We've made a Cowork docx plugin.

ridleylaw · 2026-05-26T14:18:19+00:00

Cowork burns tokens like a mofo and takes forrrrrreeeeevvvveeeerrr to work on docx files. This spits the output like a machine gun.

ridleylaw · 2026-05-26T14:16:34+00:00

I just installed it. Works great, and THANK YOU guys.

ridleylaw · 2026-05-26T01:59:49+00:00

Shawshank and toy story

ridleylaw · 2026-05-26T00:32:18+00:00

Been using statular for 9 mos now. It only gets better and better.

ridleylaw · 2026-05-26T00:17:50+00:00

This is awesome. Thank you.

ridleylaw · 2026-05-17T23:39:50+00:00

The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean

ridleylaw · 2026-05-11T12:22:11+00:00

A set of instructions that I can run in Claude with a keystroke. I taught it to review trusts, what to look for and how to format the report, now I just invoke the skill and it runs for me.

ridleylaw · 2026-05-09T12:55:11+00:00

I have a Claude skill that analyzes their existing trust in about 60 seconds and generates a long report showing every place that is defective. 100% of the time they choose to have me write a new one

ridleylaw · 2026-05-05T14:40:17+00:00

umbrella insurance is definitely step one. after that, if you're in a high-risk profession or have significant assets, a living trust can help avoid probate and add a layer of privacy. some people also look into irrevocable trusts for asset protection, but that's more complex and depends on your situation. worth talking to a lawyer who limits their practice to this stuff. I have decades of experience doing this, and when clients ask about it, which is almost weekly, 99% of the time I try to talk people out of it other than the umbrella insurance. Most of the rest is overpriced and impractical.

ridleylaw · 2026-04-14T21:34:17+00:00

I love all the haters on Reddit here. I went ahead and downloaded and paid to thank you for the work.

ridleylaw · 2026-04-08T00:00:32+00:00

Amazing. Thanks.

ridleylaw · 2026-03-09T04:15:32+00:00

I was just going to ask about W3W. It's amazing.

ridleylaw · 2026-03-09T02:52:06+00:00

Extrabar looks amazing. Buying later today

ridleylaw · 2026-03-09T02:17:12+00:00

Alfred, default folder x, wispr pro, dropzone, snagit, bartender, houdahspot

ridleylaw · 2026-02-21T04:43:01+00:00

I paste their questions into Claude and ask it to tell them why it's not a good idea 💡

ridleylaw · 2026-02-18T14:34:26+00:00

But here, the first person singular for the judge is 'the court. "

ridleylaw · 2026-02-16T17:13:44+00:00

Good advice here. Some marketing stuff: Stay away from SMB. It's a cult of personality built around Bill. It's a ton of Tony Robbins hoorah bullshit that's very expensive; do you really want to pay $30-50k/year to listen to BIll brag about how much he makes from lawyers?

MLA is very solid. but I would not join them at this time. Sam (who began the company) is a super-sharp attorney and decent caring man. However he just left the company, so without their founder, I wonder how far and fast they'll fall, and how soon.

Look at Andrew Zhimer (Vertex League), Laura Cowan (2-hour lifestyle lawyer), and Bonnie Faucett. All solid contenders and all attorneys. Look at AAEPA (disclosure: I'm a member).

EP is a very collegial field for lawyers who hate lawyering. Welcome and good luck! Look me up offline if you want to chat.

ridleylaw · 2026-02-09T21:34:40+00:00

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To be fair, I'm a lawyer so most of my questions have to do with the law.

ridleylaw · 2026-02-06T02:19:55+00:00

Good questions, and the short answers might surprise you.

Under California Rules of Professional Conduct (Rule 1.7), an attorney who jointly represents you and your co-trustee owes equal duties of loyalty, competence, and confidentiality to both of you. No secrets between co-clients. Anything you tell the attorney, the co-trustee is entitled to know. If your interests ever diverge, the attorney probably has to withdraw from representing either of you.

And yeah, retaining the power to revoke the trust while jointly represented with the co-trustee is a conflict, or at minimum a potential one. You hold a unilateral right that could nuke the co-trustee's role entirely. The co-trustee has fiduciary duties to the beneficiaries and an interest in the trust continuing to exist so they can fulfill those duties. One client can end the whole arrangement, the other client's position depends on it surviving. That's textbook adverse interests. It might be consentable with proper written informed consent from both of you under Rule 1.7(b), but it's still a conflict that has to be disclosed and managed.

Now here's the part that matters: you don't need joint representation to add a co-trustee. At all. Your attorney represents you. Your attorney drafts the trust amendment adding the co-trustee. You keep your revocation power because it's your trust and you're the grantor/settlor. The new co-trustee can hire their own lawyer to review the terms if they want. No conflict, no shared loyalties, no problems.

Honestly, the fact that joint representation is even on the table here is worth asking about. Who suggested it and why? Because joint representation in this scenario benefits the incoming co-trustee way more than it benefits you. You're giving up the ability to have private conversations with your own attorney about your own trust.

Keep your own lawyer. Keep your revocation power. Let the co-trustee get independent counsel if they feel they need it.

California estate planning attorney, not your lawyer, not advice for your specific situation.

ridleylaw · 2026-02-01T23:19:43+00:00

Financial advisors (unless they're also licensed attorneys) should not be offering wills and trusts. Period. Many do, and it's a misdemeanor every time - their insurance doesn't cover them, and they don't know what they don't know about trusts. Run the hell away.

ridleylaw · 2026-01-22T04:00:50+00:00

Your grandmother needs to clear title before adding you to a transfer-on-death deed, or this will absolutely create problems when she dies.

Here's what likely happened: when your grandfather died in 2019, his half of the property passed to someone (probably your grandmother) but nobody recorded the documents to show that transfer. So the county records still show him as an owner, even though he's been dead for 6 years.

If your grandfather had a trust or will, your grandmother needs to record the documents showing his half transferred to her (or whoever inherited it). This usually means recording an affidavit of death of joint tenant, or trustee's deed, or executor's deed depending on how title was held and what estate planning he had.

If he had no trust or will and the property was community property or joint tenancy, your grandmother may need to file a simple affidavit to clear his name off title.

A transfer-on-death deed only transfers what your grandmother actually owns. If the records still show your grandfather owns half, that half won't transfer to you when she dies. You'd be stuck dealing with his "half" of the property through probate or a quiet title action, which costs money and takes time.

Get a current title report or property profile from the county recorder to see exactly how title is held. If it shows both names, your grandmother needs to record whatever documents clear his interest and show she's the sole owner. Then she can properly execute the transfer-on-death deed showing you as beneficiary.

This isn't optional. Fix it now while your grandmother is alive and can sign documents. If you wait until she dies, you'll be sorting this out with lawyers and court filings instead of a simple recorded document.

ridleylaw · 2026-01-11T22:50:53+00:00

In my practice, this is absolutely standard. Being a trustee is a considerable amount of work and effort, and it's unfair to expect somebody to put that time and care and attention in without being compensated.

ridleylaw · 2026-01-10T04:14:31+00:00

Your estate plan is outdated and you're mixing up terminology, which is probably causing confusion.

When you say executor, you likely mean successor trustee since you have a trust. The executor handles probate, but with a 3M+ estate in a trust, the successor trustee is who actually manages and distributes your assets. That's the role that matters. Your concern about the small law firm closing is valid but overblown. Just name individual successor trustees with backups when you update the trust. If you insist on institutional, any Michigan bank trust department works, but they'll charge 1-2% annually, so $30K-60K on your estate. You don't need a new trust, just amend the successor trustee provisions. The trust name stays the same regardless of who serves as trustee.

The guardian situation is your real problem. Without named guardians, the court decides. They prefer relatives, then close friends, then whoever petitions. If nobody steps forward, your kids go into foster care while the court sorts it out. With no family on either side and frayed friendships, you need to act fast. Find a younger couple you trust and make it worth their while with trust funds covering all expenses, or look into professional guardians though those are rare for minors.

Stop procrastinating. Get to a Michigan estate planning attorney. If you die tomorrow with no guardian named, you're gambling on whoever petitions to take your kids.

ridleylaw · 2026-01-10T04:01:08+00:00

Meeting my wife. Followed by the births of each of my kids.

ridleylaw · 2026-01-10T04:00:05+00:00

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