Most Estate Planning Websites Are Designed to Fail

By Tom Foster, Owner and Founder of Foster Web Marketing The websites for most estate planning law firms suffer from a common problem. It’s a problem that is completely obvious to visitors and potential clients, but it often goes undetected by the lawyers that own the website. In the lawyers’ eyes, their websites appear to be attractive and contemporary, with all the bells and whistles needed to attract, convert, and retain their ideal clients. However, in the eyes of their visitors, their websites are falling flat. So, what’s going on? What is this problem that’s so pervasive that it affects…

5 Commonly Overlooked Uses of Life Insurance

By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Now that estate taxes apply to less than 0.2% of Americans, I have had life insurance agents (as well as financial planners, CPAs, and attorneys) ask me whether there’s any need for life insurance anymore in clients’ planning, beyond the still standard needs for replacing the income of a head of household or funding a business partner buy-sell agreement. Over my 40+ years of experience in advising clients on estate, tax, and financial planning, I have seen and utilized…

SECURE 2.0 Act Enhances Special Needs—See Through Trust Planning

By Edwin P. Morrow, III, J.D., LL.M., MBA, CFP®, CM&AA® and Nancy H. Welber, J.D., ACTEC Thanks to the generosity of Leimberg Information Services, we are pleased to provide you this recently published article on LISI. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Section 337 of the Secure 2.0 Act, effective in 2023, provides a welcome, though very limited in scope, enhancement to special needs trusts designed to receive retirement benefits and qualify as see through trusts under the Secure Act provision for applicable multi-beneficiary trusts (AMBTs). The new provision provides that most charities can now be remainder beneficiaries after the death of a disabled…

The Top 35 Overlooked Best Practices for Executive Assistants

By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach and Kirsten Allen, Executive Assistant Working for our boss, estate planning attorney Philip Kavesh, we combined have over 28 years of executive assistant experience.  Throughout this time, we have been able to gain numerous best practices and good habits for providing administrative support to a busy executive.  Also through our time in interfacing with many busy attorneys, we have interacted and even worked side-by-side with our fair share of assistants that either lacked the skills, experience, knowledge, training, or personality to be able to properly support their bosses. So we have seen what works…

5 Reasons Estate Planning Websites Attract the Wrong Clients

By Foster Web Marketing You’ve launched an awesome website for your estate planning firm. You’re getting loads of traffic. You’re eagerly waiting for your perfect clients and referral sources to knock on your digital door. But—wait a minute—why are you getting so many inquiries from folks that aren’t a great fit for your firm or seem to be looking for legal services you don’t offer? If you’re scratching your head and questioning the value of your investment, I don’t blame you. But I also know it’s also a problem that can be solved when you dig deep into your website…

SECURE Act 2.0 Offers Longer Stretch for Conduit Trusts, But Contains Traps for Surviving Spouses

By Edwin P. Morrow, III, J.D., LL.M., MBA, CFP®, CM&AA® Thanks to the generosity of Leimberg Information Services, we are pleased to provide you this recently published article on LISI. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Section 327 of the SECURE Act 2.0, effective in 2024, will provide over $1.1 billion in new tax benefits for those in the know, but traps for the unwary. The downside is that the changes may actually be quite harmful in certain situations for surviving spouses inheriting retirement plans, causing an earlier required beginning date and higher required minimum distributions (“RMDs”) than under current law, if the new…

Is Workplace Stress Killing You? We Can Help.

By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach If you’re running your own estate planning practice, chances are, you’re stressed. Running your own law practice is no easy thing to do.  Meeting with clients.  Dealing with difficult cases and situations.  Getting documents out the door.  On top of the actual lawyering stuff, dealing with the normal day-to-day business activities.  Hiring the right people.  Making sure they’re working efficiently.  Making sure that your employees are getting along and managing any conflicts that may arise.  Dealing with toxic employees.  Figuring out how to get new clients through the door.  Making sure you meet payroll….

Why Do Nevada and Delaware Get Most of the ING Trust Business?

By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) We keep hearing about NING Trusts (Nevada) and DING Trusts (Delaware).  Occasionally, but much less often, we hear about WING Trusts (Wyoming) too. Nevada and Delaware clearly get the vast majority of the ING Trust business.  Wyoming seems to be the next jurisdiction to take a reasonably good chunk of the pie. Is this because these jurisdictions actually have the best laws?  Or is it simply a function of good marketing?  The words “NING”, “DING” and “WING” just roll off the tip of your tongue, eh? Let’s take a close look at ING…

Should You Be “Tweaking”?

By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Most estate planning professionals would love to make more money, while reducing their work time and stress. Unfortunately, many believe that in order to achieve these lofty goals, you have to do a complete “makeover” of your practice – – and that degree of change is scary! However, this is more myth than truth. In fact, there’s a universal business principle sometimes called “the law of incremental change”, which I call “the law of tweaking” (shame on you if…

Effectively Managing Your Boss’ Busy Calendar

By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach Whether your boss is an estate planning attorney, CPA, financial advisor or life insurance agent, chances are, he or she has an overwhelmingly busy calendar.  From client meetings, phone calls, seminar presentations, conferences and CE programs to numerous projects to be completed, goals to be reached, and endless obligations to be met. How do you organize, prioritize and manage it all while getting everything scheduled and done? Ask for Assistance with Prioritizing First, ask for assistance in prioritizing your tasks (and your boss’ tasks).  Thankfully, most executives acknowledge that their assistants are juggling several…