I’m astonished. It wasn’t even an hour after J____ confirmed the termination of our relationship when I suddenly felt new clarity to ask C____, the attorney he had recommended, to resume her research project or, in some ways, to start all over on a new project.

I wrote to C____,

As my wife and I have continued our researches into the feasibility of shifting our corporation into 501(c)(3) status, several things have become clear to us. Among them:

• The order in which we want to proceed with our broad-based legacy planning process.

And,

• Some of the questions we need to ask–including questions we need to ask of you.

In terms of order: we have realized that we want to continue research into the idea of shifting to a 501(c)(3) at the same time that we pursue other options.

As for the questions we believe we want and need to ask of you–for which we are happy to pay you the fees we agreed to: Read the rest of this entry »

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Well, J____ agreed to “let us go” and refund a portion of the funds we had prepaid for services not yet rendered. At the same time, he required us to sign a letter of termination that included the following clauses:

1. You agree to notify all people who were the recipients of your email to me dated 4/15/2008 that because of contents of that email, we have mutually agreed to terminate our working relationship.

   [--Yep. All my fault.]

Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, man! I’m becoming more and more upset about the way we’ve been–and are being–treated by J____.

Yesterday, when he told me he was willing to reconsider whether he was, indeed, committed to terminating our relationship, he asked me not to discuss with any other advisors any of the details of his plan . . . until he returns next Monday from his trip out of town.

When I told him that I had already passed the plan along to the National Christian Foundation, he was incensed. How dare I?

Today I went back over our original “Membership Agreement” with his organization. The second paragraph says, Read the rest of this entry »

I wrote a post in which I referenced the “50% of AGI Barrier.” I realized maybe some of my readers would be unaware of what I was talking about.

First of all, a definition.

AGI is Adjusted Gross Income–the basic number on which the IRS calculates your income tax.

The “50% Barrier” refers to the fact that the US tax code permits you to give up to 50% of your AGI to approved charities and claim a deduction. Gifts beyond 50% of AGI can be carried forward for deduction in the future–up to five years.

A great benefit, indeed. However . . . Read the rest of this entry »

Ah! It’s been a mess.

I asked J____ for forgiveness to the greatest degree I felt I could, in good conscience.

He accepted my apology and proffered forgiveness.

I made no mention of the conclusion of our relationship. He had stated firmly on Monday that “this was it.”

He made no mention of continuing our relationship, either.

So a couple of hours after I asked forgiveness and he granted it, I wrote him about a refund.

“Interesting follow up email to your email asking for forgiveness,” he replied. Read the rest of this entry »

I got hold of Alanna Linden at The Christian Foundation of the Triangle (CFT; in Raleigh, NC–thus the reference to “the Triangle“) yesterday. I asked her if they were still doing LLC Wrappers (since information about them seemed so sparse; the lone Google reference was merely an announcement of the impending release of the concept a couple of years ago). She assured me LLC Wrappers are alive and kicking.

Today she sent me a two-page summary of what an LLC Wrapper is all about.

First, a “case study” from Greenville, SC: Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been trying to think through our legacy planner, J____’s, comment about how he is Peyton Manning and I am constantly second-guessing him, “running onto the field” and attempting to play quarterback.

As I’ve thought about it, I realize J____ has made a number of suggestions or recommendations to us over the half year or so we have been working together. And, after due consideration, I have (and I should say, Sarita and I have–we have) rejected several of them. Read the rest of this entry »

It sounds as if the threat–the thought–of termination is becoming a reality. J____, our legacy planner, just wrote me a letter:

John,

This email I just received from C____ [the attorney to whom he introduced us] only further confirms my decision to discontinue working with your family. Exactly when was I going to hear about this new development? Read the rest of this entry »