A legacy takes a lifetime to build, but only moments to destroy!
Explaining to you how we’re different requires an explanation of what the “traditional” experience with a lawyer is like. If you’ve worked with a lawyer to prepare estate planning documents for you in the past, this will sound familiar.
During the traditional experience, you’ll go in and meet with a lawyer who will oftentimes make things seem very complicated and confusing.
You’ll have a good idea your lawyer is smart and seems to know what they are doing, so you’ll nod and answer questions, as if you understand everything. Because you want to do the right thing for your family, you’ll have the lawyer prepare documents for you and you’ll sign the documents, feeling relieved you got THAT taken care of.
You’ll take your fancy estate planning binder full of documents home, stick it on a shelf or in a drawer, mark estate planning off your checklist as DONE, feel good and never think about it again.
You might remember your lawyer said something about moving your bank accounts into your trust so you’ll go to the bank, forget what you were supposed to do, call your lawyer’s office, get a voicemail, have to leave the bank and wait for a call back, (which takes several hours at least and sometimes days) and by that time, you’ll have gotten busy with other things and never get around to moving that bank account.
A few weeks later, you’ll get a bill in the mail for $67.50 for 15 minutes of your lawyer’s time for answering a couple of questions. You’ll make a mental note– don’t call lawyer ever again.
Several years later, you’ll refinance your house or sell it and buy a new one and forget that you were supposed to let your lawyer know or make sure you kept the title in the name of the trust.
Your children will get older, making your guardianship choices outdated, but you don’t want to call your lawyer because you know you’ll get a bill in the mail two weeks later.
You’ll hear something about a change in the tax law, but you figure you’d surely get a letter in the mail from your lawyer if it was something that affected you, so you don’t worry about it. And, you’d have to dig through boxes to find your trust documents so you could remember your lawyer’s name and find her contact information. Who has time for that?
It’s not until you become incapacitated or die, and your family finds the binder you stuck up on a shelf several years before and never looked at again, that they’ll realize your plan is so outdated that it has nothing to do with your life, your assets and the law.
Your family is at a loss. They don’t know where to turn or what to do, so they contact the same lawyer you used to prepare the documents, who is as happy as can be to probate your assets, which never made it into the trust.
I’ve been an estate planner for 10-years. This is how I used to practice law as an estate planner. What woke me up, was two things. First, not only have I been an estate planner for 10-years but I have also been a litigator (a trial lawyer) for 10 years. For almost 6 of those years, I was litigating cases involving failed estate plans. Plan after plan landed across my desk with some kind of fatal flaw. Second, I became a father.
These two experiences really showed me that I could do better. I could change the way I practice as an estate planner and create a completely different kind of estate planning firm.
You see, estate plans fail because (1) there is no ongoing relationship with the original drafting attorney; (2) the original law firm did not help you fund the trust properly; (3) the original law firm was focused on preparing form documents, not actually creating a lifelong strategy for your estate and legacy; and (4) the estate assets were never fully accounted for leaving them at risk to be taken by the California Department of Unclaimed Property, which currently has over $9 Billion in unclaimed estate assets.
We look forward to seeing you and caring for your family soon!
A legacy takes a lifetime to build, but only moments to destroy!
Our Mission
Atlantis Law's mission is to build ongoing relationships with families, and provide them with innovative and sound legal strategies to protect their legacy and those they love.
Our Vision
Atlantis Law helps families deploy their assets to their loved ones, safeguard their children from frightening and unnecessary court proceedings, and ensure loves ones are able to thrive in the face of the unthinkable. Most importantly, Atlantis Law helps families pass on their intangible wealth--their wisdom, faith, knowledge, insights, and values so that children have an opportunity to know their parents in the event of a sudden death or disability.
Atlantis Law will be known as the go-to boutique law firm for families with kids at home and Catholic families. The Firm provides a high level of one-on-one contact in a manner that makes the client feel like they have known the owner their whole lives and fosters a sense of unity between client and attorney.
From the moment the person comes into contact with the Firm whether it be through the internet, phone call, office visit, or personal meeting, they will experience an unparalleled level of personal service. Atlantis Law seeks to serve the needs of not just clients but also of staff who support the mission of the firm. Atlantis Law will be the kind of place where people enjoy coming to work, and value themselves and our clients. The firm will also invest in staff empowerment and self-leadership so they will invest themselves in the vision of the firm.
Our Core Values
Atlantis Law is founded upon and adheres to Catholic social teaching, which encourages businesses and faithful practitioners to engage their everyday activities for the common good. With this in mind, the firm’s Core Values are:
- Innovation
- Authenticity
- Compassion
We are passionately client-focused.
Authenticity
Authenticity is essential to our mission. This requires three facets to be constantly working in harmony. First, honesty. Each team member is encouraged to be honest about who they are and what they are passionate about. Second, humility. One cannot be truly authentic unless one accepts his or her passions in humility. Acting from a place of pride is entirely inconsistent with an authentic person. Finally, faithfulness. Once a person honestly reflects on who they are, what they believe, and what they are passionate about, and accepts those realities in humility the next step for an authentic person is to be faithful to that reality.
Compassion
We serve clients from the beginning of their family life (when they have kids) until their kids call us after their parents have passed. Dealing with the reality of death and helping clients plan for their own legacy after they die requires an enormous amount of compassion.
Innovation
We are not satisfied with the status quo. We seek to challenge our clients, attorneys, and team members to do things differently. Not for the sake of being different, but always with an aim to make the client experience better, more streamlined, and efficient.
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James Long’s ability to effectively communicate, his intellect and his care for his clients set a new standard for others in his industry to strive for. Utilizing his services is a decision I often pat myself on the back for making. James is a great lawyer, and an even better human being.
Joshua Baumgarten There Is No Quit FitnessJames made the whole process easy. He handled everything very professionally and with great care. He comes with our highest recommendation.
Deacon Tony & Sylvia Moralez St. Paul the Apostle Catholic ChurchThe testimonials on this website do not constitute a guarantee or prediction of results in your case