- Rachael Sheahan, Esq.
An Introductory Reflection on Legacy, Sheahan Law and Legacy LLC
Noteworthy: A Casual Discourse on Legal Topics for Non-Lawyers, An Introductory Reflection on Legacy, Sheahan Law and Legacy LLC
Noteworthy defined - Commentary worthy of claiming the last page of your favorite notepad.
In optimism of this series reaching the heights so claimed by its name; I hope readers will agree on the moniker given to the space used to fill these pages and continue to check us out as we dive into helpful topics on Strategic Business Planning and Growth, Family law, Estate Planning Law and any other legal topics we find interesting. I share these thoughts to encourage an open correspondence between clients, attorneys and the community and hope you all feel comfortable reaching out to me with your thoughts and questions.
I don’t remember exactly when it started, but some years ago I became--at least in part and maybe wholly--uninteresting (except when singing and dancing for my one-year-old to Badanamu Pop about a ponytail in which case my facial expressions get truly...interesting). I noticed the difference between my excitement about the topic and its obvious antithesis when eyes began to stare at my forehead as the would-be listener tried and failed to appear attentive. Then, as if the hard stare directly into my forehead wasn't obvious, the "would-be" listener's head fell to one side as if it was suddenly too heavy for their neck to support. “Once, twice, three-tim…es…what?” I recognized the pattern and it had everything to do with me or rather what I was saying.
There are some things that need a little care in the delivery. There are so many interesting and useful areas of the law that don’t just touch on our lives; they blanket our every day. Sheahan Law and Legacy LLC was designed to approach these areas of practice and cater them to the community at large. If families and small business owners could know what I know, the burden of their pursuits would feel so much lighter. To use a cooking analogy, I want to make the delicacy of conversation that I enjoy at least palatable so you can digest it, live on it and use it; not to digest for sustenance alone (as this would be the practice types we consume because we have to, grudgingly) but to energize lives through benefitting work, family, and long-term planning.
Basically, I hope I can provide useful information in a way that avoids the wandering lazy-eye and maybe without having to post my “I’ve got a Ponytail” routine to keep readers from nodding off or closing the window to escape the tedium. Hey, keep coming back because you never know when that rendition may make its online debut of…Noteworthy.
What does it mean?
With that introduction to the legacy of this Firm, this Noteworthy series, my areas of practice and my motivation in encroaching upon your Facebook newsfeed, let’s talk about a Word. “What is in a word?” Yes, you bought the vowel and guessed it; that word is “Legacy”.
The Webster Definition, you can find here provides that a legacy is “a gift of money or other personal property that's granted by the terms of a will…often a substantial gift that needs to be properly managed.”
Legacy also has a broad meaning, “something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor” (e.g. the rights of women are a legacy of early suffragists; the Western constructs of law, philosophy, and aesthetics could be called the undying legacy of ancient Greece; and she may be gone, but she left a legacy of love and happiness to her family).
There you have it, the whole spectrum. Your legacy is your life, being spun out and created now, as if by the three fates sitting far beneath the earth, twirling the gold strand of your labor, waiting to determine whether to cut it off short or let go and let live. What you do, build, share and ultimately, what you leave behind in tangible (touchable) and intangible (hearts and minds) forms.
The Legacy of Sheahan Law and Legacy
The legacy of this Firm, partly through this series, is to provide its clients with every tool and resource at its disposal in order to build bigger and better generational legacies through Strategic Business Goals and Growth Plans, Whole Legacy Estate Planning, by offering ways to protect intangible forms of a whole legacy with the Legacy Memorial Bank with optional Maintenance Trust, and a client-family focused Family Law practice.
Attorneys should act in the interests of their client, not their billable hours. One of the ways the Firm does this is by offering low hourly rates, flexible, custom payment plans, subscription plans, and making it as easy as 1-2-Click to make a payment. Another way to serve client interests over your pursuit of billable hours is to act in the client’s interest, maybe even if your client disagrees. In the context of family law this translates to valuing cooperation and amicable relations where possible. Attorneys representing a client's best interest encourage a healthy, safe and cooperative family unit and lead in a method not overwhelmed by strong emotions, rather than encouraging tactics the client may later regret.
Whether you think you may have a claim or controversy or just want to ask a question to clear up your understanding of your rights. If I can, I will help. The Firm Facebook page @lawandlegacy can be found here. The page includes question and answer discussion groups where I invite anyone to initiate a discussion, pose a question, or start a conversation. Please remember not to include any private details. The group conversations do not create a representation. Save the juicy or personal details for the attorney-client privilege.
Look for regular editions of Noteworthy as I try to enhance and encourage legal knowledge and resources in the community. Check out the Resources Library that is constantly growing to browse helpful documents, articles, worksheets and anything else I want to share. If you have a question or a topic you would like me to cover, let me know by clicking the button below and finding the "What are you interested in" button on that page.