Who Is Brett Buck & Why Is He Potentially One of The Most Important Men In Our Community & What Is A Living Trust?
"It's as close to getting married as we can do. If you lose your home, that is one thing. But this will prevent you from losing your dignity and your privacy (and your assets) because this can not be contested." Brett Buck, President, Southern Estate Services, Inc., Sun. Dec. 13, New Orleans, LA.
Brett Buck, The Man: Brett
Buck's blue green eyes, dark
hair, medium build and bright smile don't give very much of a clue to his Native American Choctaw and blonde-haired blue-eyed British ancestry. Nor would one think this cheerful, handsome 36 year old man to be the President of Southern Estate Services, Inc., a company which may well be one of the most important businesses with a service for our community; a business concerned with both our assets, our legal rights, our estates, and finally, our general peace and well-being regarding our significant others. Mr. Buck's experience with the world of money matters and finances and the attendant legal involvement with these weighty and important subjects might appear more seemly in a man of many more years and a darker personality. But don't let Mr. Buck's ebullient, enthusiastic manner nor his youthful good looks and glowing health deceive your perceptions. He is a very serious, professional, and competent man who knows his business. And it's a business ALL OF US should also know more about.
"I moved to New Orleans about three years ago," he said. "Prior to that I spent 11 years with the Bank of America where I worked in public affairs and lending and managed several branches of the bank before leaving them. My father needed my help and I made use of the Family Medical Leave Act in order to have time to come to New Orleans and assist him with the family business which my father had originally started. I'm 36 years old. My educational background is as follows: I graduated from Texas Christian University, attended graduate school at SMU. Texas Christian University is in Fort Worth, SMU is in Dallas, Texas. I have a series 7 broker's license. You can get a series 6 which includes mutual funds; a series 7 includes everything."
"So you're really involved with the financial business," I interjected.
"That was going to be my original intention, but as I became more involved I became more of an administrative person."
"And now you're the President of your company, Southern Estate Services, Inc.," I said rather impressed by both his manner and his eloquence. "That covers your professional and educational background. Now I'm going to ask a few personal questions which you may ask me to edit out," I said as I leaned forward and slid the small tape recorder closer to him across the table. "Are you openly Gay? Do you have a significant other person in your life? Or do you have a lover at the moment?" I shot these questions off in machine gun fashion like Walter Winchell in some 1939 broadcast. I wanted to see how honest and open he would be without giving him time to think of evasive answers.
He lit up the air with a brilliant smile. Then he laughed. Then he leaned back calmly in his chair. "Oh, yes I am Gay!" he answered clearly. "No, I'm not having any affairs. So, please send any castaways my way," he said laughing.
"Do you like older men?" I asked on a hopeful gamble with what I thought to be my best flirtatious smile.
He continued laughing then, looking me straight in the eyes, he said, "Yes! And I need him to be between 40 and 60 or 65. I weigh about 180 pounds and I'm about 5 feet ten inches. My father's side of the family is mostly Native American. Choctaw. They have very dark skin tones. And they still live in Oklahoma where at one time they were living on a reservation. My mother was a blond English woman. So I got my mother's skin tone and my father's hair and eyes." His answers displayed a great sense of good humor.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I can see a bit of those high Indian cheekbones."
"A little bit maybe," he answered reflecting on his cheeks for a moment. "Or at least before I moved to New Orleans and gained 30 pounds like everyone else."
"Welcome to Fat Town," I said as we both laughed. "Do you have any brothers and sisters?"
"No, I'm an only child," he replied. "But I wanted to tell you about my relationship in Texas. I was in an 8 year relationship back there. It ended. We're still good friends. I've been in New Orleans now for three years and not yet dated. I've had opportunities but I want to meet the right person." He smiled. My heart melted. But back to the main issue I told myself.
What Is A Living Trust?
"Now the other questions I have are about your business. I'm reading an ad your company has placed and it says 'ATTENTION COUPLES! Are You Worried About Losing Your Assets, Privacy? You Need A Living Trust.' What is a living trust and why do we need one? And is this ad directed at Gay and Lesbian couples only? If so, why?"
"In fact we have in Louisiana and New Orleans about 5000 clients," he stated. "We obtained these clients through direct mail via senior citizen magazine advertising. The first time we entered the Gay market through something like Ambush Magazine was the result of a personal experience and another one that made the news locally. Do you remember that Gay couple that had been lovers for some 26 years or so and they had agreed that if one of them became ill, the other who was not ill would go and kill the one who was sick and then kill himself. Do you remember that tragedy at Charity Hospital?"
"Yes. It was very sad and made Times Picayune front page news."
"When that happened," he continued, "they were very good friends of the lady who does payroll for our company. After that happened she came to me and said, 'Brett, if they had one of these (Living Trusts) could that all have been avoided?' Then through my employee I got to know an inner circle of the friends of these two men. Let me tell you what happened. One of them had chest pains and became ill. His lover immediately took him to Charity Hospital. These men had been a couple for 26 years. But because his lover of 26 years was not related to him, they would not give him any information about his lover's condition. Because of hospital policy they would not give him any medical information. Now I do know my facts are accurate because I was with one of their closest friends after the tragedy. The ill lover entered the hospital with gas and indigestion and heart burn. When his lover could not give him any medical information after he was in the hospital, he assumed his lover had suffered a major heart attack. The hospital personnel would not release any information to him because he was not the next of kin. So, based on the agreement they had made during their long-term relationship, he went into Charity Hospital, shot his lover and then shot himself. And the only thing that was wrong with the hospitalized man was that he had some simple minor problem that could probably have been treated with Tums. Because of this situation, we lost two wonderful people. I kept thinking about this. Then, one day when my lover and I were living in Texas (he liked to work and do things about the house), he had gotten up on the roof of our garage with a chain saw and fell off. I took him to the hospital. They asked me for next of kin. I said I would be his contact person. And this is in Texas, you know, and they said 'well we need a relative.' His cousin was the one they contacted and his cousin didn't like me because he didn't approve of our relationship. So they totally excluded me from his medical situation and we had been together 8 years. We had joint assets. We owned rental property together. But I don't think that was the major problem. It was a power play among the relations. Another thing that came to my mind was one of my childhood friends was in an 11 year relationship. His lover had an automobile accident. The steering column punctured his lung. The lover was the first one in the hospital and everything went well until the father of the injured arrived. They threw the lover of 8 years out of the hospital. The injured man died. They had owned their house together. It was in both their names. But the father of the deceased man sued the surviving lover to get him out of the house and he also took almost everything out of the house while we were at the funeral of the deceased. And there was nothing we could do about it."
"And this was in Texas?" I asked.
"In Texas," he answered. "All of this kept coming back to me after my friend at work asked about the Charity Hospital tragedy and if it could have been avoided with a Living Trust. She suggested advertising in alternative ("Gayles") magazines. I thought about going to Ambush. At that time information about our service was going to individuals between 60 and 80 who owned property and were setting up estates. And you would not believe the number of same sex couples, Lesbians mostly, who were using our service. It wasn't that we targeted the Lesbian community, but many, many of them responded to our ads and I thought that since we already had such a large number of Gay clients, maybe I should go to Ambush and let the whole community know about our service and we did. Since we've done that I've gotten so many wonderful letters from customers. One case that comes to mind is two women who were a couple living together for 20 or 30 years and had raised their children together because they had deadbeat dads who never participated in the upbringing of their children. One of the women became ill. The ill woman's sisters and all tried to come in and take over and it was a mess. But because they had established a Living Trust it could not happen."
"So they were totally legally protected?" I inquired.
"It's as close to getting married as we can do. If you lose your home, that is one thing. But this will prevent you from losing your dignity and your privacy because this can not be contested. If you set the Living Trust up and that Trust-say if you and I were together and we owned a home together and something happened to me, my family could not come in and say ''Patrick I want you out of the house.' Because in the Trust we would have established that this was our joint possession, these are our joint possessions-any kind of special things that we have like heirloom items, jewelry and china-you would have established that you wanted that to go to your niece or this to your nephew and it's totally private. With a will it's going to be filed with your Parish. So, if you pass away with a will, anyone could go get that will and find out who your creditors are, how much money you had, who your heirs are-that's totally public information. That's how people got a hold of Jacqueline Kennedy's will and Princess Diana's will. But what I was pointing out here, I mean, so you lose a dining room table or something in the scheme of life that to me is hopefully replaceable but with a Living Trust you don't lose your dignity of your privacy. Even putting a same-sex couple aside and dealing with a married couple: if they owned their home together and one of them dies or if they die together that property has to go through probate. Probate in this State can take usually 6 to 18 months (I've seen cases that took five years) and it will cost you anything from 3 to 8 percent, typically about 6 [percent]. So if you own an estate worth $100,000, not only could your heirs not get the assets for maybe 18 months or even up to five years, but if they didn't have the cash they'd have to come up with the money themselves to pay the attorney fees and the probate fees. With a Living Trust you totally avoid probate and the costs. If you die intestate without a will, the state's going to divide the property and it will go to your next of kin regardless of your situation. If you die with a will, the property is going to go through probate, which means 'to prove'-they're going to prove that will is correct and through that process the judge will determine who gets what and that can take time and be expensive.
"I want to point out one of the most important things of all in a Living Trust and that's the Power of Attorney. In a situation with a married heterosexual couple, they can go out and buy a $10.00 marriage license and have a ceremony somewhere. After that they can go in and handle banking information and any other matters for their spouse. We do not have that opportunity as a Gay person. So with a Living Trust you, as a Gay person, and with the Notarized Power of Attorney which is filed with the Parish, can handle my affairs just as if we were a legally married couple. The Trust also provides for someone else to serve in the event of any incompetency-now that does not necessarily mean dementia -you could be in a car accident and suffer a coma and there would be another person you've appointed in your absence be it mental or physical such as when you might be traveling or working in another country. The Living Trust can be amended or changed for any purpose. We have a staff of attorneys on call to assist you at any time. Our company has branches in Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia. We're filed with the Secretary of State. And we've established a great rapport with the Attorney General's office and we have other attorneys calling our office regarding the details of a Living Trust. Anyone who needs help or has questions about our Living Trust arrangements can call our office (504.832.3994) or 1.800.731.3994 or use our fax 504.837.8759."
"What does it cost to arrange for a Living Trust?"
"It depends upon the value of the estate," he answered. "It starts at $1,200.00 and it doesn't get more than about $1,700.00. And that includes your documents of 200 plus pages which includes all the things we discussed today and then some additional things and the lifetime legal assistance."
"Is there anything special you might want to say to our readers?"
"I would encourage them to call the office if they have questions. If they would like to speak with our attorneys please tell them to call. There is no charge for this service. One of the things that we have is information we got from the Louisiana Bar Association which is that less than one percent of attorneys are really familiar with this arrangement because it's really difficult to find someone who specializes in Living Trusts. I get referrals from some local attorneys here because they're not familiar with the subject. I would tell someone else to never buy a home without considering a Living Trust. The reasons why an attorney may say, 'oh you don't have to deal with this' is because they would like you to do your will for about $1,000.00 and then they would like to take you through probate for about $6,000.00. And they're not going to be there when you have a medical emergency. This program was originally developed for gentry and royalty to make sure of the proper passage of properties. This concept has been around since the early 1500s. So it's not something new. It's new for us here in the Gay community because when I took over the business three years ago, being Gay, and realizing we had so many Gay clients and after realizing the tragic situation with the gentlemen at Charity Hospital, I wanted, if nothing else, to let everybody out there know there is another option. Call us Monday through Friday or fax a letter to us at the numbers we discussed. Everything is kept extremely confidential. And I feel that I've been so blessed in my life that I know that some people in the community might not have the funds needed to do a Living Trust, especially those in extreme cases, so I want to say I'm not going to turn any clients away and I haven't in the past. There is always someone here in my office to answer your questions with respect and confidentiality."
