Joel Altman, a Probus Club Member, shared with sixty members the knowledge he has accumulated from over 40 years as a lawyer. Prior to his retirement in 2016, Joel practiced in the areas of Wills and Estates as well as in Corporate and Commercial Law. He has also advised on many issues surrounding Elderly Care.
Working with a client’s other professional advisors, he has designed Estate Plans to meet a wide variety of client needs including succession planning for their business interests. Over the years, he has drafted hundreds of Wills and administered many Estates. In both cases, where there was or was not a Will, he assisted the personal representative to meet the various legal requirements.
The constant objective was to complete the administration as quickly as possible and with sensitivity to the loss suffered by the family.
His recommendation: be prepared and make things easier for your loved ones when you pass on (which everyone eventually does!).
He gave the example of an elderly successful doctor, a bachelor man about town in San Francisco, who, finding himself more lonely with age, became an easy pickings for a much younger ruthless and scheming gold digger with 3 prior marriages. His family, realizing that he became subjugated, had to undertake, on his behalf, a long and costly legal fight, rendered difficult by the complete lack of information of his business and personnel interests.