Estate Planning, Wills & Revocable Living Trusts

The phrase “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” is a common expression that has been around for centuries. It refers to how wealth tends to be concentrated among those who have it, while others remain on the lower end of the economic spectrum. This phenomenon is so prevalent in America that most people lose their fortune by their 3rd generation!

Why does this happen, and what you can do to prevent it?

Estate Planning

We use an estate planning method called “Legacy Wealth Planning.”

Traditional “bare bones” estate planning has focused primarily on what happens after death and usually passes on financial wealth outright with no conditions or safeguards. Today’s American families are realizing that these outdated, traditional estate planning methods are failing them and their families, and they are wanting a more holistic approach to deal with today’s real-life issues. Those issues include divorce (especially their children’s divorces), second marriages after the death of a spouse, creditor concerns, and passing on family traditions and values that have been overlooked in traditional estate planning. Any one of these can wipe out an entire inheritance in one generation.

Ventura Estate Planning Attorney

The Law Office of Eric Ridley is responding to this need and is changing the way families plan. We have always focused on protecting families from these real-life issues while they are alive, as well as protecting and passing on their financial and non-financial goals. Our new Legacy Wealth Planning method addresses those same concerns and incorporates a holistic approach to help families build incentives and conditions on the financial wealth and document their values, wisdom, family history, items with sentimental and emotional importance, and their desires for the future.

This paradigm shift is a reaction to what families have been trying to safeguard for generations, unfortunately, there has been a lack of focus in the estate planning field that encourages and documents this type of holistic planning.

Historically wealth is squandered within three generations. With the planning options we make available, families are able to protect their heirs from future mistakes by being proactive years, and possibly generations, in advance.

Our new holistic model is broken into four distinct areas for families to consider about the legacy they will pass on: Core Values, Life Experiences, Contribution to the Community, and finally- Financial Assets. This new planning method protects the legacy and has a positive ‘pay it forward’ effect on the family and their community that will also impact future generations for years to come.

The Law Office of Eric Ridley devotes our practice exclusively to estate planning matters and has helped thousands of families meet their long-term estate and financial goals. For more information about Legacy Wealth Planning and the Law Office of Eric Ridley and our services, please call (805) 244-5291.

Media inquiries on estate planning topics are also welcome.