There are many reasons why an attorney should think about adding additional practice areas to their law firm offerings—it helps improve your client experience, having multiple streams of income protects your business from market volatility, and it increases your bottom line! However, adding another practice area can be a big ask for you, your office staff, and your budget. 

Running your own legal practice can be daunting for any attorney, but it can be especially difficult for new and transitioning estate planners. This may be due, in part, to the knowledge gap between what attorneys learn in law school and what they need to know in order to run a law practice. To fill these gaps, it’s important to educate oneself on what the current best practices are (so they can be implemented), as well as what the common pitfalls are (so they can be avoided). Here are some basic tips for fresh-faced law graduates or transitioning attorneys looking to build their own estate planning practice.

When it comes to transferring wealth to younger generations, not all beneficiaries are responsible enough or prepared to handle a large inheritance. This is where incentive trust provisions come in. They can be used to discourage bad behavior and motivate beneficiaries to make responsible life choices, so that they are ultimately better prepared to handle their inheritance.