Portia Marguerite Wood

Portia Wood and her team crafted an organized, thorough, and exceptionally well-executed will for me. They were timely, professional, and patient. They answered my questions thoughtfully and helped me clarify my wishes and understand the process. They brought up things to consider that I never even t...hought of. After completing this with them, I feel so much more protected and at peace. I would refer them to any of my friends and family.

I hired the Wood firm to do a trust for me and it started off ok. However, after I signed the DocuSign, which required me to enter my credit card information, I was sent a copy by the app with my full credit card number in my email. I told Portia about this and she claimed to not know that DocuSign... sent that information and said that she changed the settings but, a law firm or any professional who handles sensitive data not being aware of making sure that something like that did not happen was concerning and should have been a flag. Portia specifically asked that I sign off on my trust by the end of December 2022 and I agreed. After completing intake with all of the updates I shared, her supposed Director of Operations contacted me a little over a week before the signing to confirm some information. I was a bit taken aback that what she was confirming information that I thought was already clear but, I repeated the information and was told that she would be sending everything out by a certain day. That day came and I assumed things were being sent. She called me after that day to confirm the same information again. It was during the holidays and the weather was bad so, I was concerned about their choice to wait until the last minute to send everything since, I had had my last conversation with them several weeks prior. I did not learn until the day of my signing, with my notary on her way that the packet was not going to arrive on time. I had to cancel her and my witness. By the way, the Director of Operations went back and forth on our call about whether I needed one witness or two witness and double talked until she confirmed that I needed just one, which Portia al me previously. I found out later that I needed two. I was very disappointed but worked to see when Portia thought that she could change the date on the original trust documents and resend them. I told her that this time I wanted the documents 1 week prior to the signing date so that I could have them and review them. She did not address or commit to that but said that the date I was thinking of, 3 weeks later, was doable for her. I scheduled with the notary and my witness again. Prior to that, I asked for another update and asked when the documents would be sent. Portia did not address my direct questions. Fast forward to days prior to the signing. I was concerned because she was not responsive and she and her team did not seem to really take responsibility for the issue. When I spoke with the Operations person again she started the call with how sick she had been and all of this information about her that was irrelevant and lacked accountability. Two days before the SECOND signing, still no packet and no tracking information. I called the firm and expressed how displeased I was and how I felt that I was owed money back for poor services. The next day, after no response, Portia emailed me with the electronic pages. She could have done that in December but, I guess the key was mentioning money. The documents were password protected so, I asked that they text me the password for security's sake and as soon as I asked that, the Operations Director emailed me the password in the same thread as the documents. There were typos in the original and updated packet, and I had to print over 100 pages. On my signing day, when I discovered that I needed two witnesses for a section, I had to call someone at the last minute. There was an attestation page that the notary said was missing and provided so that we could complete the process. Since then, I have hired another firm to review the trust and to point out the issues that I knew had to be in there. That is more money out of my pocket to get it restated. The new attorney says that it was in d and they have never seen a firm hire themselves as Special Co-Trustees. I am still seeking a partial refund because they did such a poor job that it feels unjustified to let them keep all of the money.

Portia Wood is a consummate professional with a diverse and valuable understanding of the law. She is a solid mediator and knowledgeable in estate planning and financial literacy, so very important for our community. Always pleasant and equally as direct Portia is an amazing choice for your legal nee...ds.