Full service estate planning is an innovative, relationship-driven approach to estate planning where clients and attorneys collaborate to establish and maintain the client's estate plan during lifetime.  When revocable living trusts first became widely available as popular estate planning tools, most clients thought that their estate planning process was complete when the trust documents were drafted and signed.  Frankly, many attorneys thought the same thing.  Few thought that maintaining a long-term partnership was essential to estate plan success.  With time, some important lessons have become evident for both clients and attorneys.

 

For clients, trust plans that are not kept up to date rarely keep pace with changes in the law or changes in personal circumstances.  These outdated plans typically forfeit success because they cost more at settlement and often fail to achieve the very goals they were designed to accomplish.  Many plans simply lack the basic servicing needed for them to work as designed.  Trust documents by themselves aren't typically enough for a successful estate plan.

 

For attorneys, drafting quality trust documents alone doesn't usually provide reassurance or the revenue needed for the firm to thrive.  The emphasis on documents rather than on a long-term planning partnership weakens chances for estate plan effectiveness and makes firms less profitable.  Most attorneys recognize the need for a relationship-driven planning model, one that supplies the range of services required for both estate plan success and law firm success.  But without reliable software, systems, and office procedures, estate planning firms habitually struggle to make these vital planning services productive and profitable.

 

In a full service planning model, a skilled estate planning attorney helps to design, fund, service, and update client trust plans.  These plans keep pace with changes in the law, changes in client finances, their family, and their goals.  When the trustmaker passes away, the trust is administered through a professional trust settlement process, often by the same firm that has guided the planning throughout.  This full service approach emphasizes not only the trust design and legal documents, but also prioritizes specific service activities critical to the success of the estate plan like trust funding, trust updating, and formal plan maintenance.  This planning model also helps to minimize the overall costs of estate planning while ensuring that the trust plan works as designed.  When these services are well coordinated, they also resolve the obvious and considerable problems associated with unfunded trusts and outdated estate plans.

 

Full service firms possess a strategic advantage in the marketplace.  They furnish professional services that build expertise and grow revenue.  They attract and retain clients and their families in long-term associations.  Full service firms also partner with other professional advisors to coordinate planning more effectively.  Client satisfaction rates exceed their expectations.  These firms impart peace of mind and engender a gratifying professional experience.