Tolstoy said, “All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Since families and estates are so intertwined, Tolstoy’s maxim holds true in some degree for estate planning purposes. Many clients require customized estate planning – and clients with warring families have their own special needs and considerations. What they may receive instead is assembly-line document drafting from outdated attorney software.
When planning for the distribution of their assets, no one wants to feel as if they’re involved in some type of legal mass production – being processed through an uncaring Kafkaesque machine. (Would you?) Good drafting software allows you to customize estate plans easier; and this personalization lets you touch people’s lives in a deeper way and to focus on what drew you to this line of work in the first place.
Software for any Situation
You know that estate planning is not one-size-fits-all. However, if your software isn’t up to the task, it’s easy to default to the easiest and most cookie-cutter solutions because you and your team have only so much time and energy. After all, in the long run, habits usually overrule good intentions. Before you know it, you’re in danger of running a McDonalds or Wal-Mart like estate planning mill, and that was never your intention.
Fortunately, creating bespoke estate plans is often just a matter of the proper software. Yes, you need great people and a smart strategy to find and market to a specific and appropriate customer segment. But tweaking something as small and seemingly insignificant as the way you handle and process your documents can make a world of difference.
Contrary perhaps to your experience (and maybe what you learned at law school or at a recent CLE event), drafting various types of trusts and supporting documents does not have to take a long time. The right software allows you to draft complicated estate planning documents within minutes. Better yet, the result can be personalized, which pleases clients, because they feel heard, and they feel in control.
Wealth Docx® software is all about customization. Whether a client requires charitable planning, retirement planning, third-party trust planning, irrevocable trusts or trusts available only in specific states, the tools are all there at your fingertips. Documents are written in plain English, so your clients will have no trouble understanding them.
The reality is that if someone comes to you with a terrible family situation or deep financial crisis, you can’t solve it on your own. But you can minimize drama – and the potential for drama later – by having the technology and tools available to do your best and be at your best.
