Jennifer Marie Allen

Over the last several years my husband and I have tried twice before to get a trust. It was overwhelming, difficult, and confusing. So we gave up after the initial consultation. Then we met with Jen Allen and the fog lifted! She educated us and used great examples and visuals. I felt like I could ask... a million questions and she would answer each one, no matter how much time it took. I am so impressed with this firm and the "hand-holding" experience from beginning to end. Sure makes this task so much easier. Plus, we could feel how much Jen cared about her job and others. Her office has also thought of everything and the process is simplified yet very thorough. No doubt this is the best attorney for estate planning! It feels so good to have future secure.

TL;DR: Ms. Allen provides accurate, timely service with a focus on compassion and caring. She saved my mom's estate. Our family unexpectedly received the news that my mom had three weeks to live, due to colon cancer. It was a stressful time, as we had to get my mom's finances in order, write her w...ill, deal with creditors, manage the bank account, transfer the house and car, and deal with probate. I was scrambling to try to do all of this, while taking car of my mom, deal with internal family conflict, take time off work, and figure out how to sell her house after her passing as it would be left in my name. Ms. Allen provided perfect technical expertise in each area. My mom had not set up a will prior to getting the news. Ms. Allen made a personal house call to meet with my mom, despite the meeting being a time-consuming inconvenience due to the distance from her office to my mom's house. Ms. Allen wrote the will in a way that would move the house and car to my name, thus avoiding creditors and losing both assets. If Ms. Allen did not write the will, it would have gone to probate, and we would have lost the estate. Many times in the process of selling the house, dealing with the bank, getting the car, and dealing with probate, we relied on the Will's accuracy to make sure there were no loopholes that outside entities could use to take money out of the estate. We specifically wanted to avoid probate, which would take an inordinate amount of time and resources. If the estate would have gone to probate, we would have lost it due to creditors, and would not have been able to afford a decent funeral and cover the cost of selling my mom's house. We were only able to sell the house because Ms. Allen wrote the will correctly. Because of her efforts, we were able to sell the house, and it helped bring closure to our mom's passing. Soon after my mom's passing, creditors began contacting every member of my family looking for the administrator of the estate as designated by the court. I received threatening letters from creditors and did not know what to do. Ms. Allen advised me on what to do and say, and thankfully, the creditors were not able to take from the estate. The bank was a huge project unto itself. We needed to set up the beneficiaries and make sure the money was distributed appropriately. The bank initially told me that my sister and my name were on both accounts, but they were actually only on one account. I had to go back and forth with the bank many times to resolve this. I regularly asked Ms. Allen for advice on how to deal with this, and she kept me from making the mistake of following the bank's advice to set up an estate through the court. This required a lot of expertise on the banking regulations and legalities involved with a will. Ms. Allen's Customer Service was impeccable. She responded politely and professionally, and was always available when I had questions. We exchanged at least 50 emails' worth of questions related to each aspect of the estate. Her responses always provided the correct advice at the right time. She also used her influence as an attorney to make my voice heard on a number of occasions, especially in dealing with the bank, when an organization was ignoring my concerns. Ms. Allen also demonstrated enormous compassion through the entire process. It has been a year since my mom's passing. Ms. Allen remembered to send a note of sympathy, and it made a difference. I would not have had a clue what to do without her advice. I cannot recommend Ms. Allen enough. I will be returning to Ms. Allen to set up my own family's estate when the time comes.

We really appreciate all the time and effort that Jennifer put into our estate plan and trust. Each of the discussions were structured in a very easy to comprehend and logical manner with the end result of an entirely customized trust (and supplemental documents). Great examples and things to consid...er were provided throughout each session so that we could provide our feedback and thought process that would ultimately dictate the structure of our plan. Jennifer is extremely easy to talk with, friendly, and knowledgeable. I look forward to continuing our relationship for many years to come!

Jennifer took her time to ensure she knew all of the variables and then coached us through a very thorough and detailed estate plan. My wife and I feel confident that our estate is now strongly protected. We were also impressed with the LifeDesign Legal Services Jennifer and her firm use to ensure ...our estate plan is continuously updated. I recommend Jennifer and Scott A. Williams & Associates.