Some select fields of law are certainly a bit more people centric than others are for one very specific reason: people.
Arguably, estate planning is one of them, and strongly so.
When you think about it, estate administration is centrally about people and nothing else, with every aspect within that realm of law — whether focused upon probate, trusts, inheritances, taxes, health care or virtually anything else that can be thought of — squarely targeting human expectations, hopes and needs.
Estate planning is intimately and almost always focused upon family members thinking about other family members.
And that makes it a complex legal endeavor that can often require an estate administration attorney to wear many hats at once.
One of those hats is of course labeled attorney adviser. As a recent article on planning additionally notes, though, the strong human emotions that can surface in family members surrounding a loved one’s death, the disposition of property, artifacts and treasured mementos and other administration-related outcomes can also necessitate a “therapist” and/or “mediator” hat for an attorney.
The above article references the sometimes “sensitive nature” of estate planning and the “conflict within families” that can arise regarding it. Seasoned planning attorneys must often employ strong listening skills and an empathy with their clients that can calm them yet also focus their minds on what they really want to do.
For obvious reasons, people skills are centrally required for any estate planning professional, but a proven attorney also knows that they must be seamlessly coupled with legal acumen that clients can fully depend upon and trust to promote their best interests.
At the end of the day, it’s all about experience.
