INTRODUCTION TO GENERATIONS

Byron E. Woodman, Jr.
William L. Eaton
Peter R. Johnson
Mark Gordon Huffman


It is a pleasure for us to participate as contributing authors in this national research project.

We have long realized that our most satisfied estate planning clients are the ones who understand the “method behind our madness” and who appreciate the custom-tailoring that is involved in crafting an estate plan uniquely designed to meet their goals and objectives. We hope that our clients will use this book as a resource to enable them to develop a clear understanding of the many estate planning tools and strategies which are available for designing their personalized estate plans.

Our mission is to help clients achieve the following:
• Understand the full array of alternatives available to them and their families.
• Establish their goals.
• Design estate and wealth strategies plans which are appropriate for accomplishing their goals.
• Implement those plans by developing documents and establishing appropriate relationships with other professional advisors and by taking action to achieve their goals.
• Monitor, refine, and maintain their plans.
• Have the peace of mind that their hopes and dreams will be realized.

Consequently, we believe that through our participation in this project, we are providing valuable information which is an additional and complementary service for our clients.

Estate planning enables people to “be prepared”. In the estate planning context this means being prepared during life to take advantage of opportunities which arise and to deal with life’s challenges as they develop. Also, a client’s family members need to be prepared to implement the client’s goals and objectives after the client has died so that they can continue on with the least amount of interference by probate courts, taxing authorities, and people outside of their own planning team.

The effective use of a “planning team” is important to accomplish the client’s goals and objectives. A client’s planning team may consist of an estate planning attorney; a CPA; a financial planner; an insurance advisor; a bank, trust, or loan officer; and perhaps a client’s corporate attorney or other business associates, if there are complex issues regarding business planning. The team members bring a variety of perspectives and experience to the planning process, but as members of the team they all coordinate their efforts to achieve a common goal, which is an estate and financial plan that makes the most sense for the client. Working as a team to identify the projects that need to be done and delegating projects to the team members on the basis of their own particular areas of expertise ensure that the right projects get chosen and that each project is then carried out with the highest level of sophistication and experience. It is the attorney’s job to serve as the coordinator of the activities to be carried out by this team.

As we look for new and more efficient ways to serve our clients, we acknowledge that technology plays an important part in the development of estate plans. Good estate planners are constantly innovating and striving to provide state-of-the-art services through the many new tools which are being developed. These tools and software programs handle estate tax modeling, estate tax returns, estate and trust accounting, and other estate planning applications. We are always on the alert for new programs which will allow us to serve our clients more efficiently and to utilize the amazing power of computers.

We recognize that communication which is direct and understandable to our clients is extremely important. A quality estate plan must be “user-friendly” to all family members, and technical concepts must be presented so that people can understand and evaluate them.

We have individually and collectively been active in numerous community activities serving as officers, directors, and trustees of many community organizations. As attorneys, we have served as family counselors as well as legal technicians with the objective of providing our clients with the ultimate benefit, which we describe as “peace of mind.”

Peace of mind will, of course, mean different things to different people, but basically we believe that when we have concluded a planning activity, the clients should have confidence that their decisions have been made with a clear understanding of the facts and alternatives presented by their circumstances and that the documents which have been prepared will effectively accomplish the purposes which are intended. The two most important factors which we stress in all of our services for our clients are our relationships with those clients and the creativity, including skill and judgment, which we bring to our clients’ planning situations.

We wish to express our deep appreciation to our spouses and children, who have been a source of encouragement, inspiration, and joy to us during our journeys. We feel blessed not just by wonderful families but by a wonderful community within which we work. Our secretaries and paralegals provide valuable and efficient service to us and to our clients, and we are fortunate to have their assistance.

We appreciate the professional insights provided by our team of financial and legal advisors, including accountants, insurance advisors, financial planners, and other attorneys, who have enabled us to develop the expertise which we hope to share through this book. Our clients and friends have also been a very strong source of support. We are grateful for the trust and confidence they have shown in us over the years and for the opportunities they have given us to serve them. We look forward to long and beneficial relationships which will continue between their families and our firm for generations in the future.