I am a CEO of an Estate Planning and Settlement Tech company, who used to be CEO of The Blue Man Group AMA

Did you ever blue yourself, or was someone else always involved?

A Blue Man never tells ...

TIL “The Blue Man Group” had and has a CEO. What was that like?

It was amazing. Such a group of passionate individuals running one of the biggest live entertainment brands in the world. It was a unique experience.

I thought it was going to be some cheesy crap when I went to see it in 2014 in NYC, but it was one of the most genuinely enjoyable live performances I've seen.

Idk if someone can watch a BMG performance and not have a shit eating grin by the end of it.

I know the feeling!

Any stories that you could share in the AMA?

The best time I had was when I brought my daughters to see BMG in NYC at the Astor - one of the Blue Man at the end broke character for my daughter (he said "hi!") - and she freaked out - he speaks!!!!! It was awesome!

My father in law suffers from dementia and may or may not have written a second will to leave stuff to his abusive and exploitative girlfriend. How do we find out if he did?

If your jurisdiction has a will registry I would start there, and if he drafted the will with a lawyer, thats also a good place to start.

What made you change from entertainment to estate management/planning?

I met with Alex one of our co-founders and his experience as an estate executor and his vision for the product really convinced me that there was an opportunity to launch a company doing something special for families.

What is the biggest mistake most people make when creating a will?

I think one of the biggest mistakes is drafting a will that departs too much from what the laws of your province/state would allow. Litigation is often driven by this.

We are just starting the estate planning process for my 72yo fairly healthy mother. She doesn't have much except a paid off house and a small retirement acct. I'm mainly concerned about protecting the house from medicare/nursing home if it ever comes to that. I've seen conflicting numbers as far as years it has to be in the estate, can you clarify? I've seen 5,7 and 10 years all thrown around.

If you’re referring to Medicaid’s ability to recover the expenses from the estate, this may vary from state to state. Best to seek guidance in your jurisdiction. We can do this through the estate planning process if we support your state.

What should my wife know about her parents' will and estate plans? They have significant assets and as far as I know, she literally doesn't know anything about any of their plans.

Thats an issue. 75% of executors have never discussed the affairs of the deceased prior to death. It creates a lot of stress, delays and work for the executor. Having a conversation around this pre-death is very important.

Thanks. That's what I'm concerned about. She doesn't know anything and I know the stress and problems that's going to cause. Any tips on how to start that conversation? I'm completely fine talking about death and dying - it's gonna happen to ask of us one day - but all three of them are very wary to talk about it as though talking about it will somehow bring about death or somehow be a curse.

I think the conversation starts with the harshness of the experience of being an executor. Nobody wants that for their loved ones. And it's probably not one conversation but many.

Thanks so much. Really appreciate the advice. Also, one of our first "real" dates was going to a Blue Man show! So, thanks for that too!

Awesome!

Why blue?

Only Chris, Phil and Matt know that ... (Original Blue Man).

How are your double strokes?

Not too good on the drums, im a guitar player.

Do you have a law degree?

Are you a practicing estate attorney?

Are you a certified specialist in trusts and estates?

How about those creating this software, are they legally trained?

Is there malpractice insurance for the heirs to claim against if the documents are prepared incorrectly?

Frankly, this just looks like another way to capitalize on the baby boomer generation without actually providing real value.

Yes.

I do not currently practice law, although I am a member of the NY Bar.

Our software is reviewed by licensed practitioners in every jurisdiction in which we support families.

We employ certified trust officers, wills and estates lawyers as well as accountants specialized in estate taxes and accounting. We also have a network of outside counsel when advice is required, and we make sure they are up to date with their insurance. We also carry our own insurance.

We do not focus on wills generation, although we do have a will generator in Canada and soon in the US. We focus on estate administration and holistic estate planning.

Our clients would disagree with your view that we do not provide value. Im happy to have a conversation with you about how we could partner together.

Sorry, not convinced.

C’mon - having “your own insurance” is not the same as having a licensed attorney with malpractice insurance and you know that.

Malpractice insurance for estate planning is one of the highest costs and is regulated by State Bar associations.

The reality is people using your software will have absolutely no recourse and cannot sue for malpractice.

You may employ all of these people to create a cookie cutter software program, but these employees are not speaking to the general public, who are going to use this program.

Happy to take this offline and you should contact us. But you are focusing on wills. Our focus is estate administration and trustee services. We retain actual lawyers for anything more complex than a simple will.

Take this off-line? You posted this AMA. Not trying to be a jerk, Malpractice insurance and legal experience is a very valid concern. (Sorry I apparently wasn’t asking the softball questions you wanted.)

I take it very seriously. Your concern is valid. But I don't believe in arguing through messages - although my ex spouse may disagree.

Is there any “will” scenes from television and film that stand out to you as either very good or very bad?

One example off the top of my head is Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec, where he hands his lawyer a crumpled piece of paper that “his killer will know what to do with.”

Lol. I’ve seen more bad than good, but I would say the most common misconception in tv and movies is that there is a “reading of the will”. This is not an actual thing in any jurisdiction I have come across but many people believe it is.

Blue Man Group has a history of union busting. Even though you are no longer CEO, this behavior continues to this day.

My questions are two-fold: Why do you hate unions, and how can you justify the steadfast refusal to enter good-faith bargaining with your unionized employees?

I dont recall any union busting activities while I was there. I don't personally hate unions, and have never denied any employee their right to collective bargaining.

My Nana said that my Grandfather put a stipulation in his will that if any of their kids try to fight about it legally, they automatically get nothing. Is this even possible?

Yes, this is generally referred to as a litigation clause and is becoming more and more common in some jurisdictions as unfortunately estate disputes continue to rise.

I don’t have a will, should I have one?

Estate planning is really an act of love. We don't plan our estate for ourselves (we'll be dead) - but for the people that survive us. If you love the people that will survive you - having a will (properly drafted and executed according to the laws of your jurisdiction) is a gift to them. But a will is not a comprehensive estate plan. We have a lot of information on our website as to what constitutes a comprehensive estate plan.

I've actually come across ClearEstate in a list of fintechs. Keen to hear what exactly within fintech is ClearEstate using/developing to improve estate settlement?

Also, does ClearEstate settle estates faster than other companies?

That is a great question. A lot of what we do today is integrate known solutions like Plaid to accelerate data aggregation as well as process information faster. We also automate the filling of probate forms. We also process terminal and estate taxes. In the future we plan on offering other services related to estate administration again in collaboration with other great Fintechs. Stay tuned for future developments.

We process information faster, and we know how to communicate information to stakeholders in a way that may speed things up. But we don't control courts and banks (so slow!).

Is a service like Plaid used to find missing assets?

Also keen to hear what has been the biggest challenge so far? I presume acquiring customers is challenging since it needs to be done at a very specific point in time.

Plaid aggregates financial data. Biggest challenge of any startup is customer acquisition, especially B2C! I think the biggest challenge for all of us these days is finding and retaining great talent.

With all the layoffs happening at the big tech companies, talent should be a lot easier to come by.

Unemployment rates remain very low...

What are your thoughts on passing down "wealth" to survivors? Do you think it encourages laziness or takes away from the recipient's own life journey? I really struggle with this having started from nothing and amassing a reasonable amount of wealth. I sometimes think just gifting survivors wealth is sort of like saying "I don't think you're capable of making it on your own, so here I'll help you cheat at life..." I'd love to know what are some non-traditional ways to help survivors w/o directly giving them money (other than teaching them while you're still around).

I think teaching is the way to go. A trust with specific distribution thresholds is another. I think we all deal with wealth in different ways. My family is not wealthy - and my parents tried to help me while I was alive (school, helped me buy my first house).

What did you and the group think of Kraftwerk?

Had to look them up!

What recourse do users have for improper legal advice using this software?

We don't provide legal advice. When legal advice is required we deal with outside counsel.

So how would the average user know whether their specific situation requires an attorney? They wouldn’t.

And there is absolutely no recourse for the heirs, because no actual attorney drafted the documents, therefore, no malpractice insurance.

The focus of what we do is estate administration. Estate administration is not the practice of law. If it were trust companies would be out of business...

If people put their real property into a trust in order to completely avoid probate costs, there is no estate administration needed. There is no statutory fee for a trustee.

The estate administration cost you’re talking about means assets that must go through probate. Good estate planning, avoids probate entirely.

Trust administration companies do not prepare the legal documents themselves, that is the biggest difference.

We don't either. And most people don't have their assets in a trust. We see this every day. Furthermore unwinding a trust requires a fair bit of administration, including accounting and taxes. Happy to discuss this. you should contact us so we can work together.

How are the services provided by ClearEstate different than hiring a lawyer to apply for a probate?

A lawyer will prepare the probate application on their schedule and often it’s not the only focus of their practice. They only go to the extent necessary to prepare the forms and typically provide little practical guidance. ClearEstate prioritizes the work, does it efficiently through the use of tech we’ve developed and guides you on all aspects of the estate settlement right through to the end. People focus on probate - probate is a small part of estate administration. We do it all (including taxes and accounting).

We are DINKs, no pets at the moment- do we do anything differently from couples with children? Do we go to an estate planner to establish a trust (and do we need both that and a will)?

Obviously children add a level of complexity to estate planning. But we should all have an estate plan - so yes, I recommend seeing an estate planner (I can even recommend ClearEstate!).

When named beneficiary of a savings account and the daughter of the deceased put it in probate, how do you get an attorney to represent you if you can not pay until the money is released?

It would require litigation to dispute this and there’s no guarantee a court would rule in your favour. There are often free or discounted legal resources available such as Legal Aid depending on location and your circumstances.

Is it true: Where there’s a will, there’s a way?

Absolutely!

How does one learn to plan an estate?

Years of administering them...

When is the right time to create a will? When i was 20 i thought they were for old people. Now im 30 i feel like i should probably have one, but i dont own a house or even have a mortgage, i own my car, have a piano, a banging pc and 4 snakes... Should i have a will to give these to people if i were to kick it next week?

Yes!

Is your goal to replace estate attorneys, supplement their work, make them way more efficient, or something else?

All of the above. We want to make sure that people pay for what they need.

What states do you currently function in/are you planning on functioning in when you first go live?

All of Canada, California, Texas, New York, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and Tennessee ... for now.

Can I name ClearEstate as executor in my will?

You absolutely can - you need to contact us and we will tell you how this can be done.

Thanks! Also, what are the benefits of doing so?

There are many, but the main one is saving your loved ones the burden of hundreds of hours of work. We ran a survey - and 75% of people that have experienced being an executor describe it as one of the hardest challenges of their lives. Why would one to this to a loved one?

What happens if someone with a will dies but for whatever reason no one on the will knows about it (ex. not in contact, deceased is in another country, etc.), how would the people on the will be notified?

Some jurisdictions have public will registries, and others are looking to implement this, which makes it impossible to settle an estate without a will search. If nobody knows that a will exists ... than it doesn't exist without some kind of registry. But most courts would require some evidence of a will search before allowing any distribution.

Cirque du Soleil and Blue Man are two very (very!) unique brands. Do you think working with these brands changed you in any ways?

Of course. Working in Live Entertainment in general and for CDS/BMG in particular gave me an appreciation of the lengths to which passionate people will go to create delight for their audiences. Those shows don't have stars - but still create emotions, laughter, tears and amazement through magnificent team work and dedication. I will forever cherish having been part of the journey of these organizations.

What are some of the ways to avoid probate tax?

A well planned estate can avoid some probate taxes. This includes having joint accounts, rights of survivorship, and living trusts in the US.

After a quick check of your website I’m not able to see anything about pricing. Is there a reason there isn’t pricing on your website like there is with LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer?

If you go under what we do, and select your region, you should see our pricing.

Found it! Thank you.

As a suggestion, maybe make the pricing easier to find. Somebody like me might have just moved on to another company once it looked like a call might be required to find out the pricing.

Love the feedback. Thanks!

How did you make the jump from Cirque/Blue Man Group to death and estate planning? What are some of the similarities that helped make the transition easy.

When I left CDS, I was looking for another opportunity. I met Alex one of our co-founders and loved the opportunity to launch a company with such a strong mission. I think the biggest similarity between both is how strong ClearEstate's and CDS' missions are. It creates a powerful culture, and a feeling that you can accomplish anything.

Thanks!

Estate planning, death and all that is one of those topics people don't like to discuss but we all have to deal with it at some point so glad you did this AMA and are getting the word out. I'll have to check out the site as a recent family death is pushing me to have things planned for inevitability. Plus, also for gigs.

Well be happy to help!

Please forgive me if this comes across as naïve but… what do you do as a CEO? My assumptions have always been you decide if the company goes this route or that route for major decisions. But I know there is way more to it. I guess what I am asking is do you spend more time delegating? Proposing solutions? Picking option A or B? Or going by EOY we need to grow x and cut y by any means without causing a scandal?

I think being the CEO of an early stage company is different than being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company... my days are filled with doing whatever needs to be done to keep the business going and growing.

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The cost of estate administration is a cost to the estate, not a cost to the executor, although executors are sometimes asked to "front" the money for it (unless the planner had some form of estate expense insurance or other mechanisms that can be used to ensure liquidity at time of death). In Ontario - that cost can be between 10-15K.

If you're named an executor of a will are you legally required to settle their estate or can a person decide at the time not to do it?

I have never heard of a province/state imposing executor duties. You can refuse.

Is starting a preschool also on your list of accomplishments?

Thats my retirement project ...

If I am named as the executor for my friend's estate, what are some of the things I need to do ? and especially to protect myself and not to get sued by beneficiaries..

Seek professional guidance (consider ClearEstate). It’s a significant responsibility and liability to act as an executor. The only true way to avoid being sued is not to act at all! But if you do, keep careful records, obtain proper valuations of estate assets, follow applicable legislation and make decisions prudently and impartially, pay debts and accounting to beneficiaries and obtain their releases.

On a lower scale, I’ve also journeyed from entertainment to healthcare, and can imagine and understand your reasoning and passion in your new venture. Thank you for your work! Bringing simplicity to these processes are so important. I know this to be true professionally and personally. Estate planning doesn’t have to be scary. Do you think the new generation is prepared with the education they need to handle end of life planning? Is there a way we can do a better job helping them?

Glad to meet another former entertainer ... its a tough life to leave behind (addictive!). Both my parents were in healthcare, i know how it can both be extremely challenging and rewarding. I think as always young people don't think about death (its the beauty of youth!). But I can see so many more resources online now, i'm hopeful that they will be better equipped than our parents were.

When you were doing the BMG thing, how many people told you to "get a real job"?

I'm sure it wasn't easy. what with Blue Man Group factions in so many cities, but I'm sure you must have gotten that kind of crap.

Lol. I was never a Blue Man per se, although working with BMG - we were all a bit Blue...

Do you need a software engineer for anything?

Send your resume!

Do you deal with living issues as well, such as open bank accounts in someone's name that can't be closed because others hold power over it?

I’m not sure exactly what you’re referring to here but we do help people with estate planning and guide them to ensure things are set up the way they intend including considering how to set up accounts for the benefit of others.

What is your subway sandwich order?

Spicy Italian.

What can you tell us about the BMG and Cirque lawsuit?

I am not an employee of CDS or BMG anymore and haven't been for a while. I really can't comment.

What are your opinions on Blue School and it's break from Blue Man Group?

I don't have an opinion. Blue School was set up before my time.

If I was so inclined, could I pick a random person out of the phone book and make them my sole inheritor in my will?

Yes, provided that your state/province does not have rules protecting your spouse or dependents.

Anything Blue Man would be a dream job for me, so... why give it up to write wills?

Lol! I left CDS/BMG when the pandemic hit. We founded ClearEstate and we are building an amazing organization. But I get you - nothing compares to BMG!

I own an RIA. Any different versus the company trustandwill?

Trust & will are an amazing company. Happy to have a direct conversation about whether ClearEstate can support your practice - but I would view ClearEstate more as a digital independent trust than a service to produce estate planning documents.

What are your thoughts on the unfortunately high prevalence of dementia when dealing with the validity of wills?

Testamentary capacity can be tough to assess after the fact. With continuing advances in modern medicine, advanced age diseases will continue to be prevalent. Best to be proactive and plan your estate early and carefully when you are feeling well and hopefully avoid the need to make changes later.

As a former Cirque du Soleil employee myself, why do you think Cirque is currently having issues keeping qualified technicians in the company given that Cirque is the "gold standard" for technical entertainment?

Edit-grammar is hard.

I can't comment on Cirque's current situation.

Are you a CFP or CPA or have any accounting credentials? Estate Planning has been a weird space for semi-professionals, (worked in Estate planning decades ago) ans as long as you were compliant it’s not a difficult business operation.

I would think of ClearEstate as a digital trust, housing many of the fields of expertise required to plan, but more importantly to administer an estate.

if you write your own will (i just said i want my favorite sister to get everything and i have no kids or dependents) how do i make sure its known about once i pass?

I suggest you consider professional guidance. Sometimes writing your own will leaves a bigger mess than having no will at all. You can consider professional guidance but at the least, make sure someone (perhaps your sister) knows where to find your original will and all the information needed for your estate settlement.

How are you a tech company? You’re a services company

We like to call ourselves a tech enabled service ...

Would wills be a use case for blockchain?

For sure. Wills are a great use case for blockchain. In the end a will is a tool to transfer title from one person to a set of beneficiaries ...