more sophisticated when asked what her favorite book is.

Beth – Machine that Changed the World – Has simplified her life both at home and work through lean management.

Debbie – The Biology of Belief – Helps her to grow spiritually.

Terry – Killer Angels – Loves history and it a great portray of struggle, honor, and patriotism.