Editorial
Front Page - Friday, September 25, 2009
Verble Estate Preservation helps clients prepare for the future
Samara Litvack
At the age of 62, Mike Verble’s father was offered an early retirement with full benefits. After the offer was put in writing, his father accepted. Soon after, however, the company merged with another and more than $600,000 he’d worked so long to save was scammed right out from under him.
“When all this was going on, I watched the stress of that ordeal take my dad down,” says Verble. “Over the next seven years, he had 11 TIAs, and that’s mini strokes of the brain. Some of them would last minutes; some of them would last days. It was a form of dementia.
“And in the stress of caring for him, my mother developed blindness through accelerated macular degenerative blindness.”
Witnessing firsthand what this financial stress did to his parents, Verble stepped in and became a sort of “Mr. Mom.” But instead of becoming angry or saddened or resentful, he became motivated. He decided then and there to pursue a career that would protect other families from experiencing the financial, physical and emotional strains that his had.
“I went back to school and studied finance and studied gerontology,” he says. “Then I did my masters with an estate planning/estate law emphasis.”
After graduation, Verble began work in the estate planning business. Once he had a few years experience under his belt, he took the four weeks’ vacation he’d saved up, turned in his notice and headed to Orlando, Fla., for a National Aging Conference.
“They put a group of senior adults on stage and allowed them to be asked questions,” he says. “Some of them were really stupid questions, but somebody did ask a brilliant question. It was, ‘Do you want to deal with a generalist or a specialist?’ When they answered that answer, specialist, I jumped up, packed my bags, took an early flight home and changed my whole plan. I came back and opened a practice and brought in other specialists so we’d have one team.”
Today, Verble Estate Preservation and Advisors has offices in Chattanooga, Brentwood and Collierville, Tenn. Each branch of the firm works under the same pretense – 360 degrees of service, addressing the legal, financial and social aspects of a client’s life.
From advising families who are putting loved ones into nursing homes to assisting couples with living wills and power of attorney, Verble Estate Preservation helps its clients organize their affairs in all aspects of life. This planning not only protects clients’ assets, it also alleviates confusion and debate for their loved ones in the future.
The firm acts as a liaison between clients and an assortment of agencies throughout the state. While these agencies are generally selling products and services, Verble Estate Preservation works to create tailor-made solutions.
The firm finds out the biggest fears and concerns of its clients, and addresses each of them in the most efficient manner possible. If a client needs long-term care, the firm draws from its extensive list of contacts to recommend specific establishments. If a client needs an annuity, the firm has an assortment of attorneys it can suggest.
In addition to connecting clients with services, the company also focuses largely on education. Verble teaches continuing education courses to attorneys through the National Business Institute four times a year, and his company hosts conferences and health fairs throughout the state.
“How are you going to make a decision that’s as important as that without knowing what your true options are and what’s legal and what’s available out there for you?” asks Verble.
He credits much of the success of his company’s conferences and health fairs to the Chattanooga office’s case coordinator, Sally Brewer. With a four-year degree in recreational therapy and a work background in dementia, Brewer has developed a specialty that has become invaluable to his firm – she
can relate to clients and answer questions loved ones may have in a way that those unfamiliar with dementia never could.
“I was with the Alzheimer’s Association for about 13 years,” says Brewer. “I’ve worked in adult daycare, 24-hour Alzheimer’s assisted living and the rehab setting. I’ve been in the nursing home setting. So I’ve seen dementia at all different ends and just come to love it and get good at it.”
While Verble “runs the triangle” of his three offices, Brewer mans the local office. She does, however, make appearances wherever needed, be it one end of the
state or the other.
“We’ve been asked to put on a conference at a large Baptist church in Brentwood, Tenn., this fall,” says Verble. “She’s going to come up and teach the dementia section of that class.”
Whether speaking to groups, advising clients or helping a senior’s family sort their loved one’s estate, the team at Verble Estate Preservation educates as many people as possible on what is available to them. They work diligently to stay up-to-date on recent federal and local regulations and to stay informed about various services that may be of use to their client base.
“An average case that comes in here has a minimum of three issues,” says Verble. “In all the cases we do a year, and I’ve been doing 500 cases a year since I’ve been in practice, I’ve never had two alike.”
And, adds Brewer, there is no “magical age” at which people should begin estate planning. Everyone should have some plan set in place around age 40, she says, but it’s never too early to designate power of attorney or to write out a living will.
Verble offers a personal example of his son who, when playing tennis at the University of Arkansas, was severely injured. Because his son had not legally given his Verble power of attorney, doctors would not release any information until he was out of surgery.
“I heard a saying one time: ‘We need to preserve as if we’re going to live to be 150; we need to protect as if we’re going to die tomorrow,’” says Verble. “That’s kind of what we do.”
To learn more about Verble Estate Preservation, visit www.verbleseniorsolutions.com or call 423-648-9833.
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