What Do You Do If You Think Your Lawyer May Have Died But You Are Not One Hundred Percent Sure?

Location: Minnesota

So my husband and I got a referral to this lawyer to do our will, living trust, and healthcare directive, basically full estate planning. He came highly recommended, had great reviews, and the price was right.

Then we met him.

When he walked in, I immediately thought, oh no, the Grim Reaper must have this man on speed dial.

He told us he had recently fallen and had to walk with a cane, but I have seen death before and this was not just a fall recovery situation. This was a man whose skin had that gray undertone that says “I have already seen the other side and they told me to come back later.” His eyes had that thousand yard stare that only happens when you are both in this world and partly in the next. It felt like he and the Grim Reaper were on a first name basis. The kind where the Reaper texts him things like “hey man, just checking in, how’s Tuesday look for you?” My husband had to pull out his chair for him, and I am not kidding, the chair groaned in sympathy.

We both sat there silently wondering if we should call a doctor or a priest, but he had already drafted all our documents, so we tried to act normal. We read over everything and thought it looked good, then saw ourselves out because he literally could not get up to walk us to the door.

Round two, signing day. He was supposed to provide witnesses, I even confirmed with him the day before. The day of, he did not. He just asked if we could bring our own, 20 mins before our appt. Like we keep spare witnesses in our trunk just in case. So we rescheduled, found two generous friends, and came back the next day.

He had us sign everything, told us to come back in a week for the copies, and I mentioned that I didn’t see anything about the house deed in the trust. He said he would handle it but needed us to bring the deed. Fine, we did that the next week. I didn’t love that he didn’t think about this before hand and that we would now be making another trip before everything is finalized, but whatever.

That was in late August. Since then, not a peep. I called him on September 23rd. He did not remember me, said he would check and call me back. He never did. I emailed and called a week later. Nothing. I emailed again this week. Still nothing.

So now I am sitting here trying to figure out what to do when your lawyer possibly transitions to the other side. I have searched obituaries. Nothing yet, but those things are expensive, maybe his family did not want to pay for one. Maybe he did not have family. Maybe he is in a nursing home. Maybe he retired without realizing it. Maybe he is just resting… eternally.

He was fully paid. We just need our copies of the documents. He had no reason to hold out on us unless he is holding out from the afterlife.

Do we start over? Do we call another lawyer? Or do we find a medium who specializes in estate planning for the deceased.