FIRM STORY/ MEYER LAW
First and foremost, I am a Mom and a Wife. My husband, Brett, and I have 5 kids ranging in age from 17 - 29. I am also a Lawyer who has spent the last 25 years advocating for injured workers'. I have greatly prided myself in fighting for people who are going through a difficult time, physically as well as emotionally. Although I have enjoyed representing injured workers, I have felt frustrated over the last few years with this adversarial process. It is the worker vs the employer/ insurance company and very often issues become contentious and it takes a great deal of time and energy to resolve matters.
I was exploring ideas for different practices within the law when I stumbled upon a very interesting podcast interview of Ali Katz speaking about Estate Planning in a very holistic and quite frankly exciting way. She was talking about becoming a trusted Personal Family Lawyer. One who meets clients where they are, is curious about their needs, and provides a service that gives people not only the opportunity to do the necessary Estate Planning documents but to discuss with clients their values, hopes and dreams and to determine what kind of legacy they want to leave for their loved ones. I found the conversation to be inspirational and congruent with my values and who I am as a mom, wife, sister, daughter and attorney. I decided to pivot and make a change by opening my own Estate Planning Practice, Meyer Law CT.
Estate Planning You Can Trust
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It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publi
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.
It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passa
It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publi
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.
It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passa
First and foremost, I am a Mom and a Wife. My husband, Brett, and I have 5 kids ranging in age from 17 - 29. I am also a Lawyer who has spent the last 25 years advocating for injured workers'. I have greatly prided myself in fighting for people who are going through a difficult time, physically as well as emotionally. Although I have enjoyed representing injured workers, I have felt frustrated over the last few years with this adversarial process. It is the worker vs the employer/ insurance company and very often issues become contentious and it takes a great deal of time and energy to resolve matters.
I was exploring ideas for different practices within the law when I stumbled upon a very interesting podcast interview of Ali Katz speaking about Estate Planning in a very holistic and quite frankly exciting way. She was talking about becoming a trusted Personal Family Lawyer. One who meets clients where they are, is curious about their needs, and provides a service that gives people not only the opportunity to do the necessary Estate Planning documents but to discuss with clients their values, hopes and dreams and to determine what kind of legacy they want to leave for their loved ones. I found the conversation to be inspirational and congruent with my values and who I am as a mom, wife, sister, daughter and attorney. I decided to pivot and make a change by opening my own Estate Planning Practice, Meyer Law CT.
PLANNING FOR THE ONES YOU Love
Our process begins with a Family Wealth Planning Session. Before the Session, you will complete homework that will have you feeling more organized and put together than you have in a long time. Maybe ever.
During the Session, we will look at what would happen to all of what you have and everyone you love, if anything were to happen
to you.
Then, we'll determine a plan together to make sure everything goes the way you want it to so you are always in control. And so your family always knows just how much you care. Should we decide there are things we can do to take care of your family better than they are taken care of now, we will present you with planning options that allow you to decide on your fee and the level of service that is right for you and your family.
More Than Just Your Money: Leaving a Real Legacy -- Who You Are & What's Important to You Planning For Your Children
THREE LEVELS OF PLANNING
Estate planning at Meyer Law is not one size fits all. We offer 3 levels of planning to suit your varying needs. From starter plans primarily for families with young children and little in the way of financial wealth to more robust plans for well-established families concerned with matters of asset protection, preservation, and increased growth, we've got you covered.
Generally, our fees for a married couple with kids who is focused on keeping the family out of court range between $2,000 up to $8,000 on the high end for an extensive plan that provides significant asset protection after death + maximum protection for your assets from inadvertent loss to the State Department of Unclaimed Property or the Court process. It's our opinion that if you are looking for less expensive planning, you may as well read up and do it yourself because you'll get the same quality of planning online as you will with any lawyer charging fees that are less than what we offer here.
We've priced our planning for you at the intersection of affordability and effectiveness. When we meet for your Family Wealth Planning Session, we will review the 3 planning levels with you, and you will choose your own fee based on your budget and the planning options that are most important to you and your family. Our plans are focused on ensuring your family has somewhere to turn if and when something happens to you, that your plan will work and you have real security, not the false security that comes with a cheap set of estate planning documents.
There truly is no one size fits all choice. We have created a process, though, to educate you quickly and effectively so that make empowered, informed choices about what you want for the people you love, so that you aren't simply choosing the cheapest option because you don't have any other basis for making your decisions.
How Do i know all this?
Because not too long ago, it happened to my family and to my business and I swore it would never happen to my clients when I created my own firm. And since then, I have seen countless clients come in to see me who have had this exact experience.
Unfortunately, what I discovered is the estate planning industry was not designed to serve growing families who experience lots of change on their way to success. It was designed to serve 70 and 80-year old's who were preparing for death.
Unfortunately, what I discovered is the estate planning industry was not designed to serve growing families who experience lots of change on their way to success. It was designed to serve 70 and 80-year old's who were preparing for death.
Once I decided to make this change I took a look at my husband's and my Estate Planning Documents to see what we had in place. I came to find out that my own Trust Plan had not been funded correctly and therefore would in essence be non-functional. How could this be? These documents were done by a very well respected attorney who I actually had a friendship with. This lawyer who I knew for a long time had good intentions and a great reputation, but he did not give us the correct advice as to how to make a plan actually function in the case of Death or Incapacity. We had to start over, but now I am well equipped to do things differently. Not only has this forced my husband and I to become more financially organized but has given us pause as to how we are currently using our assets including our time. By looking at Estate Planning from a holistic perspective it gave us a chance to actually value our life on a deeper level.
After deciding to make this change, I also had experience with other Estate Planning mishaps with my own family. One example of this is my own aunt and uncle. My uncle passed away without doing any planning and left my 90 year old aunt devastated after losing her husband of over 60 years, and also angry and vulnerable in not having her affairs in order. She couldn't even access bank accounts. It took a whole year to straighten things out. Not an easy thing to do at any time, but especially not easy while you are mourning and in your 90s.
Additionally, I had close friends of mine who suffered due to insufficient planning. I have two dear friends whose fathers remarried after the death of their mothers. One remarriage took place when the Dad was in his ?Os and one in his 80s. Both fathers got sick and died prior to the step mothers. What happened in both instances was very sad. The Fathers didn't do anything to make sure their kids could help make medical decisions and help with their care.
Additionally, both fathers didn't provide any inheritance to their kids but gave everything to the current wife. My friends were not able to go to the hospital and help their fathers during their last days. Not only did the kids lose out but the fathers did as well. In both of these cases the new wives were not able to care for them either. Additionally, the kids didn't get any inheritance. One of the dads collected sweatshirts and the kids just wanted one or two for sentimental reasons and the new wife would not let them in the house.
How am I different and why should you consider my firm? I am completely transparent in terms of my fee. There is a flat fee without being billed for my time so that when my clients work with me they can rest assured that they can feel comfortable calling my office with questions or concerns. I don't just hand out a stack of documents and say goodbye to my clients and wish them luck. I help my clients to become financially very organized and to make sure the Trust that is crafted for them is funded either by them (with instructions from our office) or by our office at an extra charge. I am dealing with more than what happens to your assets at the time of your death and or disability. I am getting to know my clients and helping to make sure they are passing on more than just money or material assets but that they are passing on their values and perspectives to the ones they cherish the most (through a legacy interview process done in my office.) Planning with me helps you take stock of what you have both financially as well as what is important to you. We help tailor a plan to meet your needs. Additionally, we also make sure that your children are cared for as you want them to be. We teach you more than just appointing a guardian, but how to make a more comprehensive plan is in place for your kids should something happen to you. I am looking forward to getting to know you and becoming your Personal Family Lawyer.