So, I know I’ve talked about this in the past, and I think it’s worth revisiting. It seems like one of those things I might end up revisiting throughout my career, which is probably a good thing to help people really understand what I do. I’m an estate planning attorney, but what does that really mean?
A lot of times people ask, “So you do wills?” Or I’ll tell them I focus on tax planning, and they’ll respond with, “Oh, for really wealthy people?” And sometimes the answer is yes, but the point is this: I focus on two main things. Honestly, everything I do could probably fit under one of these categories, but I focus on asset protection planning and tax planning.
I believe both of these can fit under asset protection. There are various professions exposed to significant legal risk—doctors, lawyers, CPAs, engineers, real estate investors, and probably more that I’m forgetting right now. But the thing is, people love to sue them. And sometimes, these professionals do need to be sued, but a lot of times, people are just looking for a payday.
I help protect people from those types of situations. There are a variety of LLC planning and trust planning strategies that can be implemented to help protect clients from these risks. Another aspect of what I do is help minimize and, to the extent possible, even eliminate income tax from certain types of transactions, as well as estate tax.
A lot of people don’t realize that asset protection really includes tax planning as well as business succession planning. Many people work their entire lives building a business or an enterprise, and as they retire, phase out, or pass away, they want to ensure the continued success of this asset they’ve poured so much time into creating. They want to make sure it prospers.
So, those are really the two things I focus on: asset protection and tax planning. When you’re having conversations with your estate planning attorney, just realize that it’s more than having a will that says, “Everything goes to my spouse or to my children.” There are really an endless amount of possibilities to address all the different types of things in your life, and asset protection and tax planning should really be at the top of that list.