I try to help as many people as I can.  I find that I can help most people.  Sometimes I am not the best person to help someone – as is the case with people who came to me for help with an estate plan, but they were worth $150 Million.  That number far exceeds the current Federal estate tax limit, and I really don’t handle taxable estates, so I referred them to my friends who handle taxable estates.  I didn’t want to be trying to do an estate plan for someone with that high of a net worth as my first try because I didn’t want to make a mistake that would possibly cost them $70 Million in estate taxes.  I felt much better getting them to the right attorney to help in that situation.

I don’t really come across too many people who have a net worth of $150 Million, or even that exceed having $10 Million or $20 Million.  Instead most of the people I meet are fairly normal people who just want to pass their assets along to their children or other desired targets of their bounty and affection.  I can help almost all of these people, but there have been a few I cannot help for different reasons.  Here are some of those stories:

I Could Not Help Someone on a Psychiatric Hold

Several years ago I had some parents call me to help set up a financial and medical power of attorney for their adult son.  Apparently their son had been picked up by the police and placed on a 72 hour psychiatric hold the day before they called me.  Apparently they wanted me to go into the police station / jail / psychiatric treatment facility to get a financial and medical power of attorney to allow them to make decisions on behalf of their adult son.

I had to have a discussion with the parents about the requirements to be able to sign a power of attorney and why someone on a 72 hour psychiatric hold may not be the best candidate for setting up a power of attorney.  In order for someone to sign a power of attorney, the person signing must have the mental capacity to understand what they are doing and to understand whom they are empowering to make decisions on their behalf.

In this case, if the adult son was on a 72 hour psychiatric hold with the police because he was a danger to himself and others, I did not believe that was the correct mental state to be having someone sign a power of attorney.  For some reason, I don’t think a doctor would have said the person on a 72 hour psychiatric hold would have the mental capacity to sign a power of attorney.  I had to decline to help in this situation because the potential client lacked mental capacity and I simply cannot manufacture mental capacity for someone who lacks the requisite mental capacity to sign a power of attorney or other estate plan.

When someone lacks mental capacity to make their own decisions, there is a way to ask the courts to give someone else the ability to make decisions for the mentally incompetent person.  Guardianship allows someone to make decisions for another person concerning their life affairs and Conservatorship allows someone to make financial decisions for another person.  These court processes do take time, and can be expensive, so planning ahead and having a power of attorney set up before a person’s mental capacity diminishes is a far preferable approach.  Guardianship and Conservatorship also are not part of my law practice, so I try to get people to plan ahead and be more proactive rather than reactive.

 

I Could Not Help Someone Who Wanted to Fight Me On Every Step

I had another potential client that I met with several years ago who seemed to be more interested in fighting with me rather than trying to get an estate plan set up.  This particular potential client contradicted everything I said.  Whether the potential client questioned my knowledge of the law, or how to set things up, the potential client always seemed to know someone else who had given them a different answer and wanted me to explain why the other person had given them a different answer.  I was unable to explain why their brother-in-law thought that a trust needed one certain characteristic or another and I certainly did not want to guess as to why someone who once read something on the Internet concerning who should be named as a personal representative would be the expert on such things.  I tried to find common ground with the potential client and to seek a way to work together with them, but the potential client seemed to be more intent on proving me wrong than getting an estate plan established.

I don’t claim to know everything, but I also don’t really think it is effective to fight a client on every step and in every move.  Setting up an estate plan is not a contest between an attorney and a client, but rather a collaborative effort.  Since this potential client just wanted to fight, and always wanted to be against me, I could not work with them.  This was a rare occurrence, as I often am able to find common ground with clients and we work well together, but if all you want to do is fight with me, I cannot help you, just like I couldn’t help this individual.

 

I Could Not Help The Person Having Heart Surgery in Two Days

I also had someone who informed me that they were going in for open heart surgery in two days and needed a will done.  He called me at about 10:30 am and wanted to know if he could come in that afternoon to get everything done.  I let him know that if I had the afternoon open, I could probably have accommodated his request, but, unfortunately, I already had other clients scheduled and my afternoon was not open for him.  The next day was also full, as were the next four weeks at that time.  As much as I would have liked to help this gentleman, my previously booked schedule and appointments did not allow me to get what he wanted done in the time frame presented to me.  I had to decline the chance to help him, since my schedule prevented me from doing what he wanted in the time frame he wanted.

This also happened to other potential clients during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people would call and want me to set up a will later that day for a parent who was going onto a ventilator, or even now for potential clients who have parents entering hospice and need a will within the next couple of days.  As much as I want to help everyone, I cannot simply cast aside previously scheduled appointments.  I will help everyone I can, but if your timeframe is seriously compressed, like the gentleman who was having heart surgery in two days, I might not be able to accommodate you.

 

I Can Help Most People – Even You If You Want!

Fortunately for you and me, I can help most people.  Most of you can make your own decisions and run your own lives.  Most of you don’t need to fight me every step of the estate planning process, and most of you have more than two days to get your estate plan setup.  I know my availability, or lack thereof on a shortened time frame, can be a silly reason to turn someone away, but that is why I know that most of you know how to plan ahead.  Let me help you with your estate plan before it is too late, so we can work together, instead of you becoming a story like the people above.  To set up an appointment to get started on your estate plan, click the button below.