Living Trust Mills

I recently received a series of postcards inviting me to an “Elder Law Update”, strongly suggesting that I need to have a Living Trust. In addition to the seminar, I was invited to stay for a free lunch.

Often times these solicitations come from “trust mills”. These companies are referred to as “trust mills” because they turn out a high volume of cookie-cutter Living Trusts. Sometimes they charge clients for the Living Trusts, other times they offer the Living Trusts for free. However, as an unwitting consumer will soon find out, low cost or “free” estate planning documents are not really “free”.

The most serious problem with trust mills is their ultimate objective. That is, to obtain an individual’s financial information so that its sales persons can sell unneeded annuities and related investments to unsuspecting individuals, most likely to the elderly and vulnerable adults.

Written by on August 14, 2010