Dilemma and Resolution: Mailing It In
(Added 10/15/16)
I was having a conversation with two professional advisors – an attorney and a CPA – and three gift planners on the subject of mailings. One gift planner presented his idea to address a letter to a “filtered” group of donors who had indicated a desire to execute an estate plan and to make bequests to certain charities. It was his understanding that most of the donors in that filtered group did not have plans for various reasons. Therefore, one advisor, the CPA, suggested that the charity include this wording in the mailing: "If you have no personal attorney and no desire to visit an attorney's office, for X-amount of dollars you can have a complete estate plan prepared by an attorney by mail.”
The document preparation fee would be significantly less than normal, and the charity would use its gift planner to prepare the planning form to provide to the attorney. I have often thought of doing this but it just does not feel clean. I know these people very well. I am confident the planner and the attorney would have the donor's best interest first with the obvious agenda of hoping the donor will remember the charity.
A heretofore unknown attorney being entrusted to perform a most important task. By mail.
My sense is yours: no one is trying to do anything wrong here, but in the continuous search for the bigger issue, when anything arises of an ethical nature (or any other nature, for that matter), it may be wise here to ask whether the charity ought to be involved with providing actual lines to a specific attorney.
The question is not whether the attorney is good. Instead, it’s a question of the charity's role, especially if there's a fee involved, as of course there should be. Whether the donor ought to use this form of mail-in Will writing is also of interest: as estate plans are often complex and very personal, one or more in-person consultations produce the best results.
Personally, I think that anyone who wants legal work performed should be adult enough to understand that he or she should go to an attorney and be prepared to pay a market rate. If you needed an operation, you would most likely see a doctor and be prepared to pay the going rate for the examination.
I also agree with you that the feel is uncomfortable. Why not send the mailing to the group explaining the benefits of a bequest designation, with the suggested language to take to an attorney? If the prospect wants to do something, you can include a statement to the effect — as the mailing would be directed to people whom you think want to establish an estate plan but have not yet done so – that you will be glad to provide a list of three to five estate planning attorneys in the area. One of those could be the one in your group, and would be used by those who feel that, upon being initially consulted, he or she would be the right person to do the work.
I have to say, though, that it's hard to believe that those in this group, filtered precisely for their interest in estate planning, would have such an aversion to seeing an attorney.