Our Process

Our Process

Gaw Estate Planning does not just give “lip service” to caring about our clients like every other firm – our actions show it.  We have a collaborative approach with our clients to ensure that you understand and feel comfortable with the legal services we are providing.

  • We want you to feel listened to and know that you are a key part of the process
  • We want you to understand your options and choices, your roll, and how your plan works
  • We want you to have a working knowledge of the legal services you will be receiving
  • We want to make sure you do not feel that you are not being spoken down to but rather that you are an equal member of the team
  • We want YOU to make the decisions based on our advice and the education we provide you
We educate our clients using customized visual presentations, spreadsheets and modelling software including extensive use of MindManager software produced by Mindjet (MindManager).  (Click the link then scroll down on the website to “What Can You Do With MindManager?” to see visual examples.)

Examples of the possible uses of MindManager:

  • MindMap of your Basic Estate Plan – for your review prior to the execution of the preparation of your plan
  • MindMap of assets created at your first meeting and revised thereafter
  • MindMap for brainstorming for Gaw Estate Planning internally and with you
  • Simple illustrations of particular techniques used in High-End Estate Planning presented in an understandable visual format
  • In High-End Planning, MindMap of Multiple Trusts, assets that have been funded into each Trust
  • In High-End Planning, a separate MindMap for each of your Trusts
  • In High-End Planning, we may use a MindMap created at the end of a meeting of tasks to be performed by each team member
  • In Trust Administrations, a MindMap to summarize trusts subject to administration

Extensive Use of Excel spreadsheets and other software.  Examples of possible use:

  • Basic Estate Planning
    • Asset Lists, Estimated Values, whether assets were funded into the Living Trust or not, and to indicate who is responsible for funding
  • High-End Estate Planning
    • Asset value collection
    • Modeling
    • Tracking work completed and work still to be done
    • Use of estate planning tools by Brentmark to illustrate use of GRATs and QPRTs
  • Trust Administrations
    • To track asset values, size of the estate and division of trust estate for allocation
    • To preparing 706 returns