As I sit and reflect on the last year, brainstorming for helpful topics, I’m left with one main thought. It’s time to plan. We’ve spent the last year much more isolated from friends and family, and, for many of us, faced with loss of loved ones or the reality of health issues.
This year, Burkhardt Law Firm has helped many families form plans and many people navigate probate when there was not a plan or when things fell through the cracks. I’m always so grateful that our clients trust us with their loved ones and something that is rarely fun to discuss. That being said, I see so many families put off making an estate plan.
One of the saddest moments in my job is when we have a client pass. I hate losing someone I’ve come to know and learn about their lives and loved ones. We’ve lost a few clients this year and my heart is truly with their friends and family. And while losing a client is the sad part of my job, often it’s also rewarding in seeing those friends and family navigate the loss with grace and knowing that I made a difficult time easier.
On the other hand, we also get calls from potential clients’ families when they never took action and moved forward with an estate plan. This is truly the worst part of my job. Telling someone, who is already suffering a loss, that we didn’t help the person who was passed. Then that someone has to figure out what to do next. Often, this involves probate. And while I appreciate the trust in guiding someone through probate, I so wish we could have made a hard time easier by having helped with an estate plan.
My days are generally filled with conversations getting to know people and their loved ones. I truly love my job, my clients, and my co-workers and am thankful for a different, but still great year. I sincerely look forward to more of these conversations in 2021. My wish for your and your loved ones is for a very Happy New Year. And perhaps as part of that New Year, an estate plan or a update to your estate plan.