Trust Mills Busted for UPL

The Supreme Court in Ohio recently fined two companies for the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). The defendants, Heritage Marking and Insurance Services Inc and American Family Prepaid Legal Corporation have been banned from doing business in the state and were fined $6,387,990 in penalties.

The Columbas Bar Association pursued the case in which sales were made to elderly residents persuading them to pay $1,995.00 for living trusts instead of making wills.

Although the payment supposedly included various legal services, the court says in its written opinion, "almost exclusively ... the only legal service that the plan members received was the preparation of a living-trust document and related estate-planning instruments such as powers of attorney and a living will."

Let us hope that all "trust mills" and other related companies will someday cease to exist.