How to Identify the Numerous Illegal Entities Peddling Living Trusts
It often begins in the form of a full-page ad in your local
newspaper for a free Living Trust Seminar. Other times it may be a
telephone call or even door to door solicitation about a living trust
-- usually accompanied by an offer of a free review, lifetime changes
and updates, an ominous warning about some “new” laws, or an offer
to protect your assets from nursing homes and long term care expenses
etc. These are just some of the more common tactics used by the numerous
illegal, unethical, unqualified, and illicit entities and individuals
peddling living trusts under the guise of legitimacy.
Many consumers are fooled by these con artists because they are extremely
clever in disguising their true unethical and illegal nature. Unfortunately,
the State Bar and Attorney General are simply unable to keep up with
the sheer number and audacity of these outfits. In essence that means
you, the consumer, must be on guard!
Illegal Operations Put Major Efforts Into Looking Official It is again important to emphasize that these operations put a great
deal of effort into appearing legitimate. They utilize full page ads,
seminars, official-sounding names, logos, packages, lifetime updates
and other tactics to fool people. Many even have attorneys put on
their seminars, and almost all of them are quick to claim “an attorney
drafts or reviews your trust”. (Read on to see why this is illegal).
Their artifices are so good that many never realize what they have
gotten into.
The Bait & Switch – Using The Living Trust To
Gain Access To Your Personal Information and Sell You Annuities, Life Insurance
And Other “Financial Services And Advice” The true nature of most of these illicit operations is to not only
make money illegally peddling living trusts but to also use it as
an “in” to sell you annuities, life insurance and other “financial
services and advice”. A common part of the living trust process is
a disclosure of your assets. While this is a protected discussion
with a legitimate attorney and law office, it becomes fodder in the
hands of someone who wants to sell you financial advice and products.
When you disclose your asset base to these “illegal operators” as
part of what looks like the living trust process, not only is it unprivileged
communication, you will suddenly find them quite eager to advise you
how to better “diversify and protect” your assets. Translated, they
want to use this information to sell you annuities, life insurance,
and other “financial services and advice”. This is an enormous unethical
conflict of interest even for a legitimate attorney -- much less these
fly-by-night and highly illegal operations.
Your Information is Not Privileged or Protected When You Disclose
It To These Illegal Operations Being unaware that you have been snared into one of these cleverly
concealed illegal operations you may wrongly believe that your information
is being held in confidence. The dirty little secret is, if you are
baring all of your personal information and assets to a non-attorney,
there is no attorney-client privilege of confidentiality. In fact,
it is highly likely that these operations will share and disclose
much of your personal information and asset base to others.
The Question to Ask – “Is This a Law Office?” You can quickly
determine if you are dealing with a legitimate law office -- or someone practicing
law without a license -- if you know what to look for and what questions to
pose. The most probing and piercing question you can ask: “Is this a Law Office?”
This hits them right between the eyes. If they are not a law office, the smart
ones will answer no, but will quickly try to recover by telling you that
a lawyer reviews or drafts your trust. Stop right there – you don’t
need to know another thing. It is for sure an illegal operation. The
person or company is practicing law without a license and the lawyer
is aiding someone in the unauthorized practice of law – period. (You
can verify any law office or lawyer by contacting the State Bar of
California or go to the Bar website at www.calbar.org.)
Don’t Be Fooled By the Statement That
“A Lawyer Prepares Your Trust” Never, ever be fooled into believing an operation becomes
legitimate by some statement or claim that “a lawyer prepares or reviews
your trust” or that some lawyer has an association with the company.
No person or company can enter into the practice of law by hiring or
associating themselves with a lawyer. And the lawyer who connects themselves
with any such operation is also violating numerous laws by aiding in
the unauthorized practice of law, forming partnerships with a non-lawyer,
sharing legal fees with a non-lawyer, paying illegal commissions or
fee splits, and knowingly assisting in the violation of any or all of
the aforementioned. In California, the rules that govern these matters
are the California State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys.
Virtually all states follow similar rules. *The relevant sections are
set forth in the footnote below. Once you understand a few of these
rules it becomes simple to figure out all of these illegal operations
in their various forms.
Also Be wary of Lawyers Pushing Financial
Services (Why an attorney should never be selling you anything but legal
advice)
Unfortunately, there are instances where lawyers are also engaged
in helping market financial packages and advice with others. This
can occur, directly or indirectly, in “conjunction” with a financial
planner or company. Such arrangements should be met with skepticism
and wariness. Lawyers are never supposed to put themselves in a position
where their own interests could potentially conflict with yours. Yet,
if someone acting as your attorney can somehow benefit from the sale
of “financial services or investments” that lawyer is, by definition,
in a potential conflict of interest. This includes any payments, commissions,
referral fees, “mutual back scratching”, or indirect compensation.
It is not just an alternative approach to
trust settlement, it is a logical one. In settling a trust
our philosophy is that it makes the most sense to first ask questions;
understand and evaluate matters; and see what is involved before
plunging headlong into costly, probate-like attorney representation,
for which most ultimately find little need. In fact, after helping
thousands of trustees, only a relative few (due to unusual circumstances)
have ended up needing greater lawyer involvement. Yet even in that
small minority of cases
