By Julian Guilfoyle
Henry Ford, the father of the assembly line for mass production once said “a business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” An interesting quote especially when you consider the source. This, after all, was the man who also proclaimed that his customers could have their Model T’s painted any color…..so long that it was black. The point is, while money is always a consideration, and quite often the determining factor in making decisions, it cannot be the lone driving force.
Several years ago I was surfing the radio on a road trip when I first heard of LegalZoom. I must confess I thought it was a brilliant idea. So often we see waste and inefficiencies in the world and it makes you wonder why we can’t streamline just about everything. The thought of going on a website, filling in a couple of blanks and printing out your customized legal document for a substantially lower price seems to make all the sense in the world. After all, LegalZoom advertises that all of its documents include a”peace-of-mind review”, unlimited customer support, and a “100% satisfaction guarantee”.
On May 27th, 2010 a class action lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles, California on behalf of 3,000 Californians who purchased one or more of LegalZoom’s products. This includes living trusts, wills, living wills, advance health care directives, and powers of attorney. While it is important to recognize that the case has not been decided, the accusations against the company are significant. The suit alleges LegalZoom made misrepresentations and omitted material facts about the difficulty of creating a reliable estate planning document with their services, how thoroughly and carefully they reviewed clients documents, the availability and helpfulness of LegalZoom’s customer service, the extent of LegalZoom’s “100% satisfaction guarantee”, the degree to which LegalZoom customized documents, the level of quality of LegalZoom’s documents compared to another attorney, the money one can save from using LegalZoom, and the legal effectiveness and accuracy of the documents used by LegalZoom. If LegalZoom’s products are neither cheaper, easier, nor as effective as using an attorney, then their products are of questionable worth and may actually do the person more harm than good.
When I read the complaint, I contrasted it with the experiences I have taken from our office. Many of our clients have commented to me personally that they have little knowledge of elder law. I always chuckle because frankly its not the most glamorous subject. That is why it is imperative to be educated before you start making decisions that have lasting effects and consequences. Before our clients commit to anything, they have had the opportunity to attend one of our free weekly seminars, had a one hour free consultation with an experienced elder law attorney, and if needed, free question and answer appointments. Our clients know the ballgame and the score before they have to step up to the plate. Without someone guiding you through this process, its easy to make costly mistakes, waste money, and fail to secure benefits that you are entitled to.
Several weeks ago I was speaking with a prospective client who has since decided to retain our services. He asked a simple question, if we offer all of these free services and put in all this time to educate seniors, how do we make money? In today’s world, people have understandably become wary of too good to be true deals. My answer was simple as well, I told him that after going through the process, most people choose to retain our firm.
For most seniors, the plan, or the lack thereof, determines what kind of legacy they leave for their families. You wouldn’t buy a house online without looking at it or consulting a professional. You wouldn’t try and build it yourself if you didn’t have the knowledge to do so. It took you a lifetime to compile your assets. Don’t gamble them away with a click of a mouse. On behalf of every farm we’ve preserved for a family, every veteran we’ve helped obtain benefits, and every asset we have protected against the government, I can assure you its about a lot more than money.
