Solution No. 2: Estate Planning Companies 

You may be asking and left wondering how goes it after the devastating ice storm that hit Tennessee. I am glad you asked!  Resourceful sometimes becomes my middle name, and what the R might well stand for in my initials of A.R.T. As I am crafting this fourth consecutive blog post, after nearly a week without electricity – less roughly 12 hours – my power has been restored – all but the running water.

You may be familiar with the marketing put out by Legal and Estate Planning companies, estimated to be part of a 216,000 conglomerate of who you ultimately decide to call upon to help you get your final affairs in order, within the U.S., alone. No wonder there seems to be a slew of advertisements, given today’s statistics that the accumulated wealth of the Baby Boomer generation amasses $84 Trillion Dollars changing hands from one generation to the next. Further estimates are that 199 Million adults are currently without an estate plan in place. It is a smart and possibly lucrative move for any Estate Planning enterprise to start promoting their products.

Unfortunately, due to the power and Internet outage, I have had to miss an online seminar I signed up for weeks ago and would undoubtedly have more to add to this installment, had I been able to attend. There is another on-site seminar coming soon I registered to attend, in my nearby town of Lexington, TN. You can likely find a seminar near you by Googling ‘Estate Planning Seminars Near Me.’

These Trust and Estate Planning seminars generally focus on Living Trust Plans, meaning that while you continue to exist with a competent mind and thought process, you have opportunities to fine-tune your legacy. (An alternative is an Irrevocable Trust, and finding an attorney skilled in that type of planning cannot be emphasized enough).

What services can ARTSA’s CNTDA (Certified Notary Trust Delivery Agent) services provide to complement and serve the smart clientele of any such Trust and Estate Planning company? I am glad you asked! Speaking generally, the order of things is as follows:

• First consumers attend a presentation, then sign up for one of the plans offered through a verified and trusted Estate Planning Company (insert the name of your chosen Company here). They offer a valuable blueprint, and you, as the Trustor, add the particulars, such as Trustee, and what comprises items of cash and property within your estate.

• A Full Living Trust Plan is drawn up with your particulars, then delivered as a package that includes these standard documents: A Pour-Over Last Will and Testament, General Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Disclosures (HIPPA), Health Care Power of Attorney, an End-of-Life Plan and, a Living Will for personal guidelines pertaining to Cessation of Life-Prolonging Procedures, among others. These are delivered ready to have your signature added, as witnessed by unbiased non-beneficiaries. With everything on the line, we can easily see why THESE SIGNATURES MUST BE EXECUTED BEFORE A NOTARY.

• Every Living Trust in Every Single State Requires Notarizations (6-8 of them)

This is the point in time where ARTSA’s CNTDA can step up for you! Here is a key and comprehensive list of duties and responsibilities of a Certified Notary Trust Delivery Agent, who works to safeguard the proper signing and secure delivery of estate planning documents:

• Expert Notarization: CNTDAs have a prescribed duty to notarize various trust documents, ensuring proper execution and legal conformity.

• Authentication: CNTDAs have unchanging rigid duties to ensure that all IDs are valid, ensuring that Trustors are about to sign the documents willingly and knowingly and appropriately in place. Witnesses are also checked for their disinterested party status. All are necessary for compliance with state laws.

• Secure Document Delivery: CNTDA’s help ensure that the documents are securely delivered to the intended recipients selected by the Trustor, if any, such as attorneys, Trustees, or beneficiaries. Otherwise, you, as the Trustee, takes control of these personal matters.

• Ethical Compliance: CNTDAs adhere to strict professional codes, avoid unauthorized legal practice, and uphold confidentiality standards. In the case of ARTSA’s own CNTDA, a long-standing paralegal career is also on the table. The ethical code of a paralegal extends from the same ethics code that attorneys are duly obligation to follow. This responsibility is crucial for the integrity and the security of estate planning documents, no matter the resource utilized to produce them. This provides peace of mind for individuals and families involved in the process of protecting a family’s legacy.