Estate Planning: What's in your tool box?

What tools do you want to use?

Is this the first question that your contractor asks you when you decide to
hire him to build a house?

Or, if you're car stops running and you take it to the mechanic
to be fixed, do you quiz him on which tools he plans to use in
repairing it?

When you need surgery to save your life, do you make sure you
learn all about the different scalpels and various medical instruments to be
used by the doctor?


No? You don't focus on those things?

Well, then why do people focus more on the estate planning tools than on what they want to accomplish with their plan?

Wills, Living Trusts, Powers of Attorney, various other planning or tax strategies. All of these are just tools. Tools in the tool box of an estate planning attorney who is there to help you build the kind of plan you want. If the plan looks and does what you want, then does it really matter what tools were used to get there?

The division of labor is much clearer in some of the other professions - doctor, contractor, mechanic, etc. But with law, it seems that attorneys have fed the confusion by hyping and selling certain "tools" instead of promoting their process of helping clients build a plan that works for them. Sure, some clients want to understand the tools, and that's fine.

But, remember, the tools are not what's important. What is important? Having your wishes, goals, and dreams carried out, in a way that allows your wisdom and values to be communicated as well.

My clients are already the experts on what they need to know. They know their families, values, what's important to them. I am the mechanic with the tool box, and I can use whatever tools are necessary to help you carry out your plan.

So, if you want to work with me on your planning, please keep in mind that we want to focus our energy on the house we are building, not what kind of hammer is being used to build it.

David Otis Edwards
Edwards Group LLC
estate planning attorney
Springfield, Illinois