All the Same Mice to Cheese

At Green Street, we actually like mice. But, in the profession of estate planning, it seems there are more and more attorneys acting like mice. These mouse-like attorneys keep running at one very small piece of cheese. That metaphorical small piece of cheese is comprised of the super-wealthy who may be affected by estate taxes.

Who are these people? They are a tiny group that could die in 2009 with more than 3.5 MILLION dollars in assets (for more information about estate tax details, you can find it on Nolo.com by clicking here). Needless to say, more than 98% of Americans won't have to worry about the federal estate tax.

At a time when law firms are reporting record layoffs, Law.com reported today that estate planning departments are actually growing in large law firms. For the full article, click here.

It dawned on me once I started reading, these firms are the mice going for that tiny piece of cheese:

The practice is competitive with other Pillsbury groups in terms of rates -- partners bill $650 and up -- as well as billable hours and realization....

But of course! They're trying to hit up the less than two percent of the population who needs that type of complicated estate planning. Good grief.

If you have your life's work built up in your home, retirement accounts, pensions and other assets, you can get a great estate plan from many attorneys for 3-5K. At Green Street, we provide full-service estate planning for a flat fee with no hourly billing. We can help you avoid probate. All of your documents are presented to you in a binder which is expertly organized. For more information, check out the Estate & Probate section on our website.

We have our blinders on, deliberately ignoring the herd of lawyers who swarm to the elite. We like working with real people, who work hard and want to protect their family and their money. Why is that? Because the other 98% of you deserve a professional, friendly, and quality service without sweating that hourly rate.