I began my legal career as a debt collection attorney at a debt collection law firm, then in a law firm that mostly did in-house counsel for Tribes. Those firms made millions of dollars off the backs of people who got in tight spots. The second firm was mostly transactional, billing time for legal services. Every day I was unhappy in both. In the first firm, I would come in and speak to people in debt and struggling to make ends meet, I would do what I could to assist them to get out from under this financial and emotional burden, but knowing that they would most likely be back under it. At the second firm I ended up doing wills for Tribal members, assisting with probate cases , family cases, and general counsel work for the Tribal leadership. This was not why I went to law school. I went to law school to raise, not just myself, but the community as whole up. This was a big disconnect for me because I was not really serving those I was trying to help so much as putting band-aids on arterial bleeding.
Having previously worked in a debt collection law firm, and then in a law firm that practiced law for local governments. During those times I saw what individuals and their families went through some very hard times, especially when a person who was relied upon passed away with no clear estate plan, to take of those left behind. I would talk with 96-year-olds who wanted to make payment arrangements that they could not afford while in nursing homes, creditors suing and winning against estates that hadn’t properly protected the legacies left behind, and families that had been ripped apart because some third party not related to them would figure out a way to dig in to anything that was left behind. I knew there had to be a better way.
Here is the difference for my estate planning – nothing we do is billed on an hourly basis. Everything we do is billed flat fee, agreed to in advance, so there are no surprises. You’ll know exactly what it will cost to work with us after we’ve gotten clear about what you want, and you’ll even be able to choose your own fee. Then, after the initial planning process, we have options so that you can ensure your plan stays up to date throughout your life, and again you’ll know exactly what that costs and choose your own fee there.
We see estate planning as just the beginning of the relationship whereas in the past the plan was viewed as a one-time transactional event. Once you sign your planning documents, that's when the real relationship begins.
Finally, we don’t just focus on passing on your financial assets, but your whole family wealth, the assets that are most often lost when somebody dies because they are overlooked.
These are just a few of the things that make Private Path LLC a different law firm. For people who don’t just want to leave their family some documents but instead want to use the estate planning process to pass on a real legacy and protections for those you care about as well as avoiding the unnecessary costs, conflicts, and public exposure of a bad estate plan.
As a veteran, dad, and tribal member I know (through years of deployments) that estate planning is something that you do for the people you love the most. You won’t be the one to reap the rewards of planning – your loved ones left behind will be, once you are no longer there to say what needs to be done.
If you have read to here, thank you...
I will be covering more of journey on this new adventure later. Wado! (Cherokee for thank you)
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