A Personal Approach to Estate Planning, with Attorney Grace St. Clair
The Estate Planning Podcast · · Guest: Grace St. Clair, St. Clair Law
Episode summary
Bill Gross welcomes estate planning attorney Grace St. Clair, who also hosts the podcast Coffee with Counsel. She describes an estate in which water left running flooded the house about 18 inches deep for four days before anyone found it, leading to repairs and court delays, including a continuance from October to May, eight months, just as the estate was ready to close.
She says two of her current matters are special needs trusts, noting that Medi-Cal rules have recently changed, and explains that she keeps clients moving by asking for her planning questionnaire back within a week. Bill cites a statistic that fewer than 10% of cheap online trusts are ever executed and funded, and St. Clair says she got into this work after seeing her father's experience with a trust that was on the tax rolls but not recorded at the county recorder's office.
On blended families, she says the law still reflects an old "Ozzie and Harriet" model rather than modern families, and that with so many divorces it is important to protect a first set of children from a spouse who may not follow your wishes. She describes a life estate set up by another attorney with not even any "whereas" clauses, which she likes because they show what the people intended at the time.
For choosing a trustee, she advises picking someone with a similar moral compass, notes that a trustee living out of state can hire a private fiduciary in California, and agrees with Bill that you need an accountant who understands trust planning, since not all tax people do.
Key points
- Get the plan signed and the trust funded; a trust that is not recorded or funded may not work.
- Plan deliberately for blended families; the law does not assume them.
- Explain your intent in the documents, for example with "whereas" clauses.
- Choose a trustee who shares your values and can handle a crisis, or consider a private fiduciary.
Transcript
Transcript generated from YouTube's automatic captions for this episode and lightly cleaned (filler words and repeated words removed, names and web addresses corrected; phone numbers and email addresses read on air are replaced with a placeholder; the show's former name said on air is shown as [The Estate Planning Podcast]; [unclear] marks words the captions did not capture). It may still contain transcription errors, and speaker labels are not included. Timestamps link to that point in the video, which is the authoritative record.
0:01 [snorts] When I talk to you customers buying property or own property about getting estate planning, there's a wide variety of options from something as simple as how you take the deeds to a will to a formal will to an estate plan to a more personalized plan for you. We're excited up today to have a guest who's an estate planning attorney here in Southern California, Grace St. Clair, who in addition to being a great estate planner also has her own podcast, Coffee with Counsel. Grace, thanks for joining me on my podcast today.
0:30 You're welcome. I look forward to having you on mine. That'll be fun. So, what inspired you to do a podcast? What was your inspiration? You know, [sighs]
0:38 So many people do the same things over and over again in the wrong way, and they really don't know and they get into so many problems that they could have avoided if they just would have sought some advice. And I don't know if they just do the first thing they think of or if someone tells them something cuz you know, your friends always tell you their opinions of things. And if you listen to your friends, they don't always know what they're talking about. So, I decided to get all of my colleagues to share stories of how we get our call our clients out of messes. And I have so many people I refer my clients to that I have a lot of messes that people have gotten into. So, it's I love doing it because it helps them really understand if you have an issue, you should reach out to get assistance, but if you had this type of an issue, you can at least follow the lead to avoid it in the future. And I guess the best way to avoid it is to do an estate plan so that you have control over what's happening.
1:35 You know, I've interviewed a lot of people and the same's true of attorneys, of real estate agents, which is people who really specialize in this business, well, who I'm sorry, let me back up. Those who don't specialize in this business complain about the messes, the problems, the challenges. Those of us who do this all day long kind of brag about it. You and I before we called, I've I was bragging about my the going out sign you told me about the one you were on because I think that at the end of the day, we get paid to solve people's problems or prevent their problems. And that's the whole goal I think of estate planning, isn't it? It's to prevent problems theoretically.
2:10 Yeah, theoretically, for sure. I mean, just the case we had today was about this woman who refused to do a trust and she had all she had was real estate and some collectibles and some cash and she thought that was a you know, she had a solid estate because she lived in Orange County. But she had one child that was kind of eliminated from the family when she was 8 years old and she wanted to give her part of the estate cuz she still believed in her and kept in touch with her and all that. So, she did a will, but she insisted on a will and my friend who gave me the business said, you know, she should do a trust and she's always believed in trusts. It's so much easier and faster and simpler. But after we got involved in the process, we realized thank God she had the judge overseeing that because one of the children did something on the date that they were saying goodbye to mom and she end up putting water in the house for 18 inches high so that the house was damaged for 4 days because before anyone found out about it had been running for 4 days and then it was then it was a mess and had to be fixed. We couldn't even get into the house for a year. Of course, we had insurance. That's the first thing people don't think about is make sure you have insurance. That's what you need insurance for is when there's an accident like that. Who knows how it ended up happening. No one seems to remember or understand and I'm sure this woman who was the woman, the mother who got rid of this daughter, she's the one who did it, I'm assuming.
3:43 And she's caused nothing but challenges in this case. Like you wouldn't believe. Like she filed a wrongful death claim and said that her other siblings weren't going to get any money. It's like you don't have the right to do that. Excuse me. You know, she's she's just one of the kids. Law says that you're you get an equal share with each child. I was like, okay, she's an interesting piece of work. I know from hearing the story about her getting rid of a daughter. She allegedly had an affair with this step with a What do you call step stepdad, one of the stepdads of one of the kids.
4:27 Hm, okay. Little pain I mean, so she's she's definitely she skirts the edge of all sorts of things, I would say. The drama of probate. It's like it's always something, right? There's always something to talk about.
4:38 Caused a lot of drama cuz her boys did not want that daughter to be involved any longer cuz of course they heard mom say whatever they wanted she wanted to say after she got kicked out of the family. But luckily, she's a wonderful woman. She's got two kids of her own. She got adopted by a wonderful family. So she's actually in better shape. But this has been a drag on her, the emotional reminder of I got kicked out of the family. I don't even want to be with these people. And she sees their name on all the notices, which is another reason why you want to plan your estate and avoid probate because it's an emotional draining experience. We can't get it done right away anyway cuz we had a year to repair the property, then we sold it, then we had to hold on to it. Then we had issues with the court system. We got continued last October when we were ready to finalize our estate, we got continued to this May. That's 8 months. I'm sorry, I'm talking.
5:36 Court. That's two 8 months too long. Yeah, welcome to probate court. Things just take so long. And I think that's the part is if once you're in that system, I tell people that probate court is kind of like the DMV, it's just not as customer service oriented.
5:53 [laughter] They go, "What? Not service oriented as the DMV?" I said, "Yeah, I think it's just take a lot longer." Like, you go to the DMV and you wait in line for like 20 minutes, it seems like forever, but probate court, 8 months, just in one hearing. "Well, we're going to continue it. I have no openings until next year in May." And you're like, "What?"
6:08 I know. Next year in May? I don't know where I'm going to be a year from now. I know, and so many things have happened with my practice since then. I have so many other cases, and I still have this one hanging on, and you're like, "What were What were we doing last year in October? I don't remember."
6:22 Exactly. Yeah, you go back and you give yourself a pat on it. So, yeah. So, okay. So, let's talk about what are some of those, you know, I'm sure you've done a lot You do a lot of estate planning. You've seen a lot of problems come your way once they're already in process. What are one or two of the most common messes that you're called on to fix, you know, to get the cows back in the barn afterwards that you wish you had written a plan to prevent?
6:43 You know, they're all different, but the first two right now are two special needs trusts. So, last year we got in California, we put a lot of illegal immigrants on Medi-Cal, and they had just changed the rules to not be asset-based, just be income-based. So, you could have had all the assets that you owned, but your income better be low. Which is, you know, once you're on Social Security, that kind of covers a lot of people, but they have other investments. I couldn't get my clients on. Two people that were actually qualified, I couldn't get them on Medi-Cal in time because they changed the rules, and then at the next rule, they didn't qualify, and then we spent all that time getting everyone on Medi-Cal. And I guess now this year they decided, "Wow, these people didn't pay into the system. We aren't We aren't able to spend this kind of money. Like, what do we do now?" So, they changed the rules a little bit. So, the challenge is when you do your trust 10 years ago and you never look at it again. I always update mine every 3 to 5 years because it's so important. The law has changed so much lately. And this is another example. So, dad and mom put a trust together a long time ago and they had us two special needs kids. One is definitely special needs with disabilities and the other one is just bad with money and drugs. So, luckily she what doesn't want him to receive his property. Now that mom died, the two brothers are helping.
8:06 And unfortunately, you know, they never did a special needs trust beforehand. So, now they have stuff they have to put into it. And so, it's first-party money and the government now requires that to be paid back because it's money that you're earning. And of course, they thought that none of that stuff would ever happen now. So, they're surprised and unfortunately, if you think about it, if the state pays out income, their income to cover your medical expenses, they should get it reimbursed somehow. It does make sense, but if you're paying in to the system, you should be able to have that as a deduction, I would think. But that's not how it works.
8:44 Yeah, [laughter] yeah, and people are surprised when they get those bills at the end. They can be sizable, right? People who They're very sizable. It's very expensive. Medical care is expensive right now. But they do get better deals and then if you're like the one guy that just has drug problems, he I think the boys can just give him the money. Not him, of course, but his family. Give them the money to spend on him. And the idea is go on trips or buy things. I mean, you do have to tell the state what you spend it on. But I think the idea is to spend all of it before you have to give any of it back, but we'll see. There's a lot of rules involved in that program.
9:23 A lot of rules that they're written in by as laws. We need a attorney to help us through that thicket, I think. So, that's the first one and then I have another one where mom didn't plan. She had a settlement and the same problem. She has a special needs daughter and she's giving it to her. And unfortunately, you can't just do that. If you have if you're on state aid, you have to do a special needs trust. So, I'm meeting with her to explain to her today how she's going to fix her mom's mistake where she never took care of it. She had no estate plan in place but a special needs daughter. So, I think that most people with special needs know you have to plan in advance these days. But in the old days, you know, we could get by with some of that stuff maybe. But now you really have to think ahead for your kids if you want them to receive anything.
10:14 So, one of the things that I know happens you know, the number of people who know they need a plan is a big number and there's a small number of those who know they need a plan and start a plan and there's a small number of people actually execute the plan. And there's even a smaller number of people who execute the plan and then fund the plan. So, let's talk about that. Why do you think so many people know they need one but don't even start the process? Don't even talk to you about what the potential savings could be cuz that might motivate them to actually get in the in the action. What holds people back from getting started?
10:46 I think it's just procrastination. We're all busy people. We have other things we're worried about. You know, you're worried about your day-to-day. You're not thinking about what could really protect you. Women do it. So, when we have a child, the first thing we realize I have the first example I had was I thought if my husband is left with this child, this poor child will never survive.
11:09 Yeah. [laughter] Even though he was a great dad, he didn't know anything. dad work. He used to take our daughter to the beach and I would stay with the second daughter in our little pool in the backyard. And one day he comes back and he's like, "Oh my god, it was so beautiful at the ocean. I was in the water and I was having such a great time running the waves and I looked back at the beach." My daughter was three. And there she was with this other little girl and I was like Wow, you know, you let her sit on the beach by herself and went into the water? I was like, what if she went off and someone picked her up and said, "Hey, let's go find this little kitty cat. Will help me find my cat." Or let's go look at this bird. I mean, oh my god, I couldn't believe that. And I just prayed to the Lord and said, "Thank you so much for taking care of my children." I had no idea this was going on for 3 years. He never said anything to let on that he was leaving her by herself. So, I think women are way more understanding. I mean, we listen to the things we see on TV and the people that are harmed in ways they never expect. Maybe he just ignores that or men just don't listen to that. But when every time I saw that my daughters were growing up, I let them know what they need to be aware of because I didn't want them to run off and end up getting caught with one of those people. Same thing now we have so many social media and games and they meet people, run off, and you never see them again. It's so sad.
12:33 So, I think it's procrastination, busyness, and we just think men think nothing's ever going to happen to them.
12:42 Hey. Some men like to control everything. So, there's like three types of men. People that think nothing will ever happen to them, so they won't worry about anything. the second one is someone who cares about their family deeply and wants them to have everything they could ever want. And then the third type is the people who want to control everything. And they're going to control it the entire time. Like all during your life and their death. So, that's the Someone gave me that this insurance salesman told me that once and I thought, "You know, I think you're right. I think I've met those men before." And it's just that if you're busy and you're not thinking about it, you don't really create the time to do it. It's not that daunting. I think people as soon as you a child or as soon as you buy a house and real estate we talked about this in our other podcast, but once you have real estate in California, you're in probate, so you got to get out. At least do pro- probate avoidance and get some powers of attorney.
13:42 That's a good way to put it. After you have a child Oh, yeah. After you have a child, you have to think about what this child What Who's going to take care of this child if something happens to you? Because it could easily happen. And I always tell my clients, you could be in a car accident. We could have an earthquake. It doesn't have to be incapacity like we all think about Oh, someone wants to put me in a home when I'm 87. You know, that's when it's so far away, but you could be in a car accident tomorrow. And you could be disabled and if you live alone, I had a woman who was blind and we didn't realize how much her brother did for her until he passed away, but she was on the floor in her house for 4 days before someone found her cuz she couldn't get to the front door. And she had a seeing eye dog and four cats and she was blind.
14:30 Wow. So, all of her friends thought something else was happening, so they didn't even try to rescue her and then the what happened was she didn't go ride her horse. And when she didn't show up to ride her horse, yes, she was a championship horse rider, which is another shocking thing, but anyway, when she didn't show up to ride her horse, the horse boarders called us and said, "We haven't seen her and she always comes to ride her horse."
14:54 Wow. And that's when we found out where she was stuck and she There she was, 4 days. You can only imagine what that's like with all those pets.
15:03 Now, so the first step is getting started. The next step is I remember you know, it differs when you have personal attention like you offer. I know that on the online trusts that are so simple and cheap that I believe the statistic is less than 10% ever execute and fund the trust. Why is that? Cuz they sold the trust. They're not getting paid to solve the problem. They're paid to their website. They're just churning money. And I know that in I'm sure without talking to your practice there's a line that you have to consider which is pushing your clients to help them, nudge them to completion and going too far, being too salesy or being, you know, rude or unwanted. It's the same thing I have as a listing agent. I deal with properties and I want to push my seller to do the right thing, but I can't push them too hard and it you know, it's a fine line to walk. Talk a bit about how do you find walk that line? How do you administrate somebody who's maybe spent a lot of money to put a great plan together, protect their family and legacy and so on and yet they haven't signed and returned to you. You really can't You really can't get started. Maybe it happens.
16:11 You know, I just don't do my plans that way. I've been doing this a while. I did that in the beginning and I learned how to fix that. We agree on the dates up front and when I'm going to get the information and in the first meeting we know when the signing will be. And of course, if something happens, we can always adjust it, but the idea is we have that agreed upon up front.
16:31 I like that. I don't let people take the take the questionnaire away, hold on to it for days. It's like they're back to me in a week. And if we don't aren't back to me in a week, we need to figure out what's going on because I have a lot of other clients. That's the hardest thing, too. Is you have a lot of clients, just like you have a lot of sales. And people always think they're the only buyer that you're representing. And or seller, same thing. It's It's just That's not how it works, obviously. We have to pay our bills, but I am very empathetic to my clients, so I understand how they feel. That's how I got in the business in the first place. I watched my dad go through a difficult probate and I thought I'm going to save the entire world from this. I was making banks richer every day in the big firms downtown and it just wasn't that satisfying. I was on an adrenaline high doing some great practice work and interesting deals. But anyone, any smart person could have done that. And when I saw what my dad went through when they thought he had a trust and it was it was in the tax rolls but not in the county recorder's office. I thought people are paying for something and they're not getting what they thought they were getting.
17:42 Yes. And so I decided to solve that problem. And so I've learned over the years how to make sure those little things don't occur. But you know, a lot of new attorneys are in that mess all the time because they got to learn the hard way unless you're trained you know, from someone who knows what they're doing. So I think that's also very important. Another thing that I find that's really annoying is if you don't have people pass away, you don't understand whether you've planned well enough or not. So in the beginning, I never did a single probate. I told myself I'm never going to do that. I'm just going to plan people's estates. Of course, why would you want to do a probate? And then I would get these probates and I'd say, "Wow, it's a good thing I've done this. Now I understand the process and how terrible it is to wait and have a judge tell you can't do something cuz the whatever the people want to do when they show up in court without representation, it always makes perfect common sense what they want to do. But it's not what the law says you can do. And we don't have modern families. The law is more Ozzie and Harriet, the old ways like a with the Dennis the Menace and maybe you had one crazy child but for the most of part, everything was simple. That's how the law starts. They don't care about modern families. If you have anyone that you take care of that's not a child of yours, you have to put that in writing cuz they won't take part of your estate. If you're divorced you even and if you don't adopt those kids during the marriage, it's another problem.
19:10 I don't think people realize that. As a step kid, we have so many divorced families these days. So, it's very important to protect your first child or your first set of children from your from the spouse who may or may not follow what they should follow if you passed away.
19:29 [laughter] I hate to say that, but I've heard so many stories. Well, I think that that door goes both ways. I think the key is you have the chance to put in writing how you want it to be. I've I've seen cases where the husband passed and gave the new wife a life estate and you had all these kids from the first marriage who look at this house as their retirement and waiting for her to die and the resentment builds and all that and that's kind of toxic. And the flip side, you know, you don't want your widow who maybe has been taking care of you for the last years of your life or whatever reason you have them, necessarily thrown out of the house just to divvy the money up to the
20:05 Right. Right. So, it's one of those things where you know, people will say, "Well, this is what he wanted." That's what he wanted. Well, he or she could have put in writing and then we wouldn't be debating that. I think that's the opportunity that estate planning presents is you can put in writing.
20:17 Yeah, I have a really a really bad case that that I did dealt with that. So, it was a Japanese gentleman who got the life estate and mom died first. They had a business together. But, they didn't put that in writing. And she changed her estate in order to give him the right to live in the house, which is their house together and they bought it. She bought it, but it they lived in it forever together. But, they never wrote down who was going to pay the taxes, who was going to pay the insurance and all that stuff. So, dad started letting the property fall apart. And the bad thing was just that of course you would expect them to do that. And some people are good at taking care of property and some people aren't. So, you just never know. You got to write all that stuff down. So, even though they had the estate planned and she had it written down that if he dated somebody, she didn't want him to live there anymore. She didn't explain like how the younger kids, who were in their 30s, were going to tell their 85-year-old stepdad what to do and what not to do. It's very uncomfortable. And so there they were trying to figure out how to manage that with this gentleman who owed his mother owed their mother, I think, a million three in benefits from the business that they sold together. They built and sold together.
21:36 But she didn't have that in writing. So they leave things People leave things out unless they plan it correctly. I was surprised cuz she had an attorney who set up the life estate for her. But there was nothing not even any whereas clauses. Everyone teases us about having whereas clauses, but I actually like them cuz they show what was in the mindset of the people at the time you made the adjustment. And as long as you at least have that, it's clear what happened. So that you can introduce that, and when the judge sees that, they'll see both parties in different ways.
22:11 Mhm. It's I was wondering because it's not being attorney, it seems to me nothing matters but the actual document instructions, but the whereas is giving kind of the flavor of the intent, and therefore the judge, if intent is an issue, you've documented the intent that way.
22:25 Yeah. Well, people always think they've said everything, but they don't realize, well, what if there's like apparently the pool was getting green was becoming green with algae cuz he wasn't cleaning the pool. So you would think maintenance includes the pool.
22:41 Right. I mean, I would consider that to be maintenance, but he obviously didn't do it. So then they had to figure out, how do we get him to do it? Well, there was no They didn't think about that. Like, how do you how do you force like if he doesn't solve this problem within 30 days or 10 days or seven, whatever you want to do. And then you have to watch them for seven days to make sure they do it. That was another problem. Like if he had a date with a girl and she stayed overnight, how many days does she get to stay before they start saying step dad, this person needs to get out of the house?
23:12 How old was he at this point? He was 85 and he was a player. So she always knew he was a player. My grandpa was the exact same way. [laughter] I have to tell you. I met him when I was in high school. I mean I'd seen him once when I was a child and then he moved out when I was in high school to be with my parents and he There are guys like that. It's It's not common but there My grandpa was one of those. He had something going with all kinds of women. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. So Okay, let me I better get off of that. It's a little embarrassing.
23:41 [laughter] So That's that's how people live now. That's a modern family. Well, yeah. I mean you just want to be your grandfather. I'll never forget I went to visit him, you know, went to his apartment. He lived like in a big complex that had like a big pool patio. It was really nice. And so I went to visit him in the in the apartment and this woman comes in says, "Hey Robert, do you need anything else?" And he said, "No." And she had cleaned up the breakfast dishes whatever and walked out. I go, "Oh, that's interesting." We went to the patio and then another lady came out, "You know, would you like something to drink?" And I'm like, "No." And then my grandpa says, "No, we're fine. Thank you." And I said, "Grandpa, is that your maid or is she your you know, who is she?" He goes, "Is that your girl?" And he said, "Well, she's a woman who comes to my house." I said, "Is she your girlfriend?" "Oh, no. I got a couple other women on the side."
24:24 [laughter] This guy I think with older men who are functional, they can be a little more active. So I think We should plan for that. If you know, hopefully we'll all live older and can have the better day your wife will live longer. In his case he had he had a wife who widowed him and then left him. So one of those things. Okay, so enough about my family story. Let's talk about estates where you know, who's going to manage the estate. I think the thing that people don't realize is that really an estate from where I sit as a business person is like a business. You're You have assets of a million, two million, 10 million, 50 million dollars and you're kind of hired to manage this business. It might be to down to unwind it, but it's like a company that's closing down. They have a CEO and they have staff and they have administration procedures and they go through the process of closing down a business or merging it. Really, that to me is what an estate plan looks like when you get into some larger assets. And I think that the administrators kind of underestimate the work involved and the importance of professionalism in that field. Talk a bit about on larger estates with multiple pieces of property, maybe a business. How do you encourage clients to consider at least getting some assistance either obviously you the attorney, that's not really your role, but some assistance on the administration, maybe a fiduciary or an administrator of some sort.
25:43 Mhm. Well, when we when we discuss who they want to choose as their trustee, I always talk about that because it's so important. You want someone with a similar moral compass as yourself because they will act like you would act and it and they could be in your incapacity issue, they might take over for a short period of time. And do you want someone who has completely opposite views on how you think to be handling your affairs if you can't explain one way or the other what you want them to do. That's the first thing we talk about and it's very important that you choose someone who can handle things in a crisis because a lot of times there's going to have been a crisis and anyone who can't handle crises is not a good choice. It's going to be a part-time job for a long time and people have to realize they have to have the time to do it and the inclination to do it. So, a lot of times they choose their oldest sibling, but it might be the oldest sibling isn't the best person to choose. in my case, my parents chose my brother who was our youngest kid and thank God that their attorney told them, "Grace does this for a living, she should be doing it." And I was thankful to hear that, but I had no idea they were thinking, "Oh, he's the son." But he had so many issues he dealt with during Hopefully you won't see those, but anyway.
27:03 [snorts] during school, like in college, I used to save his ass on a on a regular basis. I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that. I should say save his rear on a regular basis when I was in college because he was always getting into trouble. And I had my own ways of making sure the trouble I got into never got I never got caught. And that was what I would tell him all the time. Like, at least cover your tracks. Like, what's wrong with you?
27:26 Right. But knowing that he was chosen only for that purpose is not the best It's not the best reason. You have to have a better a better choice. And a lot of times people have their best person is not in the state of California. So, I always explain, you know, they have the right to hire whoever they need in the state of California. And maybe they need to hire a private fiduciary. If they are really busy and they're in New York, let's say, and we're in California, and the family all the family's in California, I have private trustees that you can use to help you make the work happen. And then you're just, you know, kind of managing it from afar. That would be something people could do.
28:07 To me, while those fees aren't cheap, they are very efficient and end up saving the estate in the long run cuz you can avoid litigation and avoid numerous delays. Like any other business, you want the best quality employees you can. I know I had a family member passed, and I am the oldest son. I'm the oldest, and then I'm a son. And initially she told me she wanted me to be the administrator. I'm like, "Okay, whatever." And then when it came time that she changed it and named my sister, who's the youngest, but also not a son, obviously. I'm like, "So, and my sister was so concerned by telling me this." I said, "Honey, that's great. I'm glad you're doing [laughter] I'm here to help you. You know, and we get along really well. I'm glad to help you, but this is a job. This is not This is not funny games. This is not, you know, a TV show. This is a business that you're now running in this case where you know, a couple million dollars, but still it's it's work, paperwork. You got to find an accountant, taxes, and there's stuff to be sold and all that. So, it's And there's liability if something goes wrong, you're you're in the risk of somebody being upset. So, yeah, I think that people need to think about and be more open, I think, to third parties helping them in that area especially.
29:13 Yeah, what you just said about needing an accountant is so true. Not all tax people know trust planning. So, you need an expert in trust planning because they're the ones that are going to understand what you can deduct and what you shouldn't deduct. Maybe there are more ways to get around figuring out if something is deductible that trust people know versus the regular people. I have a One of my best long-term clients still goes to H&R Block and it just makes me laugh every time cuz I think to myself, "Are you sure she's deducting everything?" You know, cuz she gets a new person every time and she always I've made her a lot of money, so she always owes a lot of taxes.
29:53 Wow. And she hates paying taxes, but she will not do anything about it. So, sometimes people are left to their own devices, but you can give them all at least I have the resources available and I put a team together when we have a trust administration because my team knows what to do and they know what I expect, which is a very high level of service. And so, they have to answer to me if they can't do it well. And that's I think better. At least my clients know they're getting the best person.
30:24 Wow. Well, look, obviously this we just scratched the surface on estate planning and administration of trust afterwards. You're an incredible resource. I've had you on previously. Look forward to having you again. Grace St. Clair is an attorney here in Southern California who does estate planning and then administration of those estates, helps her clients through that process. If you want more information, we have her website up here which is actually I've kind of two qualityestateplanning.com or stclairesq.com and there you have a picture of her and her bio and all that. And then we have down the banner below the Oh, sorry. There we go. And her phone number [phone number shown on screen]. And if you're listening to this and can't write down, reach out to me. I'd be more than glad. I'd be honored to make an introduction to thank her for her time. Grace, thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate you educating us I think of the perils and the importance of getting these things done and maybe how to have the soft glove to get people to move forward.
31:17 Yeah, you're welcome. Let's hope we get a few more people planning instead of not. I'm all for that. If I can help anyway, please let me know. And for the rest of you, this was [The Estate Planning Podcast]. We get together every week usually with an estate planning attorney. We talk about planning or administration of trusts, avoiding it and other related vendors. What do you think of this? I'd love to get your comments, feedback. Please let me know. If I can help anyway, please reach out at Bill Gross Probate and social media. As always, make today your best day ever. Thanks so much.
Related
- What a successor trustee does first
- I just inherited a house: what now?
- The Estate Planning Podcast: all episodes
- For attorneys & fiduciaries
Educational media, not legal advice. Guest views are their own. Hosted by Bill Gross, The LA Probate Expert, a licensed California real estate broker (DRE #01022275) brokered by eXp Realty of California, Inc. (DRE #01878277). Bill is not an attorney and is not a Probate Referee.