Author: Erica Payne
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Team member spotlight: Dawn Payne with a new perspective on coaching
Coaching: An eye-opening experience Just as I was deciding to come out of retirement from my nursing career, my daughter was looking for some extra help in her reception department, so I joined Taproot – and yes, I’m Erica’s mom. As part of my onboarding, I had the opportunity to observe a coaching session with…
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Title companies have more to offer: Ways to work with them AND sample scripts included!
Title insurance companies have experts that help us (1) understand what we are buying (examination of title) and (2) guarantee that their analysis is correct (insurance). Their purpose can be a bit obscure to those not buying and selling real estate on the regular. Most of us are at least familiar. If you own a…
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Taproot now offers basic estate planning services
In law school, I wanted to do estate planning. After focusing on that work for a year, I didn’t enjoy the process and was quickly romanced by the world of real estate litigation. Because I did estate planning, I knew how to read a will or a trust, so I applied my new litigation skills…
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Your Questions Answered: Suing a sibling-personal representative for information
We love getting your questions! After Erica’s last blog post “The power struggle between siblings in probate is real,” we received the following question. We hope Erica’s response helps readers who have similar questions! Dear Erica, My dad passed away and my sister is the personal representative. The probate is opened, but she won’t give…
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The power struggle between siblings in probate is real
The stories of power struggle between siblings are too many to count. In 2023, the struggle continues to be played out in our probate courts and behind closed doors. The system needs vast revamping to better meet the needs and generally valid concerns of the siblings who are not Personal Representatives (PRs). But to work…
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I want to keep dad’s house, but the estate has no money to pay the claims. I don’t have money either.
Owning land and passing it down to future generations is integral to the American dream. As Yoopers, we know that our camps are treasured and often passed down from one generation to the other. No wonder there is overwhelming emotion attached to a deceased parent’s house or camp. Throughout my legal career, I can recall…
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Moving away from perfectionism toward human prosperity
Perfectionism and harm At Taproot, we love our podcasts, especially when they help us improve our work and services. A couple weeks ago, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, People I (Mostly) Admire, which hosted Psychologist Thomas Curran to talk about perfectionism. Curran explained that perfectionism is “a universally negative trait”, and…
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Your Questions Answered
In response to the blog article “The Truth about Free Initial Consultations”, we were asked: Erica, I read your blog article about free initial consultations where you noted that lawyers typically charge $205 to $350 per hour. How are the $205/hour lawyers compared to the $350/hour lawyers? Thanks, Just Asking Dear Just Asking: Such a…
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Beyond Plain Language: Meeting the complex needs of our clients and their values through accessible communication and tools
Some history In the late 1970s, the “plain language” or “plain English” methodology of professional communication swept the legal profession as a social justice remedy to increase access to information about the law. The methodology stresses writing in plain English and with the intention of clearly communicating to a specific audience, so they immediately understand…
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Human-Centered Maternity Leave?
This summer I had a life-changing experience, something as common and old as the moon and yet a miracle all the same. My husband and I had a baby. July 8th our lives were forever changed when our precious little girl was born. Thankfully the nine months leading up to it, gave us time to…
[…] this week, we published a Green Space article featuring innovator Justin Carlson who is finding ways to make support more accessible…