In this episode of Mobile Estate Planning, Michael Bailey shares the unique journey of transforming traditional estate planning into a mobile service. Recognizing the challenges many people face in finding time for estate planning, Michael discusses how his approach allows him to meet clients wherever they are—be it at home or at a convenient office location. He highlights the benefits of making estate planning accessible and how it can prevent last-minute issues.
Welcome to Mobile Estate Planning with your host, Michael Bailey. Over a decade ago, attorney Michael Bailey turned his attention to estate law after he recognized the unacceptable number of adults without proper end of life planning. Michael recognizes that many of his clients have difficulty finding the time for making a proper estate plan. That’s why he became the Mobile Estate Planner. He will go to wherever you are to assist you with your estate planning, including writing wills, trusts, and giving you the information you need to avoid probate. Now, ATX, Ask the Experts, presents Mobile Estate Planning with your host, Michael Bailey.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right, good afternoon. Welcome to Mobile Estate Planning with Michael Bailey. So we can do something besides just leave your family alone. You are listening to KLZ 560 AM, also heard on 100.7 FM or the KLZ 560 radio app. phone number to talk to me on the air is 303-477-5600. And again, that’s 303-477-5600. 303 and 72 always mess with me. Because my direct line is 720-394-6887. Once again, that’s 720-394-6887. So that’s my direct line. And so we can go there and do all those wonderful things of talking about, if you want to talk to me directly about your estate plan. But not for the next half an hour because the next half an hour I am here on the air talking to you. So in the intro, it says that I realized there was an unacceptable number of people without an estate plan. Well, that is true. It is not the only reason that I became a mobile estate planning attorney. And, you know, I’ve, you know, people are like, well, what do you mean? What does mobile estate planning mean? Well, mobile estate planning is not that I, you know, sometimes I think I’m like, oh, well, I’ve got it like a, I have like a, it’s like a bookmobile where I’ve got a, you know, I have a big like box truck. And so I drive around and back there I have a desk that’s bolted down and a printer and a scanner and a copier i’m like okay hey step into my office this box truck which you know in the winter needs to be heated and the uh um the summer would need to be air air conditioned that’s not quite how it works um i mean it that type of thing would remind me a little bit of uh like if you’ve ever seen the movie that thing you do and it’s a movie about a um a band from like the 50s who gets picked up by a record label and they go and do all the things that they need to to um You know, it’s like their journey and they have a one hit, they’re kind of a one hit wonder and they rise to fame and then suddenly they can’t quite keep up with the fame that they have and then the band breaks up and all those type of things. But at the very beginning of the movie, or near the beginning of the movie, not the very beginning, but near the beginning of the movie, they’ve played some shows in like the local, you know, kind of, I think it’s a Wisconsin area or something like that. So there’s a group that wants to be their manager, and they go and they have a meeting, and it’s a guy, and it’s in the back of a truck, and he’s got a camper on the back of the pickup truck. And they’re like, hey, this guy, so one of the, they’re talking about what it would look like to be signed by this record company, record label. They’re like, no, come on, man. This guy’s offering us like $10,000 and he’s got a really nice camper. So I suppose if I had a really nice camper, people would want to hire me as an estate planning attorney. But I don’t think that’s quite what it’s actually like because it’s not. So because of that, mobile estate planning doesn’t mean that I have a estate planning mobile that I drive around in and suddenly have the ability to do all of the things. It’s just not how it goes. So because of that, mobile estate planning basically means I go visit people where they are. And that either means that I go visit them at their house and make house calls, or I’ll meet them in an office that’s close to me. I had somebody today who’s like, Ooh, I really like this office. I’m like, I’m glad that you do. I’m glad that I have this office and I’m glad that there’s a wonderful place where we can come and meet and we can sit down and we can talk about all of the things we need to talk about and do so in a comfortable chair with a nice conference table that we can close the door on and, you know, be good at. So it’s, uh, It’s just one of those things that, you know, so mobile estate planning means basically, it kind of comes down to this. So I live up in Thornton. And, you know, we’ve just because that’s where we found the house that we liked. And Now that our kids are in… So I have one kid who’s a sophomore in college. I have one who’s a junior in high school. And I think that if I asked her to move the… If I asked her to move schools at this point, that might be the end of good father-daughter relationships. Because I really don’t think that she would be interested in switching high schools right now. She’s got all of her friends that she likes. She’s got all of her… Um, activities that she’s doing. So she is a, um, she’s a volleyball player and also in the marching band. So she’s got all sorts of friends. Like I swear she’s friends with the entire school, which is kind of a cool thing. Um, yeah. But if we were to take her and say, oh, hey, we need to move to, you know, insert your other city here, whether it’s Westminster or Broomfield, or we could go further south to Thornton or across the way to North Glen, or, you know, we’d really go crazy and go down to Parker or Lone Tree or Centennial. Now we’re on the other side of Denver. I don’t know that that’s necessarily how that’s going to work, but it’s a type of thing where doing that to my daughter would just not be a great idea. I have a pretty decent relationship with my daughter. If we were to If we were to move while she’s in high school, I don’t think that would go particularly well. I’m sure that the new school that she goes to would be more than happy to have her as a volleyball player and as a flute or piccolo player because she is rather good at both of those things. And that’s, you know, she plays the flute and the piccolo. Currently, she’s playing the piccolo in their marching band show. And it is state week, which means on Friday and Saturday, there is the state championship band competition. And so they’re going down to compete. We will go down on Friday night, and we’ll be there Friday night, most likely on Saturday. And then, you know, Saturday during the day, and then we’ll see if we make finals on Saturday night. But she’ll get to play her piccolo in the marching band show. So, you know, I’m kind of tied to Thornton, at least until my kids get through school. And also I like the fact that I bought my house long enough ago that I can afford it because it’s like almost tripled in value since I’ve lived there. I guess lots of people want to come live in Colorado and that’s fair. That means that my house is worth more than it used to be. But it’s not because I did anything special to it. I mean, I have done some, you know, repairs and renovations. And we had a main floor bathroom where the toilet filled up and kept running. So we had some water damage. Fortunately, it was like clean water because it had flushed. But still, you know, so because of that, our homeowner’s insurance helped pay for new carpet and things like that. So, you know, exciting times at the Bailey household. It’s been a while since that happened. You know, we replaced the toilet and it’s not broken, so it works out great. But you are listening to Mobile Estate Planning with Michael Bailey here on KLZ 560 AM, also heard on 100.7 FM or the KLZ 560 radio app. Phone number to talk to me on the air is 303-477-5600. And once again, that’s 303-477-5600. And my direct line is 720-394-6887. Once again, that’s 720-394-6887. So I live up in Thornton. My main office is over in Broomfield. And the main office got picked a lot because I had a friend who helps with World War II and Korean War vets to help them get money from the VA to pay for life if they need long-term care. And that’s where his office was. He’s since moved and does different things. And I’ve kind of taken over being able to help people get that money from the VA as possible. But with… With that, we’ve had, so I, you know, there was the company that I, he was there, so I, you know, got an office there, and it’s through a company called Office Evolution, and they have offices all across the Denver metro area. There’s one in Boulder, one in Broomfield, one in Golden, used to be one in Littleton. I still go there, but it’s a different one now. The tech center out in Aurora, Cherry Creek, downtown Denver. There’s even one in Longmont or Fort Collins. So I can go to all of these different offices and meet with people where they are. And so, you know, it works out really well. So if somebody who lives in Lone Tree is like, hey, I really want to meet with you. I say, okay, cool. We can meet at my office in the Southlands Shopping Center in Aurora or in the tech center or in Littleton. And they’re like, okay, well, this one’s closest. We’ll go do that. And that way, so as I’m driving down to see them, I think to myself, hey, this is kind of fun. I’m driving to go see somebody. I’m going to meet somebody new, get to help them out with their estate plan. You know, this is not a bad deal. I happen to have a car that I like to drive, and it’s a fun car to drive, and it’s comfortable. When I bought the car, knowing that I’d spent a lot of time in it, I had to make sure it was comfortable to drive. And people are like, well, why do you drive all the way down here from Thornton? I’m like, well, it’s fun for me to drive. I’m good. It doesn’t bother me at all. I enjoy it. And also… I don’t want you driving from Parker to Broomfield. And if you don’t love driving or if you hit a little bit of traffic or you happen to come during rush hour, I don’t want you thinking too hard about how many estate planning attorneys in my driving past on the way to go see Michael in Broomfield. You know, if it’s If we can find an office, it’s like five, 10 minutes away from you. And it’s sure it’s an hour from my house. But the thing is, I can leave my house in the morning and not come back until the evening. And that doesn’t bother me at all. So there are days where my first appointment will be down in Littleton. And then my second appointment also in Littleton. And then I’ll go over to Highlands Ranch and hit Parker, and then I can be on my way home. So I do my best to cluster meetings in various parts of the city. If I have someone who needs to meet with me in Fort Collins, I’m like, okay, we’ll see if we can schedule some other people up near Fort Collins or maybe in Longmont or Loveland or even Boulder so that I’m up there as opposed to down south. The days where I’m like, okay, well, I’m in Littleton and then I have to go to Aurora and And then I’ll be in Boulder and then I’ll come down to Cherry Creek and then I can go home. I’m like, that’s just poor planning. That’s just crisscrossing the city and driving all over the place. And there are days that that happens. But if I can avoid that, I’m always happy to be able to. drive and not have to be all over the place because I mean, you know, like today I had an appointment and then the next one was, you know, a half an hour drive away. And the other one was only a 20 minute drive away. So I could schedule meetings every half an hour as opposed to every hour or hour and a half to account for travel time. And, you know, the people who I was meeting with, they don’t necessarily know or care too much that I am driving here, there, and everywhere. They don’t really care what my travel time is. They just want me to show up on time. Now, sometimes if I’m Simon Broomfield and I’m trying to come down to, oh, I don’t know, the KLZ radio studios, which are down near Parker and 225. And I know that’s going to be a 45 minute drive. Well, it depends on the time of day now, doesn’t it? Because, you know, I have found that 270 hours. tends to slow down pretty much any time of the day. It’s worse at rush hour, but sometimes you’re like, oh, do I have the time to take 270 or would it be better to go through the city? All of these things we have to figure out and decide. And as much as I’d like to say that I always know where traffic patterns are and who’s going to be able to drive and what the open road will be, At this point, I rely a lot on Google Maps to let me know if there’s a slowdown ahead or if there’s an accident on I-70 and I need to get off and take, I don’t know, 6th Avenue early. I-25 is going to be jam-packed, so I need to drive Federal or Broadway or Kipling or Ward or Colorado or any of them. You know, just because sometimes I’ve experienced this quite a bit. If I’m down in Littleton, Lone Tree, Parker type, and I’m like, okay, I’m done with my appointments at 5 o’clock. If I start heading home at 5 o’clock from Littleton, I will get home probably about 6.30 or 7.00. Or if I stay and I work until 6 o’clock, I’ll get home about 6.30 or 7 because the roads tend to clear up a little bit, and so then I can just come home. And that hour from 5 to 6, as long as I don’t need to be home in time for something like a volleyball game or a basketball game or a marching band competition, which last night I needed to be home in time for a volleyball game. Fortunately, my last appointment was in Broomfield. But still, I find myself being able to be certain places and drive certain places and account for that travel time so that I can get a full workday in and still be able to do things. And from 5 to 6, I don’t answer my phone because I’m closed at 5. But from five to six, it’s amazing how much paperwork and all of the things that I’ve been putting off all day, I can get done from five to six because nobody’s calling or I’m not meeting with somebody else and I don’t have the distractions and the interruptions. It’s the same sort of thing of in the mornings when I’ll get up and get my daughter and my son up and if he’s getting ready for things and I go down, I’ll make him breakfast. I’m like, well, hey, I’ve got 25 minutes here. I can go, you know, see if people have emailed me overnight, maybe from, you know, and so I’m like, okay, well, from 715 to 745 in the morning before I need to actually drive off to get him to school, I can respond to some emails and I can, you know, respond to people who’ve emailed me overnight. Now, not every morning does that work. And if somebody emails me at 7.15 in the morning and they’re hoping for a response by 7.20 a.m., they will probably be disappointed because I’m not that capable of responding to things. But I try to help as many people as I can as quickly as I can and do so in a manner that’s as convenient for them as possible. So, again, if I was at an office in Parker and I’m like, oh, well, I’m in Parker for three appointments and you want to come down from Broomfield to Parker, hey, let’s do that. But I’m guessing that the person who’s in Broomfield would be more than happy to pick another day so that they don’t have to drive an hour across the city one way and an hour across the city back. I can do that. I’m okay with it. But I usually only do it like once, like the beginning or the end of the day, not twice. two or three times during the middle of the day. And I also tend to, for people who are in the south part of the city, they’re like, oh, can we meet at 9 a.m.? I’m like, nah, probably 10 would be the earliest I can get down there. They’re like, oh, well, why? I’m like, because then I can leave my house or my son’s school at 9 a.m., and I can drive down, and I can skip rush hour traffic so that I’m not fighting traffic to get down to you. It’s to see you. Now, somebody who can only meet at 9 a.m., And then I’m like, OK, well, I’ll be up and off, you know, seven o’clock in the morning so I can get down there early and not drive through the through the heart of rush hour traffic in an attempt to make sure that the day is pleasant and the day is acceptable and that all the things can be all the things that I have to do in a given day can be done properly. And, you know, it’s never a fun time. You show up to an appointment and you walk in, you’re like, well, hey, let’s talk about the cheery, exciting topic of estate planning right after we’ve fought through traffic and we’re in a bad mood. You know, we’re trying to avoid bad moods. You know, the subject matter, although we can make it kind of fun, isn’t always the most happy, upbeat, hey, so exciting type of thing, right? So you are listening to Mobile Estate Planning with Michael Bailey here on KLZ 560 AM, also heard on 100.7 FM or the KLZ 560 radio app. Phone number to talk to me on the air is 303-477-5600. And again, that’s 303-477-5600. And my direct line is 720-394-6887. Once again, 720-394-6887. Now, the thing is that I do mobile estate planning, but I don’t necessarily do emergency mobile estate planning because everything’s gone wrong and we need something right now. Part of that is the mobile estate planning. When I first started doing it and had the clients who were in assisted living or skilled nursing facilities or even like, you know, senior communities, a lot of them had trouble, you know, getting around. And so I’d go visit them and still do. But I have some people who will call me and they’re like, oh, you know, well, my dad’s about to go on hospice. And so we need somebody to come and do a will for him tomorrow at three o’clock. Can you make it? And it’s like, I’m sorry, I can’t. because I have been around long enough and have enough people, I think, who are happy with what I do, or at least they’re happy enough that they refer other people to me that my schedule is full. And I mean, at this point, I’m scheduling out in January. And that’s not to say that I don’t want to meet with you. I would love to meet with you in January. I just can’t do it in October, November or December. because I have a whole bunch of other people that I’m helping. And like I said, I help as many people as I can, as quickly as I can. And so, and you know, part of that is the idea of estate planning is to plan ahead and not be, you know, trying to play catch up and not trying to be, um, you know, doing things the last minute or doing things. So in such a manner that it, uh, it won’t work. And it’s a craziness of how we just kind of how it works. That, you know, doing mobile estate planning. I mean, I enjoy it. I like going to visit people. I know other attorneys and friends of mine who are like, I’m sorry, you do what? I’m like, yes. So I I drive between appointments and they’re like, but how does that work? I mean, you know, when do you have time to sit down at your computer and respond to emails? And, you know, if you’re driving and somebody calls you, you know, how can you be looking at the file? And I’m like, well, I’m not looking at the file. If somebody calls me while I’m driving, I tend to let them go to voicemail. And then if they have a question that I can answer that doesn’t require looking at a file, then I will call them back. If I have a question that does look like that I would need to be looking at a file, then when I’m at one of the offices, I can take the time to call them back at that point. But it doesn’t necessarily need to be the exact moment that they call that I’m able to get back to them. And, you know, I think other people on the road probably appreciate that I’m not trying to take phone calls or look at a, especially look at a file. I’m like, okay, so I’m on the phone. I’ve got my computer up. I’m looking at the computer screen and then I’m not looking at the road. That seems like a bad idea. So if you’re thinking that I do that, I do not, I do my best. Um, and to, um, uh, you know, get everything done that needs to be done. It just, sometimes when, you know, people will call and they’re like, oh, well, so some two, I call back and they’re like, okay, so answer the question. We’re like, oh, well, can you just look this up for me real quick? It’s in my file. I’m like, nah, I can’t actually, I’m driving. And so, you know, people understand, I’m like, I’ll look it up as soon as I’m where I’m going and I’ll get back to you. But, uh, that’s, you know, the, the point of planning ahead for estate planning is so that it’s not at the last minute. Um, and um uh and it’s just we don’t want to have i mean estate planning in the last minute is where you get a lot of problems you’re rushing things or you miss something or you know you’re like oh i want it this way and they’re like no i changed my mind it’s like yeah but it might be too late and so you know um it just uh We want to plan ahead, and I feel like the travel time and the busyness of my schedule is such that it allows people to… It helps me work with people who are planning ahead and are not scrambling at the last minute to try to get things done. And so I enjoy being able to go visit people. I enjoy being able to go visit people where they are. And sometimes when I’ll write things and I’ll send my – at least five times in the last couple of years, I have a notary who works for me. So I’ll send to get things signed and notarized. And she’s like – She’s like, oh, well, I found my idea, my perfect house. You know, I love these people’s house. And she’s always reporting to me how amazing and wonderful the dogs are because she has dogs and I have dogs. And so we get to meet the cool dogs as we go around. Not just the cool people, but the cool dogs. And sometimes there are cool cats, but a cool cat tends to be a little bit more aloof. And not want to come say hi. Whereas a cool dog is like, hey, you’re my friend. We should come play. And I’m like, yes, hello, puppy dog. And I will always greet the dog. A lot of people will tell me, they’re like, oh, sorry about the dog. Don’t want him to get fur on your suit. I’m like, I’m good. You don’t have to worry about me. I am absolutely fine. But as we’re… But, you know, so she’s found, you know, these ideal houses that she wants to buy. And I’m like, yeah, well, I would also like to buy all of the ideal houses that I find, but I’m not rich enough to do that. I can afford my own house, but I probably couldn’t afford my own house at current real estate prices. As I go around to visit people and do mobile estate planning, not just because there were, I knew though, know there’s lots of people who don’t have their estate plan done, but because the people who don’t have their estate plan done, I can help. I can help them in a convenient place and time and manner for them. I can enjoy what I do and I can get people in a spot where they don’t have to panic at the last minute. And that makes mobile estate planning fun, exciting, and dynamic. It’s neither fun nor exciting nor dynamic. It’s important and necessary. But if you would like me to help you, please give me a call at 720-394-6887. And again, that’s 720-394-6887. But in the meantime, stay tuned for John Rush and Rush Reason, who are up next. And I’ll talk to you next week. Thanks and bye.
SPEAKER 01 :
Mobile estate planning with Michael Bailey will return to ATX next Wednesday at 2.30 here on KLZ 560, AM 560, FM 100.7, and online at klzradio.com.
