Lawyers Without Wills
John Hunt wrote an article titled “Get a financial strategy now” in the January 8, 2007 issue of Law Times, discussing the uncomfortable situation faced by many lawyers of spending a high proportion of their income in the face of the possibility of a pension-free retirement. He suggests that lawyers need extra focus on financial planning.
The article reminded me of how many lawyers I have met who have no Will, some of whom even practice in the Wills and Estates area. In some cases, they have estate plans that do not require a Will, such as holding all assets in joint ownership, but even so, there is a risk of problems with changing assets and financial profile, sentimentally valuable personal property and overlooked assets.
Coming up with an estate plan inevitably involves the contemplation of an uncomfortable certainty: one’s demise. This prospect is as unpleasant to lawyers as it is to anyone else. In the result, many lawyers are just as vulnerable to procrastination as laypersons when it comes to estate planning. They also risk all the same problems and risks of mayhem involved in dying without a Will.
Hopefully the “do as I say and not as I do” approach by lawyers to will planning is less prevalent than my experience suggests – Maybe I only run into the exceptions that prove the rule.
Thanks for reading.
Sean Graham
