Avoiding Probate But Not Suspension

The Indiana Supreme Court accepted a consent sanction of a suspension for 180 days without automatic reinstatment for misconduct related to the attorney’s relationship with an insurance marketing agency

 United Financial Systems Corporation (“UFSC”) was an insurance marketing agency that provided estate planning services advertised to avoid probate. From February 2000 to December 2009, Respondent provided legal services to UFSC customers. Prospective customers who responded to UFSC’s solicitations dealt with non-lawyer sales representatives who were not directly supervised by Respondent. If a customer signed a sales agreement, UFSC referred the customer to Respondent or another attorney.

Respondent typically spoke with clients by telephone and rarely advised a client to purchase a type of estate plan that had not been selected with the assistance of the sales representative. UFSC provided Respondent with templates for correspondence. Legal documents provided to Respondent by another attorney also may have been provided originally by UFSC. After preparing the estate plan documents, Respondent sent the documents to UFSC, where a sales representative assisted the clients in executing them. At that time, the sales representative also attempted to sell insurance products to the clients. UFSC paid Respondent a small portion of the total fee collected from a client’s purchase of an estate plan.

This Court has held that UFSC engaged in the unauthorized practice of law for several years.

(Mike Frisch)