A while back, I happened to catch an episode of Suze Orman on PBS. Suze Orman gives financial and estate planning advice. At that time, she gave some very general and very wrong estate planning advice. (I did not know at the time that she sells estate planning kits, but I wasn’t surprised to find out) I always meant to do a blog about this but decided last week to actually do it. So I googled Suze Orman testimonials to see if I was alone in my impressions.

As it turns out I have a ton of company.

Many of the comments are about financial advice which I won’t comment on. But I can comment about the estate planning advice.

• Anyone who is selling a product wants to sell their product. Suze is not under any regulation like the Florida Bar or in any state licensing or formally educated or trained. Suze is not a lawyer and has a bachelor’s degree in social work. Suze is an entertainer.
• Suze’s advice is generally California based. Each state has very specific estate planning laws.
• Suze pushes revocable living trusts (RLTs) and encourages everyone to get one. RLTs are good tools, but not everyone needs one or wants one.
• Online forms in general are a big mistake. You truly do get what you pay for. Forms can’t discuss issues. Forms can’t advise you of the unintended consequences of your decisions. Forms do not address lifetime issues such as how to pay for long term care etc.
• Online documents are all generic, one-size-fits-all documents that promise attorney level advice for a fraction of the cost. The problem is that people’s situations are all unique and highly-individualized; a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work when your situation isn’t exactly the same as the “average” situation if such a thing even exists. And if you are saying to yourself that your situation is average or simple and you don’t need a lawyer, you may not know what simple but critical things you are missing. And if it’s as simple as you think (and this occasionally happens), the fees will reflect that when we make suggestions and you will have peace of mind that nothing has been missed.
• The forms don’t explain which assets are subject to the direction in a will and which are not. It doesn’t discuss the benefits and pitfalls of leaving money outright to someone in the midst of a divorce.
• What’s worse is that some of these issues usually don’t become known until someone dies, at which point it’s too late to fix. Because we don’t know what we don’t know and cannot predict the future, these documents can create more harm than good. We can’t have a conversation with a computer.
• I have seen numerous problems with doing it yourself documents. It’s not pretty.

True Story

A client came to our office after not seeing us for 14 years. In that time her assets decreased, the amount we could shelter for estate taxes increased and her husband died. When she came in after his death, she was shocked to find out that her estate plan was so outdated that it required her to leave money to heirs they had long ago decided to omit. We also had an outdated trust that required her to get income – bad for future Medicaid.

Had they visited me regularly, we would have changed the estate plan to meet the changing laws and needs. Also, her attorney’s fees were higher because we had to do more work to fix the problem than it would have cost to adjust it along the way.

VERY IMPORTANT: She was also now 88 years old. We missed a golden opportunity to do long term care and asset protection planning.

Suze wrote an article on the estate planning she and her wife did. She doesn’t say whether she used her forms. She doesn’t say whether they went to a lawyer or two lawyers which sometimes is necessary.

Is there anyone who thinks Suze did this herself

with her own forms or

do you assume she sought competent and skilled

legal advice? Of course, she did!

These are just of the issues that we discuss frequently with regular people who won’t get answers by sitting at the computer:

• I don’t know if I need a trust or just a will.
• I am concerned about what happens if I get sick or die.
• I have a special needs family member to care for.
• My kids are not good with money.
• I want my parents to plan ahead and be taken care of.
• I want to leave an inheritance for my family and don’t want my hard-earned savings all spent down on a nursing home or other long term care costs.
• I want to avoid the costs and time of probate.
• I have a family member or friend who went through a rough time with parents/in-laws.
• I have noticed changes in my physical and/or mental health or I have had a diagnosis of an illness (or of my family member) and I am concerned about what the future holds.
• There is a crisis in my family and I need to know what to do.
• The last time I did any estate planning was when the kids were young
• I want to protect myself and family from the dreaded 4 “D”s: Divorce, Debt, Disability, and Death

If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Estate planning and long term care planning is a complex area of the law given that it involves planning for every possible contingency in light of the ever-changing laws and lives. Choosing to work not just with an attorney, but with an attorney who truly specializes in this area of the law is the best way to protect yourself and your family, to ensure that your assets are distributed in accordance with your wishes and hat you have adequately addressed the possible need for and the cost of long term care.