As I posted in my last post, I decided to go to an internet website that purports to provide wills and trusts (among other things), to see how good their service really is, and whether they are properly helping their customers. I will not say their name right now, except to say while their zip code is not 0-2-1-3-4, if you grew up watching TV in the 70s, it might have been.
The first thing I notice about their webpage is how “busy” it is. There are a lot of different options all over the place, and it’s a bit confusing. The next thing that I notice is that the company advertises itself as as “Legal Document Service.” Oy. As an Estate Planning Attorney, my job is not to provide “documents” to my clients. My job to provide them with advice. There is a reason that attorneys are often referred to as Counselors. Before I sit down with a client for the first time, They don’t, or shouldn’t, already know what they need. For every new client that I have, before drafting any documents, I sit down with the client and interview them. I ask them extensive and sometimes intrusive questions about their family and finances. I would be committing legal malpractice if I didn’t. It isn’t until the end of the interview that I discuss with the client what legal documents, that in my opinion that the client needs. This company, as a “Legal Document Service” provides its customers with legal documents that the customers choose for themselves.
I see the link for “Wills & Living Trusts,” click and jump in.