"When you have an asset, it's in your best interest to start thinking about how you want your life to look and feel. You want to start curating your life. And part of that is to start thinking about the future.
We get the opportunity to do things that are hard, but they're important. What's all this for if it doesn't support you and your family and your dreams?
I have friends who did it after they accumulated their wealth and it was a lot more expensive. I'm lucky that I have you to help me, because if not I would have been lost. I feel extremely comfortable and happy, and I'm extremely grateful for you for helping design what all this looks like."
~ Beatrice Dixon
"I don't want my kids to have the angst I had when my mom passed away.
Thanks to The Saunders Firm, I was actually able to accomplish the things I said I was going to accomplish since 2010.
I was trying to remember all the steps and I don't. All I remember is it was really simple. Once I contacted you, you were on it. I didn't have to think hard about it. I just checked the things I wanted covered.
I feel very comfortable, confident, and assured that all my estate will be handled properly, that my kids have all the information they need, there won't be any angst or worry or anxiety. It's all laid out."
~ Brenda Wood
Ferne Sapp works in travel and ministry. Through her work in ministry, she noticed a lot of people weren't fully prepared and their families were left to clean up the mess. She didn't want to leave that type of situation for her kids, so she contacted our firm.
She said she "loved the video explanations about what the process was like" and thought our process was "extremely educational."
Now she feels "so prepared...like my family is going to be in good hands and won't have to try and figure it all out."
~ Ferne Sapp
I helped Kittie and Gary Barth update their +15 year old estate plan when Kittie’s dad died. They were on vacation at the time, but they were “never worried about the process or how long it took” because “it was explained real well. Better than could be imagined.”
Kittie said it was so easy “I could cry. I can't tell you how easy, how comfortable, and you just made it so simple and easy it's a dream come true.”
Gary said “I don't want to have an attorney. I want Amber.”
~ Kittie & Gary Barth
You can prevent needless angst and drama, provide for your loved ones, ensure your business and assets survive, and set the stage for future generations by designing the right Estate Plan.
However, most people don't end up with the right plan because thinking about the future is uncomfortable, confusing, and difficult when distracted with needs of daily life.
We are the only firm that helps successful business leaders stop worrying about the future so they can start living in the present.
Hey there, my name is Amber Saunders. I founded The Saunders Firm after paying my way through law school with a small tutoring business.
Early in my career, my grandmother passed away. She was prepared. Then a little later my uncle passed, and he was not. The difference was dramatic. I realized I wanted to help families prevent the pain, confusion, and needless waste that comes from an unprepared death.
I thought Estate Planning would be easy - you just fill out some forms, right? It turns out there's a lot more involved than that. I searched everywhere for the best solutions. I joined mentorship programs, bought expensive software suites, and hired consultants. But nobody knew how to do Estate Planning for successful leaders who wanted to stop repeating family history and pass on a legacy of success.
So I set out to solve the problem on my own. I created educational material, streamlined the design process, learned how to capture important thoughts and wishes, and much more.
The solution worked so well that people started asking me to do their Estate Plans too.
After working scores of clients, I've learned one thing: a good estate plan isn’t just a collection of legal clauses. It’s the last love letter you’ll ever write.
The truth is, you can create an amazing estate plan effortlessly and finally get the guilty feeling off your chest.
When you work with other attorneys, they will ask you to write down your assets and decide how you want those to be split up among your heirs. Then they will draft your Estate Plan and hand you a binder full of technical legal documents, which you will most likely place on your shelf and never look at again.
When you work with us, we'll give you a worksheet to help you collect and organize all of your assets, including your accounts, logins, etc... We'll then walk through that asset inventory with you to ensure it is complete and accurate. Then we'll draft your plan but allow you to manage it through the inventory instead of forcing you to learn legalese.
There are a ton of problems with the old way of doing things, such as:
If things aren’t done correctly the first time around, you’ll be leaving your family a giant mess during one of the most traumatic times in their lives. They might even have to go through Probate.
Since you are writing all of this down anyway, we want to make sure we capture and store all of the information in a way that's easy to manage and understand. It looks like this:
Most attorneys just assume you want what everybody else wants. Even if you don’t, the want to keep things simple so they can avoid mistakes and keep a healthy bottom line. But this isn’t best for you…
Most attorneys will ask you what you want to happen to your assets. Sometimes they will guide you through the various options, although a lot of lawyers will try skip this and just assume you want the basics. What almost nobody does is helps you take a step back and look at the big picture. Nope. They leave you to figure stuff out on your own.
Our firm is different. We believe that you are the only person who can design the ideal future, but you need to understand your options in order to do that. So we provide a 1-on-1 design session where we build the future with you. We start with the big picture questions and then guide you through the details.
If you dive into creating an Estate Plan before getting clear on what you want, it will be too hard. You’ll end up trying to make your plan look like everyone else’s or just adopt the very “lawyer-like” language they use in a template. In the end, you’ll end up with a plan that doesn’t represent your will. You’ll have gone through all that work and expense just to feel disappointed and frustrated.
When you work with us, we'll guide you through a series of questions so you can get clear on what you're trying to create. Our 1-on-1 design session will help you effortlessly dig into the details so that everything works exactly the way you want. We'll even use a whiteboard to diagram everything out so that you can see the full plan in action. Our process will leave you feeling happy and confident.
Most attorneys are focused on getting your current assets into the legal documentation. This is important, but if that's all they do then you're missing out on a ton of additional value:
You hand over your list of assets and designations to your lawyer. They never ask questions, so you just assume everything is being taken care of. You call in once to ask some questions, but upon being billed for $63 you decide to never do that again. You finally get your documents and get an email with instructions for doing something at the bank, but you get distracted and forget about it. As time goes on, you relocate, your children become adults, and many other changes occur. You don't call your lawyer because they charge you for every change. The plan is done, and that's good enough, right?
When you work with us, we will confirm your design within 7 days. We'll summarize your plan so you can spot errors in our understanding and correct them on the spot. Once we start drafting, you can call and ask questions without being billed or penalized - and unlike other attorneys, we'll actually answer the phone and respond to your emails with more than 3 words. Once we finish, we schedule a meeting and walk you through everything to ensure you understand exactly what you need to do to finalize the plan and maintain it. And if you have our membership, you get free lifetime updates.
Many years later when you become incapacitated or die, your family finds your Estate Plan, only to discover the plan is inaccurate, outdated, and doesn't match what you've been telling them for years. A series of arguments and disputes arise over these differences. Your estate must pass through Probate because the plan is completely useless. Everything is very messy and public.
You will feel confident and engaged because we keep you up to date at every step of the process. You are always clear about what's going on and have the ability to jump in and ask questions or correct problems. We will hold you accountable at the end and make sure you actually finalize your plan. We also check in and help you keep your plan updated so it is accurate and works.
The devil is in the details, but most lawyers try to gloss over those because that's where all the hard work is done. They want to keep their hourly rates high instead of delivering a great service.
Virtually all Estate Plans involve other people - family members, friends, etc... These people may have specific roles to play in the execution of your plan, or they may be heirs and beneficiaries of your plan. But in many cases, they never get informed about their role or educated about what their responsibilities are. This can be quite surprising and isn't a good way to operate.
This can be a sensitive subject and we understand if you're uncomfortable reaching out to have these conversations. With your permission, we can contact the people listed in your plan and notify them of their role. Better yet, we can explain their responsibilities and answer any questions they may have. We'll even hold a special meeting for your entire group.
Not informing people ahead of time can create all kinds of problems. Your key role players may not understand what to do, they may not even be willing to be in that role and refuse to participate. Your heirs may believe they are entitled to more than what you left them and start fighting. Your family may not even know you have an Estate Plan or how to find it or your asset inventory.
It's important that everyone is on the same page and feels comfortable with their role and responsibility. If they aren't comfortable, you need to know that ahead of time so you can name someone else who can carry out your wishes when the time comes. This can prevent all of the problems and confusion and allow your family to come together and focus on what matters most.
It's important for you to understand how Estate Planning works, but it's equally important that your loved ones know as well. This can prevent all kinds of problems and drama from arising.
Filing your Estate Plan is the first step in taking care of your family's future. As long as you keep things updated and inform everybody, things should go smoothly. No drama, no Probate. And as far as most law firms are concerned, that's all there is to it. They don't help you leave mementos or messages for your family. They won't help you think through the emotional side of things.
We understand that the legal documents are just the first step toward leaving a legacy. Once we finish drafting your documents, we bring you through a legacy interview and create a time capsule with information about who you are and what you stand for. It's a way to be emotionally present and celebrate with them even when you're no longer around physically.
The problem with this approach is that although you've taken care of your family's financial future, your passing will leave an emotional void. You haven't given them a story or a legacy to carry forward to future generations. Your loved ones will be left to sort through your belongings and old text messages until they find something to remember you by. Is that how you want things to end?
Think of this process as the last love letter you'll ever write. We want to make it amazing! We'll help you craft special messages for big events like weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries. We'll help you write down your guiding principles and the values you stand for so that your spiritual legacy is passed down along with your assets. This is the way to great true generational wealth.
Estate Planning is more than just a binder full of legal documents. It more than just a transfer of physical assets. It's the opportunity to create generational wealth by passing down wisdom and emotional support. The 1% understand this and always make sure to:
Most lawyers believe their job is done when the Estate Plan has been filed. The legal documentation is complete and you're completely covered. For now, that is. Many firms don't even bother to ensure you take the necessary steps to finalize your plan by transferring assets and similar tasks. And the remaining few don't keep you accountable over the years.
We understand that filing your Estate Plan is really just the beginning. Maintaining an accurate plan is where the real value is at. Most law firms don't want to do this part because it requires extra work. They try to charge high hourly rates for every little question or change. Compare that to our membership program where we provide free lifetime updates and a 3-year review.
Your children grow up. Your assets change and evolve. You relocate. Some of the members on your Estate Plan grow distant or pass away. Laws and regulations change. And if you aren't updating your Estate Plan with these changes, then it's gradually becoming more and more outdated until it's completely useless. Without maintenance, you might as well skip it altogether.
Having a membership gives you the ability to maintain your Estate Plan over time, but it's more than just that. We help you maintain your asset inventory and hold a second copy just in case yours gets lost or damaged. We provide lifetime support so your family knows exactly what to do and who to call if anything should happen. We'll even distribute your legacy messages at the appropriate times.
Creating the Estate Plan is a great first step, but it won't count for anything unless the plan is maintained over time. That's where our subscription model comes into play. With it, you can...
You could always do this yourself. In fact, I’ve already given you the tools and templates you need to get started. The problem is it’s going to be time consuming, think +20 hours of research minimum. There are a TON of intricate details you need to be aware of - more than I can possibly share with you here. In fact, chances are you will need to pay for at least a few hours of +$300/hour attorney fees to get clear on exactly how things work.
Doing this is still cheaper than the other options, at least up front, but you’ll never truly know if things are going to work until you put it to the test. And at that point, it will be too late to make changes. You’ll be leaving your family with all the baggage for the mistakes you made.
Most people recognize this type of work is worth paying for professional help. The question is, how do you tell which Estate Planner really understands the problem and has your back?
You could rely on Google Reviews, but those usually just mean the attorney is friendly, not necessarily skilled. After all, they don’t know whether their plan works until long after the review.
If you combine Google Reviews with the checklists I’ve provided, you should be able to identify a high quality provider, but even then it can fail if they are missing steps toward the end of the process. This will only show up AFTER you have paid the initial fees.
For example, you might discover they talk a good game but then neglect you during the fulfillment, they don’t answer their phone or email, and you are left hanging with no good options other than to beg for a refund.
If you want a Designer Estate Plan and guaranteed satisfaction, then you’ll want to work with the Saunders Firm.
You’ve already sampled some of the techniques we use and there is much more where that comes from…
Before, when you wanted to share your assets with your Estate Planning attorney, you would need to create your own list, specify exactly what happens to each asset, and hope the Estate Planner understands everything. Sometimes they would provide a form or checklist for you to use, but in most cases you would be left to your own devices.
We’ll never leave you out to dry like that. When you work with us, we’ll…
In the past, if you wanted to design your own Estate Plan, you would have to hire an attorney at an hourly rate, tell them what you wanted, and hope they were able to get everything right on their first attempt so you didn’t have to keep racking up hourly fees for every change. The structure of that arrangement virtually guarantees there will be mistakes.
With my firm, you’ll go through a step-by-step process that helps you design the Estate Plan of your dreams without racking up huge attorney fees or having to sacrifice on quality. You can have your cake and eat it too!
I’ve worked with many clients who already have Estate Plans that failed to capture their wishes. This happens all the time, and it’s because many lawyers don’t do the hard work of explaining how everything works and making sure you, the client, are fully satisfied with the plan.
But isn’t that what you’re paying for in the first place? This is a critical step, and yet it’s so often missed. Well, not anymore. When you work with my team, we prioritize this part by using visualizations to explain everything in an easy-to-understand way.
When you work with other firms, you’ll send them your info and then wait for weeks without knowing what’s happening. This is beyond frustrating and can ruin the whole experience!
We understand the importance of good communication, and we don’t skimp on it. Here’s what you can expect when you decide to work with us:
Even if you made it through the typical Estate Planning process without errors or omissions, chances are you would still need to develop your own strategy for passing on your emotional and spiritual legacy. Most Estate Planners simply aren’t in the business of helping you do that.
We are.
We understand that Estate Planning isn’t just a set of legal documents. It’s the last love letter you ever write, and it’s important to write something that will resonate with your loved ones as well as generations to come.
Usually, when you get an Estate Plan from another attorney, they give you a set of documents and call it good.
But there is so much more to do! And one of the key elements is to make sure everybody is notified and understands exactly what their role is.
Last but not least, how do you keep your shiny new plan updated over the years?
In most cases, you’d have to pay hourly fees every time something changes. And let’s face it, that’s not the kind of arrangement that encourages you to follow through. The costs are ambiguous and it feels like you’re being penalized for doing the right thing.
We offer a special VIP plan that allows you to set a budget and forget it. We’ll touch base with you on a regular basis and ensure everything is updated and fully documented. We’ll also modify your plan as needed, at no extra cost, so you can tweak things down the road if you realize you don’t like the way you set things up originally.
Now if you wanted to get this job done before using a regular flat rate service and paying for hourly fees, it would cost you at least $40,000. Ultra wealthy clients don’t even blink at a price point like that, but of course it’s simply out of reach for most people.
When you work with our firm, you will get this level of value for a fraction of the cost.
Here’s what you get:
Instead of paying +$40,000 for these services, which the top 1% routinely pays, we are offering this to you for a fraction of the cost!
All you need to do is book a free meeting.
Now, because you are reading this article, I’m going to do something special:
For a limited time, I’ll be giving you a Family Wealth Planning Session at no charge. During this call, we’ll build out your Asset Inventory and you can keep that regardless of whether you decided to move forward or not.
So let’s wrap things up. Here’s what you get if you decide to move forward today:
If you act now, I’ll also throw in a free Family Wealth Planning Session, and you can keep your Asset Inventory regardless of whether you decide to move forward with us or not. Just remember, I can only work with 20 clients at a time.
Grab a spot now! There’s literally no risk. You’ll have 14 days to evaluate our service and can get your money back at any time for any reason. All you need to do is book a free meeting.