The below outline is a short directional overview for what will later be added here as a proper essay/post along with important, audio recordings of all formative and defining formal meetings with my father's attornerys. I will also be adding the full email dialogue that I have maintained with my father's attorney's for the past two months once I am clear that such can be published.
My goal here, from the outset, is transparency, especially in regards to my siblings who, along with myself, are the primary named beneficiaries both in my father's Will/Trust as well as at each of his important financial institutions where each sibling has long since been defined as 25% share stake holders in his cash assets, which has been made clear to his legal team, shall remain 100% outside of the Trust/Will.
I am sharing it and updating it on an ongoing basis should any of the work that I am assisting my father with in so far as establishing his Trust and Last Will be of interest to any of my immediate family members, namely, my three siblings.
I. Overview of the beginning and sourcing of lawyers
A. Friends referral: I landed on the legal team representing my father via way of a respected investment associate. My only concern now is the ongoing, not so subtle attempts to "jockey" my father's full cash asset base in to the Trust, where it would then, immediately become the domain of a holding bank which would charge 1% of the total cash value immediately and upon deposit into said banks coffers.
Furthermore, depending on who is acting Trustee of the Trust at that time, the process of simply getting the cash into the hands of the four named beneficiaries could be made endlessly problematic in a myriad of ways by that person serving as Trustee. Therefore, my father has made it clear in legally recorded prelimnary meetings that his desire is to keep his pure cash assets outside the domain of the Trust and at the time of his passing, have all of those cash assets distributed via way of the existing named beneficiaries (his four children) at each respective financial institution where they reside.
This is 100% not in line with my father's wishes which are for all of his cash positions, be they pure cash holdings or in process investment products, be managed explicitly by the institutions where they reside and NOT be added to his Trust at the time of his passing. Yet for the full two months that the Trust/Will process has dragged on, there has been a constant push from the legal team to somehow get my father's cash assets into the Trust. I am going to repeat this fact as well as my father's desires otherwise in so far as to how he desires his cash assets treated at the TOD as it's an important point considering the net value of said cash assets.
II. First Retainer Meeting and stated desires of how estate liquidation/beneficiary dispersant will work as desired by my father
A. Henderson property as dominant funding instrument for Trust; official retitling of that property into the name of the established Trust. The purpose here is to protected that East Texas 245 acre parcel and to keep it within the family and outside of probate. As discussed in our formal, legally recorded (audio) meeting, my father's desire is that this Henderson property be the sole, funding asset of is Trust (NOT HIS CASH ASSETS).
NOTE: I will be posting the audio recordings of that first retainer meeting as well as a couple of other important meetings in the near future so that, again, my siblings, or anyone else for that matter can easily listen to the meeting where absolute defining characteristics of his Trust/Will are clearly discussed between my father, his lawyers and myself.
B. Father's desire to leave explicitly named beneficiaries at each of his financial institutions and to not have his liquid/total cash assets be added to the trust at any time.
C. Pour over will overview and how it functions in regards to incorporating and dispersal of all non-liquid/physical assets (cars, homes, personal belongings).
III. Potential Ongoing Concerns
A. Ever present, subtle push on the part of my father's legal team to incorporate his liquid/cash assets, in total, to the Trust and not have such mandated by explicit beneficiary names/social security numbers as is currently in place at each of his significant brokerage and bank accounts.
This is worrisome due to the constancy of such pushing on the part of the legal team; I can't make any sense of it outside of it being a move/decision that would benefit either the legal team or some associate at the responsive bank that might govern such funds if ever moved into the domain of the Trust.
B. Generally long time line of the Trust process (2 months and ongoing)
C. Lack of any direct communication with my father: for the full two months after our formal retainer meeting, with my father present and with the full meeting recorded via audio log (including Texas required agreement of all parties), I have been the only person the attorney's have had discussions with. I have recently made it very clear that, at this point, there MUST be some direct verbal communication with my father both in advance of his signing/execution meeting as well as that final execution meeting, with both important dialogues being legally recorded and documented as was the initial retainer meeting.
IV. Latest dialogue with father's attorneys
A. Direct request to necessarily define solid and forthcoming dates
1. Establish date to have important direct verbal meeting with father, as a formal milestone event, with clearly voiced transparency that the meeting will be legally recorded and documented (audio recording of meeting). Make clear the importance of recording/documenting and publishing due to my being the only person who has actually spoken with the attorney's for the full two months the process has seemed to be intentionally drawn out. Furthermore, make clear that I have no official standing via way of Power of Attorney or otherwise and that a solid, documented JOINT process with my father's involvement is important should any claims of the legitimacy of our processes arise past the time of my father's TOD.
2. Establish date for final execution/signing but re emphasize the absolute necessity of a direct, joint verbal phone or in person meeting with my father's direct involvement before we sit down to execute an sign
3. Same as in point "2" above, this is important so the attorneys can take my father through a section by section, brief but clear overview of how the Trust/Will works in specific light of the basic goals of the Trust/Will.
They should explain clearly:
a. Henderson property as dominant funding instrument to be retitled into the Trust
b. father's total cash assets will not be bound by either the Will or Trust language in anyway and will adhere to the long defined, simple beneficiary assignments defined at his banks/brokerage to ensure immmediate and non problematic issuing of payments to the siblings.
Meaning that at the time of my father's passing, any/all remaining cash assets will be paid directly to the four named beneficiaries without the involvment of any Trust related bank or other "middle man" agency who might charge a 1% fee just to briefly hold the cash and then to write the four beneficiary payment checks.
The attorney's must show, within the Will/Trust language where this is made clear or, conversely, if this is already guaranteed via some nuance of law in general, then attorneys must explain that clearly for the record and for documentation/publishing purposes.
