ESTATE SETTLEMENT PARTNERS offers our clients an impressive menu of professional services from which to choose. It’s a little like arriving at the most elaborate and amazing buffet you have ever experienced. You’d love to partake of every offering on display, but only a few of the entrees and desserts will be necessary to ensure your complete satisfaction. In this analogy, we are the Master Chef, the Cook Staff, and every member of what is an entirely Professional Service Staff, all of whom stand ready to ensure every one of your needs have been successfully met. The more we understand about the particular needs of the Estate’s Personal Representative, as directed by the Last Will And Testament, the more efficient and effective we can be in carrying out those wishes for the ultimate benefit of the heirs named in the will.
Our primary job is to acquire as total an understanding of the Personal Representative and his or her needs in terms of the estate they represent as is humanly possible. It is essential that we begin our relationship by asking a great deal of questions and listening attentively to the answers. Wherever possible, and with the permission of whomever attends our initial meetings, we will record the proceedings and make an accurate transposition to a Word document within a couple of days.
The devil is in the details so to speak, and when it comes to settling an estate, the general scope of details involved can be very confusing, at times mystifying, and often quite overwhelming. Without the recordings it is entirely possible that we could miss some of the more important aspects that need to be the focus of our more immediate attention. In fact, it isn’t uncommon for people who have attended the information gathering meetings to listen to it’s recording a day or two later and loudly exclaim: “I can’t believe I forgot about that.”
We will then send copies of the written transcript to the appropriate team members for a couple of reasons. One is to provide them with an initial scope of work for them to begin considering how much their portion will cost, and second is that we need to take advantage of the experience, expertise, and wisdom they have collectively accumulated. The result is a range of solutions and well-considered suggestions for the Personal Representative’s consideration.
After the PR has had an opportunity to digest the suggested scope of work we provide from the information initially gathered, there is often a second or even a third meeting to further streamline the scope of work. It isn’t until everyone involved is satisfied that we have left no stone unturned, and everybody is on the same page at the same time, that we begin the process of creating a common calendar from which we can schedule the work that needs to be done.
Everyone associated with Estate Settlement Partners agrees that our job is to serve the needs of our clients within the considerable range of the expertise we offer. You might say that what we do is match the skill to the need, however that isn’t exactly true. Sometimes what the Personal Representative thinks he or she needs, isn’t necessarily the most efficient or cost-effective course of action. This is where the skills, experience, and expertise of our unique partnership becomes most notable. It is in places like this that we can save our clients an inestimable amount of time, while creating a greater than expected return to the estate, and ultimately to the heirs.
We have found that what could be a very complex process is significantly simplified when the line of communication between our team and our client is carried out between one point of contact for each party. George Wallace is the point of contact for ESTATE SETTLEMENT PARTNERS, while the Personal Representative or Executor is usually the point of contact on the part of the estate. Strict adherence to this one-to-one policy of communication eliminates the difficulties created by having too many cooks in the kitchen. It also significantly diminishes the possibility of distractions that would inevitably lead to inefficiency and misunderstanding, thereby creating an intrinsic pressure relief valve for the Personal Representative.
While it’s true that families involved in the probate process must jump many of the same hurdles, the seasoned professionals who comprise the Estate Settlement Partners Team, understand that every case is different. If you stop and give it some thought, you’ll realize that it can’t be any other way, because every person is entirely unique. As well, the circumstances of every testator (person who writes a will) are entirely different from the circumstances of every other testator.
Just like every mighty river such as the Mississippi, the Nile, and the Rhine, begins at a source that is nothing more than a trickle of water, every case that’s filed in probate court begins with a Last Will and Testament as its trickle of water, which then becomes a mighty river. It is precisely why the length, depth, breadth, and width, of services necessary to settle one estate, can diverge so widely from those required to settle another one.
With one phone call, every Personal Representative can know that he or she has all their bases covered!