Which Estate Planning Documents Require Mediation?

by | | Estate Planning, Litigation/Mediation

by  Francis Burton Doyle, Esq., WealthPLAN There has been a vicious turn in the estate and trust administration practice.  The wolves have descended and more and more estate litigation cases are being filed.  The litigation bar has found this area fertile ground to...

The Vicarious Liability of a Trustee’s Attorney

by | | Estate Planning

by Francis Burton Doyle, Esq., WealthPLAN Attention Attorneys, CPAs, Trust Administrators & Private Fiduciaries: When an attorney represents a trustee, he or she may have some vicarious liability to the beneficiaries of the trust for his fiduciary client’s...

Is “The Descendants” A Movie Made for Estate Planners?

by | | Estate Planning, Legacy Planning, Litigation/Mediation

by Francis Burton Doyle, Esq., WealthPLAN There is a hazard in seeing a movie which involves a technical legal issue that you encounter regularly in your law practice. The hazard is that you find yourself focusing on solution to the legal issue at hand and become...

What Do We Mean When We Say Integrated Wealth Planning?

by | | Estate Planning, Law Office Systems & Procedures

by Francis Burton Doyle, Esq., WealthPLAN It was 1999 and I was at a cocktail party at the home of one of my clients in Los Altos Hills. I walked out on the veranda of the 7,000 square foot, newly constructed, adobe colored plaster mansion, which sported a gorgeous...

The Truth About No Contest Clauses

by | | Estate Planning

by Francis Burton Doyle, Esq., WealthPLAN Many of my clients specifically ask me to put a “no contest” clause into their estate planning documents.  These clients have made a number of difficult decisions regarding their estate plan and they do not want their...

Work/Life Balance: Internal vs. External Challenges (Part 2)

by | | Estate Planning, Law Office Systems & Procedures, Law Practice Managment, Legacy Planning, Time Management Skills

Feature Article: Law Practice Management Series by Mary G. Anderson, Life Management Consulting Group In a past issue of the Estates & Trusts Updates,  I wrote about some of the internal factors that determine how comfortable we are with our work/life balance....