Estate Planning Law Firm of Louisiana

Busy (But Exciting) Couple Of Weeks

It's been a hectic couple of weeks at our office lately.

• 4/5/08 - Seminar and Book Signing at Barnes and Noble. Lots of people showed up. In fact, Barnes and Noble had loaded up on books for the book signing, and they called today for another big shipment.
• Weekend of 4/5/08 and 4/6/08 - My five kids had a total of 16 ball games during the weekend. This doesn't have much to do with my office work, but I thought I'd add it because it was a record number of games for one weekend.
• 4/9/08 - First ever "Free Living Will Wednesday." We had a steady stream of folks come into the office to get their free Louisiana Living Will Declaration. It was a pleasure providing this free service. Several attendees, however, realized that they needed additional estate planning legal services so we'll be working with those folks in the upcoming days.
• 4/10/08 - Seminar at new Livingston Parish library. Good crowd. Lots of questions. In fact, one of the attendees came by the office the next day to have me help him settle his dad's revocable living trust that had been established many years ago.
• 4/13/08 - It's the birthday for my star paralegal, Stephanie Purdy. On 4/16/08, I'm taking the whole office out to lunch to celebrate.
• 4/14/08 - We enrolled over a dozen new members in our VIP Membership so our best clients (and their families) can get Preferred Client treatment for the rest of their lifetime. Ask us about our VIP Membership.
• 4/19/08 - The big Life After 50 Expo is coming up. I'll be presenting in the Main Exhibit room. I expect a lively audience. I'm giving away my book to the first 75 in attendance. Better get there early.
• 4/23/08 - New Medicaid Planning Seminars at our office (10:00am) and the Baton Rouge Garden Center (6:30pm). Brand new material based on newly issued Medicaid regulations. Seating is limited so make your reservation by calling Laura at 225-329-2450.

I heard a quote today that I liked, "If you want to make a difference, be different." There's not another business in the world that combines our attributes. You'll find our group courteous, exciting, friendly, progressive, hard-working, intelligent, professional , loyal, and committed.

You may the subject of estate planning is rather bland, but we've got some exciting and incredible stuff coming up that will do wonders for families in Louisiana. Stay tuned!

Paul Rabalais

Come See Us At the Life After 50 Expo

I'll be an Exhibitor at the Life After 50 Expo sponsored by The Advocate & WBRZ Channel 2, on Saturday, April 19, 2008, at the Baton Rouge River Center Exhibition Hall. There's free admission, free parking, and lots of free valuable information.

Come by, visit our booth, and chat with me, our paralegals, Stephanie Purdy and Laura Bittel, and attorney James Vilas. We'll be there to answer any questions you have and provide you with important information to help you protect your family and your estate. See you there!

Paul Rabalais

Incentive Trusts: Make Them Earn It

I was interviewed last week by a journalist for the Baton Rouge Business Report. He's writing an estate planning article. He said his focus was on how parents can transfer not only their assets, but their values, along to their children and other heirs.

We talked about Incentive Trusts. An Incentive Trust is a vehicle whereby parents (or others) can set up their estate planning legal documents so that after the parents die, their assets are placed in trust and then distributed to the children (or others) only if certain conditions are met.

Common incentive trust provisions include that distributions from the trust may be made to beneficiaries if:

• The beneficiary graduates from college;
• The beneficiary maintains a certain grade point average;
• The beneficiary works in the family business;
• The beneficiary maintains a healthy lifestyle; or
• The beneficiary is employed.

There are few limits to incentive trusts. We discussed that two important considerations when preparing an incentive trust include:

1. Selection of the proper trustee or co-trustees is critical; and
2. The trust must be drafted to allow flexibility due to changing life circumstances. For example, if distributions are tied to employment, then a stay-at-home mom would be penalized for raising her children. Or, if distributions are tied to a certain grade point average, a child may choose a less-challenging curriculum.

We also talked about how parents can supplement their estate planning legal documents with communications to trustees and beneficiaries, such as:

1. Conversations with the parties that will be involved; and
2. Recording a video to express your feelings and wishes.

Having a parent record a video for their descendants can be a powerful estate planning tool. So powerful, it's a service we now offer to our best clients. If you want to know more, drop me an e-mail. Thanks.

Paul Rabalais