The seed of Plan Forward Legal was planted the day my mother died. I was living in Chicago and had just started my second semester of law school. My mum was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at age 62. After months of chemotherapy and radiation, the cancer moved to her liver, and within 7 days, she died. My mother died at the age of 63. We should have started her estate planning the day after her diagnosis, but like most concerned families, we had to focus our energy on many different doctors’ appointments and treating symptoms from chemotherapy and radiation. Thinking about death was not an option until she did, in fact, die.
I’ve Been On the Client Journey
I can remember panic calling attorney after attorney, trying to get someone to come to my mother’s bedside and complete something like a will. No one answered except for one paralegal, who was not very friendly and said, very rudely, that we had waited too long and that there’s no way an attorney could help now. She laughed and hung up. My mother died without any estate documents. I would later learn, during my third year of law school, that my mom died intestate, meaning without a will. And therefore, her estate was subject to probate.
My siblings and I had to choose among the three of us who would serve as the administrator or executor of her estate, or the court would choose one for us.
We couldn’t ask our mum what she wanted because she was not there to answer, and it was never discussed.
Because I was entering my second year of law school, my siblings and I decided that I should be the one. After two years of notarizing documents, compiling accounting records, and mailing documents between my mom’s house and the local courthouse, the court closed my mother’s estate. Finally, we were able to rent or sell our mother’s house and get access to her finances.
Living through this experience taught me several things:
- Grievers should not be dealing with paperwork, nor should they be going to court or adhering to any court dates
- People need to estate plan earlier than they think
- Probate takes a long time and prolongs closure for grievers
- No one cares your mom died
Going through probate on my own led me to realize that no one should if they don’t have to. Even though I tried different areas of legal practice, estate law was always in the background until it came to the forefront in the winter of 2023.
My Estate Law Journey and the Future
I started working for a national estate planning firm. I was excited at first, but quickly came to terms with the fact that the business structure was off. They treated clients like cows waiting in line to be slaughtered by generic forms and high prices. The plans were legal, but they were not ethical – at least not to my standards.
I left that firm a year later. I soaked up as much knowledge as I could and decided that if I wanted to offer my clients the dignity and legal stewardship they deserved, I needed to create my own firm and start the journey that will hopefully be a legacy for my niece and nephew.
Plan Forward Legal is grounded in real-life experience. Because I have first-hand knowledge of the estate planning process, it is easier for me to connect with clients who are unsure, overwhelmed, or plain out scared of it. I have had the honor and privilege to hold the hands of clients who just gave birth, had a heart attack, or were coherent but on their deathbed. My clients have been traditional couples who’ve been married for decades, singles who are too scarred by divorce to remarry despite their better-than-ever new relationship, or newlyweds still figuring out their queer identities. With each new client, I get to give them the feeling of peace and serenity after they sign the final page of their estate plan.
Thank you for reading my story. I look forward to hearing yours. Let’s start this journey together. Your family, after the body is gone and the funeral events are over, will thank you tenfold for leaving it easy for them to grieve while benefiting from the hard work of your legacy.
Victoria Lozano, Esq. – Founder of Plan Forward Legal