This is a review about my family's experiences with the Rutkowski Law Firm in regards to estate planning. More specifically, the discussions around preparing and executing a trust.
My wife and I recently became parents and we were thinking about what how we should protect our assets and what we should have in place to distribute them should, heaven forbid, something happens to us. We did some research and found that a trust is the best route to take because if we did a will, then it would have to go through a time-consuming and expensive probate process. We also discovered that a trust sets up directions for our financial institutions that saves time and money and it would ensure that the things we have would get in the hands of the people we love. Without a trust, then the state of Michigan would be the ones deciding who gets our assets and how much they would receive.
We searched for law firms in the area and we eventually were referred by a friend to the Rutkowski Law Firm. So we called and set up an appointment and met with business owner and attorney, Mike Rutkowski. We were greeted by Office Manager, Coleen at the Bloomfield office and she was warm and friendly. She showed us to the board room where we would meet Mike and she explained that he would go over estate planning. She offered us some water or coffee, so we asked for water and she brought us a couple bottles of water. You can tell a lot about a business by the demeanor of its employees and Coleen was a happy person with a great attitude, so obviously we were in good hands. The law firm was extremely clean too, which means the employees obviously take pride in their work. Everyone was professional, polite and friendly.
Mike walked in and greeted us by introducing himself and giving my wife and I a firm handshake with eye contact. We exchanged some small talk and eventually got down to business. We found that it was easy to relate to Mike because he was clearly a family man based on our small talk and family is most important to us. He reviewed the differences between a will and a trust and the importance of a trust and advised that it's a set of instructions for what to do with our assets should something happen to my wife and I. The following pieces would fall within the trust: 1) financial power of attorney, 2) healthcare power of attorney, 3) will, and 4) trust. He explained each of these four pieces in great detail so we could make an educated decision on who we wanted to designate for every piece and at what percentages, if applicable. Mike reviewed the estate planning questionnaire that he gave to us and explained each question and the importance of each answer. More specifically, he spoke to the why, which is extremely important to me-why we were having the meeting, why we were setting up a trust, etc. Then we discussed next steps and the next step was to have a conference call with Client Relations Manager, Trisha. Once we got the details of the trust ironed out with her, then would meet to review and sign the trust.
We set up the time and date of the conference call with Coleen and we were on our way. Trisha and I talked on the phone for about fifteen minutes and she asked me who I wanted for each piece of the trust and who would receive our assets and at what percentages. She advised that she was going to e-mail my answers to me so I could verify that everything was correct and then we would set up a meeting to review and sign the trust. We ended up changing things several times via e-mail and she was patient and understanding with us, which we appreciated. Once everything was finalized, Coleen called me and we set up a meeting to review and sign the trust at the Rochester office. Once again Mike reviewed everything in great detail and spoke to the why. The meeting lasted about thirty minutes and one of the exciting aspects of the trust that he pointed out was that this trust could be used as a beneficiary on our investments. He said that financial advisers will try to tell us that that is not true, because that is the case with most trusts, but we would in fact be able to use this trust, executed by the Rutkowski Law Firm, as a beneficiary on our investments. It would be a contingent listed after my wife for me and after me for her.
The key to Mike's success with us was his ability to demonstrate value. He demonstrated the value of working with the Rutkowski Law Firm and the value of having a trust. We could have piece of mind now that we knew that the Rutkowski Law Firm was going to take care of our family and make sure that important decisions would be made to our liking even after we were gone. It's a feeling of safety knowing that our family will receive what's owed to them. read more
