Karen Louise Gleason-Huss

After my mother’s death, I was quite worried about protecting my elderly father’s estate. Dad moved to California so that I could be his primary caregiver. In his home state, a simple will had been sufficient. My mother had been the keeper of the household purse strings. Dad had been removed from th...e day to day finances for some time. My father was grieving, depressed and disinterested in his own financial affairs. Everyone has heard nightmarish stories about California probate court. I knew people who found impressive looking binders that some trust-mill sold their parents, only to later learn that none of their parent’s assets had been transferred into the trust. That fancy notebook turned out to be essentially worthless. With all these horror stories in mind I still hoped that I, and my siblings, would benefit from Dad spelling out his end of life wishes with great specificity in a trust. Ms. Karen Gleason-Huss was the third estate attorney we interviewed. An essential part of the process was to find an attorney who my elderly father was comfortable with, someone who understood that it would take extra time and effort to deal with a grieving man who had both hearing and vision deficits. Quite frankly, I wanted to find an attorney who kept abreast of the latest IRS rulings and estate laws, specialized in California estate planning and most importantly a counselor who was ethical and honest. I wanted a competent and thorough attorney, not just someone who prepared documents, mouthed some warm and fuzzy platitudes and sent us on our way. One of the attorneys we interviewed dismissed my father as “too difficult to communicate with” and spoke solely to me. It struck me as unprofessional for the prospective attorney to be brushing aside the slow speech and labored thoughts of the very man who had worked all of his life earning the assets in the estate we were discussing. Karen Gleason-Huss was recommended to me by word of mouth. Better yet, she was recommended to me by another attorney who was also a part-time judge. He described her as an advocate for the elderly and as a highly ethical and principled woman. He said she was a tough nut and would vociferously defend any estate plan made by her client. I was impressed, not offended, when Gleason-Huss explained that she would need to meet alone with my elderly father for portions of the work on the trust. Dad felt respected and thus established an immediate rapport with Gleason-Huss. It was a collaborative effort from the first day forward. An unexpected benefit came of this whole attorney-client relationship. Dad began to take more pride in his life. He expressed renewed interest in his financial affairs. He began to realize that in saving money and accumulating an estate - he had done an admirable thing. His self-esteem improved. Dad looked forward to meeting with his attorney and his banking representative. In advocating for my elderly father, Karen Gleason-Huss helped him shake off his depression and re-engage in life. In turn, my siblings and I started to see our father in a new light. In my opinion, an ethical and competent attorney can do more than create and publish legal documents; they can improve the quality of life (and death) for the elderly. They might even help create a healthy environment for potential family growth. Karen Gleason-Huss did these things for my family.