Estate Planning: Pros & Cons
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 2:41 pm
To those having estate planning experience, what do you see as the chief pros and cons of this niche?
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I agree that you can make a lot of extra money, but here are some things to consider:gekko wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 2:45 amFND, I'm planning on entering this area when finished. I come from owning a wealth management practice that I sold a couple years back. Law is something to do mid-life for me and am often surprised at how many estate planning attorneys do not add activity in wealth management, insurance or real estate when related, even if just maintaining a license in those areas to receive related referral revenue. They are literally sitting on a gold mine and have no idea.
the bane of my existence.
It's a business decision you need to make - you may find that giving a $1m policy to an insurance broker once or twice a year in exchange for getting several new clients for basic estate planning every month might be a good idea. If you become known for being a financial advisor or insurance broker in addition to your law practice, those sources dry up real fast.gekko wrote: ↑Wed May 26, 2021 4:17 amThanks for this response. I'm in total agreement on some of the minefields you mentioned. I have FINRA licensing and a RE Broker and Insurance license. I plan, however, to only get involved in the "biggies." If I have someone with a legit estate tax prefunding need (not uncommon in my city), I would feel crazy to simply charge a fee for drafting an ILIT, then letting someone else write the policy inside it. Similar with whatever appreciated assets are going to a CRT, I want to sell them if real estate and then manage them after in a brokerage or advisory environment, since part of the overall transaction anyway. What I do not plan to do is as people who are simply in need of a basic will/trust/poa package to consider life insurance or any "cross sell" that doesn't seem to be part of the "same transaction."
Zilch, zippo, nada, nothing. And if you want to do HNW, an LLM doesn't do squat either.
See my last answer below
nope. those services want low budget, and I'm high end.
usually flat fee. I have a menu that I use for pricing, and I have no problem letting the client see the menu... after the consultation.
quite a lot is happening remote now. I have done initial consultations and review meetings by phone, by zoom, or whatever works. Some states allow remote document execution, some don't. Still, I prefer in-person.
My business meaning EP? nothing gets referred out - I can do it all - HNW, Medicaid, and Special Needs. There are plenty of EP attorneys who refer those things out, and I'm happy to take it off their hands. Same with small-town practitioners who take on a lot of different work.gekko wrote: ↑Wed May 26, 2021 4:17 am-What amount of your total business is referred out? For that business that is split, how much of it is more niche EP stuff you've chosen not to do and how much is a different area (PI, Medi-Mal or something else) you just happened to come in contact with by virtue of your relationship with what is primarily an EP client?
It's feasible. A friend of mine who intended from day one to go solo started by picking up cheap wills, and that paid the bills until his chosen practice area was profitable. Luckily, he did realize how quickly he got in over his head.
feel free to hit me up whenever you need.