Client Stories: Parents of a young child
Family photo courtesy of Tenley Clark Photography
In this blog post series, entitled Client Stories, our summer intern, Raisah, spoke with some of our clients and compiled their stories. Raisah was able to gather important details on how each family we serve has different goals, concerns, and dynamics. Consequently, it's essential that Estate Planning is customized for each client's situation.
The first in our series of four client stories is of Maryam and her family. Maryam and her husband, Jacob, have an elementary-aged daughter. Their goal was to protect their daughter in the event anything were to happen to them. Maryam also owns a wonderful photography business that needed to be included in the planning.
By: Raisah K.
An interview with Maryam revealed her journey with her family in starting an estate plan. It all started seven years ago, when she first had her daughter, and she realized that she needed one. She had been putting it off, but when she met Shannon, she said she “could tell right off the bat”, that Shannon was the lawyer for her, labeling her as trustworthy, which was something that was hard for her to find when she was looking for a lawyer.
Going into estate planning, Maryam states that the only thing she knew was that she had to do it, but after the experience she and her husband agreed that it covered more than they thought it would. One main concern they had was that the couple was having two different religions, entailing specific burial requirements for each one, including a set of certain instructions for what is done with the body after one dies.
Although the process seemed daunting at first, Maryam described it, saying “it was super easy”, since Shannon “explained it really thoroughly, and she made it painless.”
Family is often the biggest factor when deciding what goes into an estate plan. In Maryam and her husband’s case, one of the toughest decisions was deciding who would take care of their kid if something happened to them. However, she explained that the law firm “walked us through what we needed to think about regarding a guardian who would care for our daughter.” It took a big weight off of the family’s shoulders, knowing that their daughter would be taken care of by someone they trusted and that there would be less pressure on her to make decisions when she became older.
All in all, Maryam described her experience with Liu Shair Law as positive. Looking back, she claims she shouldn’t have waited, thinking it was a long process or it would be tough to find the right lawyer for her. She appreciated the time Shannon took to go through every single one of their questions and explain the consequences of their decisions. At the end of the day, the family is left with a thorough estate plan that is just right for them.