Estate Planning Team Corrects Costly Error By Another Attorney

When your life’s savings are at stake, there is no room for error. Too often, our Estate Planning Team has to correct errors made by attorneys and financial planners who are poorly trained, careless, or simply ignorant of the applicable law.

Recently, our firm was asked to revise a client’s financial Power of Attorney. To be thorough, attorney Russell Mobley asked to see the testator’s Will that had been prepared by another law firm. When reviewing the Will, Russell discovered that the drafter had omitted key language from the document which meant that approximately $10 million dollars in assets would pass to beneficiaries other than those whom the testator intended. In other words, unless the testator executed a new Will, a court likely would require the executor to distribute the property contrary to the testator’s true wishes.  Although executing a new Will is usually a simple task, it was more difficult in this instance because of the testator’s poor health.

After correcting the omission and revising the financial Power of Attorney — in addition to making the estate plan more tax efficient, saving millions of dollars — Russell communicated with the testator’s caregiver regularly to determine whether the testator was lucid. After six weeks of doing this, the testator became lucid for only a few hours, and the new documents were executed. When the testator passed, his assets were distributed as desired.

You cannot trust just any attorney to plan for the financial security of your loved ones. The Estate Planning Team at Fulcher Hagler has the knowledge, experience, and attention to detail to ensure your Estate Planning goals are properly met.