Read Transcript Below:
First of all writing a will is incredibly difficult. It’s really emotional because you’re thinking about, “What’s going to happen to my children? Will they be cared for? How is that going to look?” And it’s really great to have someone who’s there who you can talk with about that. I’m a choreographer and an educator so I teach, I choreograph shows, I do things like that. My parents’ previous sets of wills wouldn’t have stood up in court and at the same time that we were coming here to have my parents’ wills redone my husband’s uncle passed away and we dealt with a lot of difficulty with probation, legal issues. And I feel very comfortable that the wills that were created here are not going to lead to anything like that. My husband’s uncle passed away, he and a cousin were the only beneficiaries. The original executive trust had stepped down. The person who stepped in was not really capable and was being advised by a lawyer who also disappeared. It took two years to probate the will, it was very expensive and not pleasant.
She actually was able to advise us to seek help. We didn’t know the whole process and at some point in time she said, “Oh yeah, this is taking too long you really should look for an attorney.” She helped direct us to an attorney in South Carolina and it eventually resolved. When we walked in and they wanted to update their wills and their powers of attorney and healthcare proxies she looked at their old wills and said, “Oh, this won’t hold up in court.” But in reading the documents that were prepared here and reading the documents that had prepared before it really covers everything in the eventuality. What if someone dies before my parents passed away how would that look?
It just everything is really clearly spelled out. Both of my parents have passed since we came here my father just recently, I’ve been the executor on both of the wills and it’s really challenging. It’s really, really helpful to have a support system to help you navigate all of the complexities that you’re going to have to deal with and I feel really lucky or blessed that Ellen and her team are able to explain everything, navigate the problems that we’re having, it’s been great.
I think the fact that I can come in here and have a real conversation with anyone in the office and I feel like people are paying attention to the details of what I say and asking questions to get to the full story is really important. I feel really comfortable that I can call on the phone anytime and I’ll get a response. I feel great that I will send an email and I will get a response and I feel when I get these responses that it’s someone that cares about me. It’s like a community, you feel like you are part of an extended family when you come here and that’s really important to me.