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Walters & Ward

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Walters & Ward Reviews (8)

Review: Walters and Ward was overpaid to set up our trust. They only had to do two things; provide us with the Trust documents, which they did, and change the name on our Grant Deed, which they have not done.

The Trust was signed on 9 March 2013. Six months later we discover that the deed to the house hasn’t been changed. I called W & W on 12 August and spoke to a customer relations person ([redacted]). She said she would find out why and would call back.

On 14 August she called back and said the county (L.A.) kicked it back due to an illegible notary stamp. They corrected it and she said it had been resubmitted on 3 July 2013. She said to check back with her in 6 weeks.

Six weeks later (1 October) I call back to check the status, again talking to [redacted]. She said it normally takes 8 to 10 weeks for the Grant Deed (it had been 12) and that she would check again and call back. She never did.

I called W & W on the 8th of October and again on the 9th. Both times I was transferred to her voice mail where I asked her to call me back with status. She never has.

As it now stands I have no proof (copy of the submittal) that Walters and Ward ever actually submitted the application to the county to place our Grant Deed into the Trust.Desired Settlement: I want my updated Grant Deed or proof that it has been submitted to the county. An explanation for delay would also be nice.

Business

Response:

The firm has communicated directly with the client as to the status of his real property being recorded into the trust.. The client is aware of the property situation and that we are awaiting the county recorder to process deed. Once the county notifies the firm of the recording, we will contact the client directly of any county communication.

Review: We hired Walters & Ward to create my father's Trust. We were very specific with the attorney that all property owned was to be included in the trust & upon his death, the property ownership would then be given to the trustee successors (his children). They created the trust and the certificate on the trust specifically states that transfer of ownership will only happen upon his death. But when the attorney submitted the grant deed to the county clerk, they FAILED to list the Trust as the grantee and instead listed me & my sister. This caused the transfer of ownership to take effect upon the filing of the Grant Deed which then caused the county assessor to re-assess the property tax. Our property tax bill more than doubled, and the ownership (responsible parties for paying the tax) are my sister & I. I have called & called & called Walters & Ward to rectify the situation and we keep getting the run around. At one point we were told that the original attorney was no longer there due to incompetence. When we called again to rectify the situation we were told WE HAD TO PAY $100 for them to make the change. Their justification was that WE signed off on the grant deed before it was sent in. I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL ATTORNEY who understands how things need to be filed. The Grant Deed states "this is a Trust Transfer under section 62(d)", then it lists me & my sister as grantees. After speaking with the assessor, he explained that the grant deed needed to state the Trust itself as the grantee. NO ONE WHO EXCEPT AN EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL WOULD KNOW THIS! Walters & Ward kept stating that is was our mistake for signing..... I explained to them that THEY ARE THE PROFESSIONALS...WE TRUSTED THEM TO DO THIS RIGHT, that is why we hired them.

We sent in the $100 for them to make the change months ago...and we still have not had the resolution we need. They offered to give us back the $100 but not correct the situation. WE ARE FURIOUS because this has created a tax liability for us of several thousands of dollars.Desired Settlement: We are asking that they correct the mistake they have made at no additional cost IMMEDIATELY. I am also requesting a FULL refund of the deposit I gave them to also create my own trust. Our next step will be to report them to the California State Bar association

Business

Response:

The client initially met with the attorney in 2012 in our Glendale office. The client executed documents in May of 2012. The attorneys for the firm go through a very specific regimen to explain all aspects of the trust process to the client. The firm explains all the potential issues that could arise with the decisions that are ultimately the clients choice. If a client chooses to gift a property to his children, we can only advise the client of the potential problems done the road with regards to taxes. We provide our clients with a draft prior to executing the documents to look over and approve. We ask if they have any questions, concerns or changes prior to executing their documents.

+2

Review: On October 25, 2012 my husband and I attended a Trust seminar given in Roseville CA. I was asked to make a $675.00 "100% fully refundable deposit" to reserve the discounted seminar rate for a trust. I never moved forward with the trust through this firm and requested a refund by telephone. Their clerk told me she would credit the money back to my credit card within a week. The credit never posted. I called again about 03/30/2013 and was AGAIN told she would credit the amount within two business days. Again, a month has passed and the refund has not posted. At this point, I would consider this law firm to be dishonest and disreputable. I do not believe they are acting in good faith. They have unethically withheld $675.00 from me.Desired Settlement: I am requesting a full and immediate refund of the $675.00 they billed my credit card and previous promised to refund.

Review: My father passed in March of this year. In June, my mother and brother went to back to the office of Walters and Ward to let them know my father passed and asked if the family trust needed to be revised.

Walter and Ward charged my mother $1500 to file my dad’s death certificate and add to the trust that he passed. A couple of changes were also done, without my knowledge or signature (I am a trustee).

My mother is on a fixed income and English is not her first language, so she does not understand much about the process. She is also 77 years old and has difficulty processing information. Her initial check for $1500 bounced because she didn’t have money in her account. The law office kept calling her to tell her she needed to pay because the work had already been done. My mother told them to leave it the way it was originally because she did not have money to pay. [redacted] kept calling and asking for the money and eventually called me to tell me they needed the money. I never knew that all this was happening until [redacted] called me. My mother was bullied into paying and sent my brother with her second check that was good. My mother did not want the change the trust anymore and when I called [redacted], he did not answer the phone and did not return my call. I left him a message and told him my mother is on a fixed income and does not understand what is happening. She wants her money back.

My father is retired Navy and served in 3 foreign wars. He worked hard for his money to support his family. I am filing this on behalf of my mother who lives only on a fixed income. She watns her money back. She also has not received the ammended Trust, which she did not want anyways.Desired Settlement: Full refund to Mrs. [redacted] for services that were not wanted and also services that were not delivered after payment was sent.

Business

Response:

Walters & Ward would like to clarify several inaccuracies in this complaint. We were contacted by the client to set up an appointment to discuss the passing of her husband and to make changes to the trust. The client came into the office with one of her children to discuss what should be done since the passing of her husband. At the time of the meeting, the client and attorney discuss the legal options. As always, we can only advise the client of the different options that are available. Every client signs and engagement letter that gives the specifics of the scope of representation and the fees associated. There is not an obligation to notify an alternate successor of any changes that a trustor makes to their trust. The client called after the check had been deposited to let us know that it may bounce. The client offered a new check and had it delivered to the office. At this point, the client still wanted to move forward with the contracted legal work.

Review: I gave this law firm money to prepare my will and trust documents. Sadly, they have prepared them 2x now and the notary still says they are not properly and legally prepared. I am frustrated and disgusted and all I want is my money back so I can find a law firm that can prepare them properly. I found out they have no office in my local town. They just rent space when convenient. They are difficult to get in touch with and only respond every couple days with "other options" other than refunding my money. Well how would you feel if a law firm that specializes in this work can not prepare your documents properly on 2 occassions now. I have lost complete confidence in any so called work they have done and do not want to do business with them. A will and trust is extremely important and I do not want to have any worries about how they were prepared, especially when the time comes that they are needed. I do not appreciate them offering bribes such as a complimentary dinner to cover up their substandard work. Their chief operating officer, Mr. [redacted], is beyond rude and unprofessional. He actually hung up on me in the midst of a civil conversation. At the time, all I requested was a signed letter by the head lawyer of the firm, on letterhead, verifying my documents were legal and binding. That was a conversation we had se'eral weeks ago, and I was told by Mr. Henschel I would have that letter the following Monday. No letter ever arrived and several days later I had a phone message with some "alternative solutions." Seriously, this is a law firn. This is my will and trust!!! I just want my money back!Desired Settlement: All I want is my money back so I can hire a law firm that will prepare my will and trust properly so I may have peace of mind.

Business

Response:

The client attended an estate planning seminar in November of 2013 and left a refundable deposit to hold the discounted rate. All deposits are refundable until the point at which the client engages the law firm and fees have been earned. All fees are, by law, earned according to our engagement letter once the client receives drafts from the law firm.

Review: I attended one of their workshops on Trusts & Wills, and gave a deposit afterwards towards the cost of signing with them to create a trust for us. I checked their site & a quick look of reviews; if I thought to check with Revdex.com reviews then, I would not have proceeded to work with them. Hindsight. We met with a new lawyer in the Palo Alto office & were surprised to find not 1 sign, business card, etc. with the firm name. This was a set-up with various businesses sharing space. We proceeded to sign agreement with them, paying the balance due & got a handwritten receipt & learned she hadn't yet received business cards. I spoke with the Client Services Mgr expressing my skepticism, asking for a receipt on the firm's letterhead. She promised to get that sent & explained they had just moved to new office in San Diego & systems were changing which is why lawyer didn't yet have an email or business cards. Emailed twice with reminder to get the receipt & then after I left a voicemail, it was sent by someone else via email that still didn't have professional feel. Sent another email to CS Mgr expressing concern & asking what recourse we had for getting a refund and not continuing. I have yet to hear back from that April 4 email. Asked our attorney for a business email & she provided. We just received draft trust in an envelope with our name & the firms return address info handwritten, & my name was misspelled on envelope & throughout draft trust. There is a basic expectation that client's name would be correct, & again professionalism in correspondence with clients. The only material on firms letterhead was accompanying cover letter on photocopy of letterhead. I have extreme lack of trust & confidence with this firm. I emailed the attorney April 22 with those comments, asking who the managing partner was to send a letter to. She indicated that typo would be fixed in final document, perhaps it was mailed over the weekend to explain envelope being handwritten & that shed forward my comments onto appropriate person & follow up with him. I havent heard back to that. They are extremely unprofessional with zero credibility at this point.Desired Settlement: Ideally there would be a refund & termination of agreement, as there is no level of satisfaction, confidence or trust in working with this firm.

Business

Response:

The client posted a complaint to the Revdex.com prior to communicating any dissatisfaction to the law firm. A draft of her trust documents were provided to her in the time quoted and in good faith. The client signed an engagement letter prior to moving forward with the firm and made a second payment towards the product contracted. In order to resolve the clients perceived issues with the firm, it has decided to refund her monies even though we provided service. She will be issued a check for the monies paid and have communicated to the client via email with regards to this matter. All of the sensitive materials have been shredded per the clients request.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Consumer

Response:

Hi [redacted]. We did close out our complaint with Walters & Ward when they indicated a check would be cut on May 17th. As of this date, we have not received our check, nor have we received a response to an email I sent last week asking when the check would actually be mailed. I still think the firm is scheming and don't believe their intent was to mail it immediately, as one would be led to believe from hearing it was cut on the 17th. Can I re-open the same matter, and indicate that I will consider this resolved once we actually receive our check?Thank you, [redacted]

Business

Response:

According to our bank records the check was cashed by the client on the same day as the Revdex.com rejection. Please update the records as closed. Client was provided a full refund via a check and the check was cashed. Client was provided this refund even though they engaged the firm in services and drafts of their documents were provided to the client.

Review: I attended an information session conducted by Walters & Ward on 06/20/2012 and signed up for a Wills & Trust preparation package. I was instructed to pay half the amount - $975 - as a down payment and the rest of it would be due after my one hour appointment with an attorney. However, it was a no obligation down payment i.e. I could cancel at any time I wanted.I have since decided not to go with Walters & Ward and have been attempting to cancel my enrollment for the past 3 weeks. I had called the phone number 1-877-212-2671 atleast twice before I was redirected to call 1-877-779-9729. On reaching the person at 1-877-779-9729, I was instructed to send an email to [email protected]. I have emailed the person at least three times and have not heard back. I also called 1-877-779-9729 again multiple times and have not gotten a response back.This is just about as much as humanly possible without feeling you are banging your head on a wall. I have done my bit to cancel the enrollment and elicit a response and at this point I would consider Walters & Ward to be a dishonest business.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund of my downpayment amount of $975.

Business

Response:

This is slated to be refunded on Friday for the client and the client is aware of the refund.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: I had a great experience with Walters and ward UNTIL I sent them a 14 dollar check to file my grant deed. An attorney there named [redacted], sent me an e-mail saying they never recieved it. he said to send a second one for 17 dollars. I complained but did, sending it certifed. Then I recieve a letter from my counties recorder saying that I owe them 24 dollars because they did recieve the first check but a stop payment had been put on it. THey never recieved the second check nor had Walters and ward sent back the check. I want my second check back, and I want Walters and ward to pay me the 14 dollars I have to pay the county recorder. Also the county recorder said it only charges ten dollares to file my grant deed so why the two different prices, 14 and 17 dollars when it's made out to the county anyway.Desired Settlement: I want my second check back and 14 dollars for the fee the county is charging me. This nay sound small but it embarressed me and I don't need a black mark on my credit.

Business

Response:

The firm received a call from the client distressed about a notice received from the county recorder on fees that were still due. When this call was received, the information we had on file was that the deed was recorded into the trust. The firm asked the client to send us the paperwork to figure out what transpired. We received this paperwork about a week later. Once it was received, the staff was able to identify the problem. There was a communication breakdown with regards to fees for the county with the client. The staff reached out to the client via email to clarify the checks that were sent in and how the checks were to be handled. There was no response from the client. The check for the correct fee amount was sent in to the county. Subsequently, the deed was recorded and the county attempted to cash the check. The check was no longer valid as a stop payment was placed on it.

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Description: Attorneys & Lawyers - Estate Planning

Address: 1055 E Colorado Blvd 5th Fl, Pasadena, California, United States, 91106-2327

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