Attorneys

Estate Planning could more precisely be described as leaving money wisely. Life is filled with paradoxes, many of which involve money. From our perspective as counselors to people of moderate means as well as to the very rich, we have been astounded at how many people spend lifetimes accumulating money but yet spend so little time in deciding what the fate of their property will be once they are gone. People will spend more thought and effort on purchasing an automobile than they will spend on planning their estates.

Why does this happen? The primary reason is that individuals do not like to think about their own demise. There are other reasons, including the fact that preparing a will involves intimidating legal doctrines and tax considerations. There also is a core of fundamental psychological and emotional dilemmas to resolve.

The fact is that wills and trusts bring up a lot of feelings. They bring up issues of control, issues of people's relationship with money, and people's relationship with their children. These issues are so psychologically glaring, and so psychologically invested, it's really difficult to get people to focus on them, to unbundle them, and to really confront them.

At Koss Olinger, an advisor's relationship with people exposes them to the challenges that are at the core of the psychological, emotional, and structural aspects of estate planning issues. People from all walks of life face these similar kinds of issues and for over 35 years we have worked closely with both the client and their attorney to provide professional guidance.