Tara (01:09):
Hello and welcome to episode 92 of the Art of Estate Planning Podcast. I'm your host, Tara Lucke. Thank you so much for joining me. And today's episode is a little less structured than normal. It's basically a little bit of an update, a bit of a reflection over the last few months, and a little bit of a love letter to the TT Precedents Club. So a lot of the episodes lately have been interviews with people or tax updates relating to the federal budget, but I want to wind back to probably May 2026 and yeah, just bring you up to speed with what has been going on in estate planning and the art of estate planning world since then. So the week of LawBizCon, I think it was... Yeah, obviously the federal budget was 16 May 2026. So Law BizCon was the 18th and 19th of May, I think.
(02:12):
So that week was such a amazing, high demand, crazy week because I went down to Lawbiz Con. We always have a really strong estate planning contingent and so many TT Precedents Club members come and this year was no different. So I was so excited to go and catch up in person with our TT Precedents Club members. I think we had there were about 30 people registered and a few people had family emergencies and sicknesses and things. So maybe like 20 to 25 people from the TT Precedents Club ended up going. And gosh, it was amazing. It just blows my mind how you can connect online. So obviously we're connecting through our Zoom calls every Thursday and also our Facebook group. And there's some people who don't come to the Zoom call, they just listen on the replay because it doesn't suit their schedule, especially with daylight savings time and that coinciding with school pickup and that type of thing.
(03:21):
But just the relationships we've managed to build through our Facebook group and online, it's so incredible that when you finally meet a person in the flesh in real life, how much you already know them and that it really feels like you've been friends forever and it's so easy and natural. I just am so blown away every time I go. And also we had our TT Precedents Club members who have been for the last two or three years as well and just seeing them as catching up with old friends, it was such a good time. We went out for a few dinners. We all got to sit together in the conference. We all stayed in the hotel where Law BizCon is held and it was just so, so nice. So thank you to everyone who's listening who made the effort to go to Law BizCon and catch up because it really filled up my cup in such a huge way you can't understand.
(04:27):
And also pretty much this is what happened because I live in Bundaberg, so that is a five and a half hour drive with no breaks from Bundaberg to the Gold Coast where Law BizCon is. And I was all set to do that the day before the conference. So the budget announcement was the night before I had to drive to Law BizCon. So I'm there, I'm packing my suitcase, I'm washing my hair and I'm literally blow drying my hair as I'm listening to the budget announcement going, hopefully it won't be anything. Hopefully testamentary trust will be carved out. But no, big bombshell in there about trust and testamentary trusts and trying to work out what does this mean? So that kind of got the adrenaline and cortisol going because how often does something this crazy even happen in estate planning? I know we have had sort of incremental changes and tweaks around the edges, but it's been a long time since there has been something which has touched testamentary trust so fundamentally.
(05:40):
So I went to bed, that's fine, probably later than normal because my brain was churning. And then I had seven hours because I stopped off in Brisbane and had lunch and did a few things. So I had seven hours by myself in the car to ruminate and mull over. What does this mean? What about this? I need to look this up, blah, blah, blah. And I listened to a few podcasts on the budget, but because I was pretty much in the car at 7:30, 7:00 AM, there wasn't a lot that had been released. So yeah, by the time I got to Lorbiscon, my little brain was exploding. And so it was awesome to be able to just catch up for dinner and drinks with our TT Precedents Club. And we didn't just talk about the budget, but we did talk a fair bit about the budget and just bounce ideas off and hear perspectives.
(06:42):
And also by that time, the lawyers in the club had had a full day of fielding phone calls, adjusting in their client meetings, receiving emails from clients. So it was really interesting to see their perspective as well. And yeah, the title of this episode is Estate Planning is a team sport. And when you're in the TT Precedents Club, it really is because I would be lost without our members. I would've been having such a much more challenging time trying to get my head around and navigate the impact of the federal budget changes on testamentary trust without being right there with my community, being able to talk it through. So at the time I was like, oh my goodness, this could not have come at a worst time. If you came to the Family Law Education Network Disrupting Tradition Conference in March, which was incredible, you will know that I'd had a little bit of a stressful time with flight changes.
(07:51):
Also living rurally, I have to take two flights to get anywhere. And there was this just one of my first flights was delayed by three hours, so that changed my connecting flight. And when I rescheduled the connecting flight, they cancelled my return flight by accident and there just happened to be crazy weather. And anyway, I discovered all of this while I was emceeing the day. So it was just quite a lot of mayhem and also flatswi being cancelled left, right and centre because of the wild weather on the East Coast. So I was like, oh, that was a little bit more hectic than fun going to Sydney. And so I was like, you know what? Law BizCon is my chance to just chill out and fill up my cup. I booked to stay an extra day after the conference so I could unwind and process everything.
(08:43):
And then I was like, this happens with the budget. So instead of just leaning into having a great time and chilling out with everybody in the spare moments, I was in my hotel room reading and listening to everything and preparing presentations. So at the time I was like, can I get a break and just have a little holiday or does every trip away just have to be 10 out of 10 mayhem? But now that I have a bit of time to reflect, it was actually perfect because I got to talk to so many people bounce off and they're like, work out what the tax changes actually mean and when there is going to be a tax impact versus when it will just be a tax neutral scenario. But thank goodness that I had my people around me to be able to talk it through. And so I wanted to share out of this a couple of the highlights and things that especially have come from meeting everyone in person, but also just our online community.
(09:48):
So the federal budget, I'm going to stop talking about it in a moment, I promise you. But I was blown away by how powerful our community is and how grateful I am to have had it when the federal budget changes hit because a lot of the time the changes aren't huge. There are changes we've had the FURB and the foreign person surcharges. We've had some changes to the principal place of residence CGT exemption. There's been some family law cases and we always have our finger on the pulse with those types of things and train and adapt and update the precedence, but we haven't had anything that has just been so crazy as the federal budget changes. And it was amazing to see our community mobilise. So not only were we chatting in person, but everyone was chatting in the Facebook group and in the hot seats.
(10:45):
The announcement came out on a Tuesday evening and Thursday in our 1:0 PM hot seat, so a day and a half, we did a one-hour training on the federal budget announcements, what it means, which clients might need to revisit their will, how to talk to clients about it, and basically what it means from a tax perspective. We had graphics, we had charts, we had decision trees, all of that for our members. And I obviously did all of that while I was at LawBizCon, which is fine because I was already thinking about it anyway. Putting that presentation together actually really helped me crystallise my thoughts and work out where the gaps are and everything like that. But yeah, it makes so much sense for one person, in this case me, to put that together. We have over 300 members in the TT Precedents Club and growing.
(11:47):
And rather than each of them floundering, having to do that work themself, one person did it and we benefited from the economies of scale and sharing. And it was also great to see the input that everybody had in that training in the chat and coming on the screen and talking and hearing about the general public response. So awesome. And then within I think the next day after that, so within 48 hours, I had put together a pro forma letter or flyer template for the members of the TT Precedent's Club to send out as a newsletter or an update to their client base to put in a pro forma flyer and put it on their website or just use it as a response to people who were emailing them and asking them, do they need to update? So again, that just makes so much more sense if I put that together for everybody and then everybody's got the resource rather than everyone trying to write and create this themselves.
(12:53):
We then also had social media resources. So the first thing we did was a decision tree white labelled in Canva that our members can share on their socials to help reassure clients whether they need to update their wills or not. And then I think within maybe 10 days, I had also put together a letter lobbying the government explaining the disconnect between the policy behind the law and the actual impact it's going to have on minor children and vulnerable disabled low income earners. And also the fact that it doesn't really have any impact on high earners. So put that together, circulated it to our members, and then they all dispersed and are sending it to their local MPs. So we have members all around the country. The only state we do not have a member in is Tasmania. So if you're in Tasmania, come be our first Tassie member of the TT Precedents Club.
(14:03):
But yeah, so everybody basically jumped on that, put it on their letterhead and sent it to their local MP. So as a group, we're just a cowboy estate planning group, but already we were able to take action so much faster than the larger traditional institutions. So I just want to say firstly, I'm so grateful for everyone in the community and how quickly we are able to mobilise and engage and support each other when there are big changes as well as how we are collectively as a group able to be thought leaders in this space outside of the big institutions, how nimble and mobile we are, but mostly how supportive and connected we are. So yeah, I'm so grateful for my team. I work on my own. I'm a sole practitioner at this law firm, but I really feel like I just have the biggest team and community around me.
(15:04):
So thank you to everyone listening. And yeah, if you're not in the TT Precedents Club, it is so worth the money. It's at the time of recording $149 per month. So when you break that down per week, it's like you spend more on lunch and coffee than you do on the membership. And we regularly save you hours and hours on research, on resources for clients, on errors because you haven't kept up to changes in the law. We meet four or five times every Thursday, so four or five times a month. We meet for an hour. We have that Facebook group, you can ask any question, we'll draught your clauses. The value is so immense. Estate planning should be a team sport and you don't have to do this on your own. It pays to be connected and this is just the most supportive, connective, active group.
(16:06):
You join some of the industry bodies and it's very one way. I'm a fellow of the Tax Institute. They just send stuff to me. I can't come back. I can't ask them questions unless I spend thousands more to go to a conference, whereas we have such a great two-way line of communication and support in the TT Precedents Club. So speaking of money and earning your fe back by being in the TT Precedents Club, I wanted to share this awesome story that I heard at Law Biscont from one of our members. So firstly, I won't say who they are, but they did travel to the Gold Coast all the way from Western Australia. So legend, thank you so much. I appreciated you making that effort so much. And they shared with me that since being in the TT Precedents Club, they have doubled their prices for estate planning, which I love.
(17:06):
And of course I was like, "Well, what happened to the number of clients coming in? " And she said, "Nothing. Same amount of people. We get the same number of inquiries, the same number of matters." And I could just see the joy, the calm, the vibrancy, the peace that was coming from this member because they had found a beautiful equilibrium of win-win pricing. They were not stressed or overwhelmed about money. They had obviously the resources to reinvest in their community and education and coming to this conference. They weren't stressed while they were there working. Obviously clients are still happy and seeing value. And she said to me, "This is from being in the TT Precedents Club, obviously everything I teach, but also, and I think probably most importantly, hearing the other members in the club, what they're charging, their experience with raising prices, how they're managing pricing.
(18:16):
So I just thought that is so invaluable from a membership that costs you 149 a month. To be able to have the skills and confidence to revisit your pricing to a point that works for you and your clients, it's huge. So well done. And I just do also want to say thank you to all of our members who do so openly share their pricing and what works and hasn't worked and where they're at. And the other thing about being at LawBizCon, which was amazing, was being a bystander and seeing all the friendships that everyone has made in the TT Precedents Club. So obviously they're all friends with each other. It's not just the Tara show. And it was incredible to just see the connections, the familiarity, the support, people putting names to faces and building those support networks from the conference as well. And also the people who have just built friendships in the Facebook group and from the Zoom calls, finally meeting in person.
(19:31):
And you probably heard me mention in our episodes that we have an entity power of attorney precedent. So that is for companies and trust with corporate trustees who need to nominate a attorney for the triage contingency plan. And I push that every law firm owner needs one of those. If you are operating as an incorporated legal practise or through a trust, if that's allowed in your jurisdiction, that you need one of those in place. And in fact, if you look at your law society or law institute guidance, they really mandate that you need it because they can't come in and sort everything out if there's no personal representative to appoint them and give them the authorization they need. So in some of the states like Victoria, the person you nominate has to be a legal practitioner who has a principal practising certificate and hopefully also the ability to run the trust account and that type of thing.
(20:41):
So a lot of people can't just appoint their spouse to that role. And that can be really challenging when you're a sole practitioner. What do you do? And one thing that has just brought me so much joy to see is that members of the TT Presidents Club are building connections and appointing each other as their contingency plan for their sole practitioner firms, which is how incredible is that? Just knowing that if you are in the club, you have a certain standard of technical qualification, you are invested, you have curiosity, you are just upwardly mobile and curious about staying at the cutting edge of estate planning and you probably have very similar value systems as well. So I just thought that's amazing to me. Speaking of value systems, I had to sac a TT Precedents Club member recently, which was a really interesting experience, but it was great to reflect on because one of the things that is important is maintaining this community.
(22:04):
The integrity and the communication and connection and supportiveness of our community is the most important thing. So yeah, it was definitely not easy. I really don't enjoy having those hard conversations, but I did have to pull somebody up on the way that they were interacting and basically say that's not what this is about. And look, I can understand, especially if you are used to maybe these more traditional memberships where it is one way and you can get away with things, but our supportive connected community is the most important thing, the culture of this community. And to be fair, I don't have to do a lot in relation to creating and maintaining the culture because everyone who joins just so amazing and incredible. So I have basically taken it for granted that we have such an amazing space. But when I saw that things were not going that way, I had to basically say, "You know what? Actually, we don't need your money. If you can't conduct yourself in this way, we don't want you here. We don't want to work with you. And that's not what this space is about. " And I do take that really seriously. We have members across the whole spectrum of early career starting out in estate planning. We've got people who have far more qualifications in estate planning than I do in the group and everywhere in between practitioners from other practise areas who want to upskill in estate planning. So they're very experienced but new to estate planning the whole spectrum. And I think firstly, that's what makes this community so special. Everyone is welcome provided you align with our values and please don't feel scared. You will. If you are a good person, you will absolutely fit in. This was the first time in five years that I've had to do this.
(24:11):
So please don't think that there's some kind of super strict moral code that you have to meet. But we just have such a supportive, encouraging, respectful culture. No matter where you are at in your journey, do try to just basically lift each other up and be helpful. And even though that was not a great experience, it was a really good reminder of what a special place the TT Precedents Club is and how it's my responsibility to protect that. So yeah, I just wanted to share that. Thank you for indulging me in this love letter to the TT Precedents Club. I love it. It's more than I ever could have expected it to be when I first created it. I can't believe how it's grown. We have over 300 members, but at the same time, it still feels so connected and intimate as a supportive group.
(25:16):
I mean, I think there's a lot of members who you go on a journey when you join, right? I think as when you first join, you are more active, you are learning a lot and using us and leveraging the access that we have. So you get the clause library, you get me to answer questions and draught clauses for you in the weekly hot seats. You get the Facebook community. We have a referral directory. We have a lot of trainings on technical topics, but also how to run your law firm. So when you first join, you really probably do spend a fair bit of time soaking all of that up. And then we have members who some of our founding members, they just pop up every month or every couple of months or even every six months where they need something, but they're mostly fine, but they just hear if you need kind of thing.
(26:11):
And whatever you need, we are here to support you so you have to make the membership work for you. But yeah, it's really just blow my mind how incredible it is. Actually, I don't know if I've mentioned this either, and I will just get it because this happened, I think it was at the start of March that we had our five-year anniversary. And I sent all of our founding members, so our members who have been with us since the beginning and how we did it is we opened up 30 spots five years ago in 2021 and filmed them and sold out the membership. And I wanted to just sort of, it wasn't like you can come and join anytime. It was like we're opening up some spots, come and join. Okay, no new members for a while. And then we opened it up and then closed it because I just wasn't sure how it would scale.
(27:09):
And I've really sort of worked out that we can still serve everybody when people come and go as they please. But we had, I think 24 of the 30 original spots, we still have those same members. They've been with us the entire five years. And I sent them all a pot plan as a thank you because truly I am so grateful and I was shocked to look at those statistics. I kind of know and especially being in the same membership with these people for five years, I know all of their businesses and I watch them and cheer them on from the sidelines. But to actually just look at those retention statistics was so incredible. And I just wanted to say thank you for continuing to support the TT Precedents Club. And it is just a real incredible testament as to what a fantastic space we have all built together.
(28:09):
So I'll wrap it up. Thank you for indulging me in this episode about the TT Precedents Club. It's just a little bit of what's been going on lately behind the scenes. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but I think that will do for now. I just want to say to everyone in the TT Precedents Club, I'm so grateful for each and every one of you. And if you're listening and you're not in the TT Precedents Club and you are yearning for community support, connection, mentorship outside of your firm, then the TT Precedents Club is for you and come and join it. You can just join for a month and cancel. You're not locked into anything. So come join and check it out and see what the fuss is all about. I'd love to see you here. Thanks so much and I'll see you next week.
