Literally. At least a thousand.

Today I had a client who needed to understand the difference between a simple and a complex trust. It’s something that I learned so many moons ago that I maybe shortcut my terminology. After a half-hour call, and another half-hour call, I suggested that OK, I’ll give the answer now – it’s a simple trust for years X, Y, and Z. And I’ll send you something to help you decide next time.

So I pull out my handy-dandy PowerPoint and draw myself a flow chart. The only things I love more than flow charts are Venn Diagrams.

This one makes me giggle so very very much.

Anyway, I start drawing. I’m feeling colorful today, so it’s lots and lots of color.

It’s a little busier than I want, but it has the entire hour-long conversation in 17 elements. The top line is included because we went round and round about what makes a trust simple in one year, but complex in the other. I added the speech bubbles because I’d interject that when she was explaining back to me, we got hung up on is it required/done/allowed. Ultimately, you just ask yourself the questions from left to right, and you’ll know your answer.

And because I saw this and snorted…