Dominique Bragg - Partner in the Trust and Estate section at Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig
Mar 28, 2024
Alimond Studio
When life's certainties unfold, are you prepared to navigate the complexities of estate planning and asset protection? Dominique Braggs from Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig joins us to dissect the often daunting world of wills, trusts, and the intricate dance of guardianships and conservatorships. Her expertise shines as she tackles the nitty-gritty of asset management post-mortem, guiding us through the labyrinth of probate avoidance and the critical importance of transferring assets into trusts. With the poise of someone who's seen the turmoil unpreparedness can cause, Dominique shares how family struggles, including her own grandmother's dementia, fueled her passion for estate law. Her stories are more than mere anecdotes—they're a clarion call for meticulous planning in the face of life's inevitable challenges.
Wrapping up the episode, Dominique bestows upon us a compelling reminder: serenity lies in preparation. As a West Point graduate, her tenacity and dedication extend beyond the legal realm, reflecting in her commitment to serving first responders. True to her fighting spirit, Dominique bids us farewell with the rallying cry, "Go Army, beat Navy," encapsulating the enduring spirit of readiness, be it in safeguarding one's legacy or in the throes of a friendly rivalry. Join us for a conversation that is as much about legal foresight as it is about life's preparedness, where every listener walks away with the wisdom to confront the future head-on.
When life's certainties unfold, are you prepared to navigate the complexities of estate planning and asset protection? Dominique Braggs from Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig joins us to dissect the often daunting world of wills, trusts, and the intricate dance of guardianships and conservatorships. Her expertise shines as she tackles the nitty-gritty of asset management post-mortem, guiding us through the labyrinth of probate avoidance and the critical importance of transferring assets into trusts. With the poise of someone who's seen the turmoil unpreparedness can cause, Dominique shares how family struggles, including her own grandmother's dementia, fueled her passion for estate law. Her stories are more than mere anecdotes—they're a clarion call for meticulous planning in the face of life's inevitable challenges.
Wrapping up the episode, Dominique bestows upon us a compelling reminder: serenity lies in preparation. As a West Point graduate, her tenacity and dedication extend beyond the legal realm, reflecting in her commitment to serving first responders. True to her fighting spirit, Dominique bids us farewell with the rallying cry, "Go Army, beat Navy," encapsulating the enduring spirit of readiness, be it in safeguarding one's legacy or in the throes of a friendly rivalry. Join us for a conversation that is as much about legal foresight as it is about life's preparedness, where every listener walks away with the wisdom to confront the future head-on.
Speaker 1:
My name is Dominique Carmichael Braggs and I'm with Dunlap, bennett and Ludwig. I'm actually a partner in the Wealth Management Division.
Speaker 2:
Wonderful and tell me a little bit about what you do for your clients.
Speaker 1:
Oh, absolutely so. Within that division, we basically break it down into three parts. So we have estate planning, which encompasses trust wills, powers of attorney, advanced medical directives. We also have interventions, meaning guardianships and conservatorships for people who become incapacitated, and then, finally, we have estate administration work, or probate if you will and that's when we're dealing with someone who's passed away, so we're dealing with the assets in their estate.
Speaker 2:
Wonderful. That must be tricky at times, right At times. Yes, what is the most challenging thing about that aspect of the business?
Speaker 1:
About the estate administration, actually trying to find all of the assets and make sure that everything is accounted for. I had mentioned earlier, with the estate planning piece, that we have trust-based plans, and so a trust is a vehicle for probate avoidance. If you set up a trust and create it while you're still living, you can fund the trust by transferring your assets into the trust. Those assets stay out of probate. What we find, though, is sometimes people get their plan together but don't actually finalize the transfers, and so things like their house. It turns out that it has to go through probate because they never actually recorded a new deed showing that it was in the trust, or bank accounts, insurance policies, those sort of things.
Speaker 1:
What we find is, most people aren't really organized. As far as you know, no one really wants to contemplate not being here, but if something happens to them, then you have family members or friends coming in trying to go through all of the paperwork, and you might miss something. I tell people look at the mail to see where are they getting bank statements from? Are there credit card bills? Where are they coming from? So you turn into an amateur detective.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, and probably a little bit emotional support for the families that are going through that.
Speaker 1:
Oh, absolutely Absolutely. And one of the things that I realized, like I said within my job no-transcript let's make sure you're taken care of in case you get sick and you don't actually pass away right away. We can also make sure that we plan for that. But you know, I say I, I get paid to worry about that. That's my interest, and so I want to make sure that you have some peace of mind. And then I'm worrying about the, the changes to the law, or all of the technical parts of it.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yes, Is this something you knew you always wanted to do? Oh goodness.
Speaker 1:
Well, when you were a kid? Well, if you listen to my mother, my mother says that she knew that I would be a lawyer, because I like to argue with people.
Speaker 1:
And mothers are always right. Well, I said that wasn't quite true. I just I like to know what's going on. I like to know the ins and outs and why something is happening. Why something is happening. But the reason that I started doing the estate and trust work and administration is, oh goodness, this is 2024. So about 15 years ago, my grandmother was diagnosed with dementia and that was when we found out that thank you.
Speaker 1:
Well, she had an estate plan, but it wasn't robust enough. We had a close-knit family and family members started fighting over things. I've heard that happens and you know my grandmother was still here. She passed away at the end of 2011, but you know family members were fighting over her care, how she should be taken care of, what needs to happen with her assets and she was still here, so I had a front row seat of what happens when maybe you have a plan but it's not robust enough or you don't have a plan. What happens when someone actually needs to have a guardian or conservator appointed because they can't really process the information themselves anymore in order to be able to make decisions for their well-being. That was being able to see that up close and personal that was With your own family.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yeah, I said this is Passive and challenging, so is that what got you into this?
Speaker 1:
Well, that's why I a little bit yes and no. So when I graduated from law school and I guess I'll go back a little bit farther- yes, go back as far as you like.
Speaker 1:
Well, I grew up in Arlington and I had every intention of graduating from high school, going to UVA and then going to UVA law school. Instead, I went to the United States Military Academy at West Point and I served in the army for five years as a finance officer. I served in the Army for five years as a finance officer and then I went to work for GE for six years and while I was at GE I actually went to law school at night. So I had two children when I started law school, had my third while I was in law school Amazing and my baby is now a junior in college. So I've been doing this a while.
Speaker 1:
But when I finished law school, I decided to come back to this area. Unfortunately, at that time my ex-husband and I separated and so I said you know, if I'm getting divorced, I'm going to go home, and I brought my children back here and the very first legal work that I did was the free programs for first responders was the free programs for first responders, so we would prepare wills and powers of attorneys for law enforcement, for firefighters, emergency techs, and there was a program with the Virginia State Bar Association and I started doing that and I enjoyed. I enjoyed the work and then, as I said with my grandmother, I started really focusing on that area of the law.
Speaker 2:
That's what started to shift things for you.
Speaker 1:
Right, I had done some other type of work. I've done veterans appeals and bankruptcies and, oh goodness, a little bit of everything, but this was the area of law that really called to me. That's what spoke to you the most.
Speaker 2:
Yes, what are you doing to advertise and market your business?
Speaker 1:
So the nice thing, as I was counting back, I said this is actually my third career. As I mentioned, I was an Army officer, then I worked for GE, which was like the Army, except we didn't wear uniforms, and now I've been an attorney for almost 18 years. So, and I'm sorry, what was the question? One more time.
Speaker 2:
What are you doing to advertise and market your business?
Speaker 1:
Advertising and marketing. So for about 15 of those 18 years I had my own firm and it was a solo practice. I spent a little bit of time in a partnership with another attorney who was licensed in Maryland and we worked with young families making sure they had estate plans. But for the last two and a half years I've worked at Dunlap, bennett and Ludwig and we actually have an amazing marketing team. Amy is our director of marketing, amy McKinney, and she's fantastic. She's got a great team. We have a business development team. We have client services teams.
Speaker 1:
But what I really enjoy doing and what we actually do, we host webinars, and so I enjoy getting people in the room and it gives them a chance to listen to our presentation but also ask their questions. So for those clients who say I don't know if I need a full 30 minute consultation, I just have a quick question, which normally they're not really all that quick, but being able to just ask their question and then if they need to have more time to speak with us, they're able to reach out and contact us. But we do webinars, we do seminars with PTA groups or I don't know if they're called PTO groups out here but also nursing homes or senior living facilities. I've done seminars there, churches, and so we do a lot of that.
Speaker 1:
We also work with some networking groups so that we meet other business professionals other business professionals and, in fact, that was how I was put in contact with you today, dawn Stanley, with and I am I'm hating the fact that I'm forgetting the name, I think it's STW Cleaning, but Dawn is fantastic and her company is phenomenal, but she is a local business owner and she said Dominique, you've got to come on the.
Speaker 2:
Adelman show Exactly.
Speaker 1:
Exactly so happy that you're here today.
Speaker 2:
Yes, if you had one piece of advice for families and estate planning, what would it be?
Speaker 1:
Do something now, okay. So, at the very least, make sure that your family is protected. You want to have, you want to have at least a last will and testament, but also what I call the living documents. I know this is, but I call them this the financial power of attorney and the advanced medical directive, because these are the documents that are effective while you are living, but these are the documents that you use to appoint an agent who can assist you in case you're hospitalized. You can't communicate, you need some assistance with your finances, someone to talk to the IRS for you, but you can appoint someone while you still have the ability to do that, and this is a person that you trust and that you want to be able to manage your health care or your finances. So, at the very least, you want to have those three documents.
Speaker 1:
But something that I also tell young families when they start saying well, you know, it might be a little expensive, our budget is tight, so what should we do? I say have life insurance. Please make sure that you have life insurance in place, because I've had entirely too many families that come to me and whenever I tell clients this, I think of a client that I had, who was only 47, had three young children, had a wife, went down to the kitchen one morning and had a massive heart attack and had no insurance, had nothing like that. And so I tell young families, at the very least, even if you think you can't afford to do a plan right now and actually we'll work with you because we want you to have the plan but at the very least make sure that you have some life insurance so that your family is protected.
Speaker 2:
In case you're not here, your kids are protected. That's wonderful advice, yes. My last question is do you have any parting words for our listeners? Anything you want to leave on the table, something from your?
Speaker 1:
heart. Okay, two things For the clients and potential clients. Things for the clients and potential clients you will feel much better if you actually have a plan in place. The best thing to do is make your plans and hope that you don't need to use them, but in case you do need them or your family does need them, you have it in place. You want to have that peace of mind and that's what we hope to provide. And the other thing as I said, I am a proud alumni of the United States Military Academy, so I just want to leave your listeners with go Army, beat Navy.
Speaker 2:
Well, thank you, Dominique, for coming in today.
Speaker 1:
It's lovely to meet you Very nice to meet you as well.