Lewis Rice forms estate plan firm

Aug. 19--Lewis Rice, known as a corporate law firm, is setting up a separate firm to go after estate planning business from the masses.

The new firm, TuckerAllen, will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Lewis Rice, an unusual structure in the law business.

The new firm will have offices in Town and Country, Kirkwood, O'Fallon, Mo., and Fairview Heights.

It's a push into a much different market than Lewis Rice normally serves. TuckerAllen will offer a package of wills, medical directives, beneficiary deeds and powers of attorney for $550 for singles and $650 for couples.

Packages built around revocable trusts, designed to avoid costly probate at death, will be priced at $950 and $1,250.

Lewis Rice isn't a name associated with middle-class estate planning.

"Lewis Rice has beautiful offices downtown, and most families want to meet on weekends and evenings," said Mary Elizabeth Coleman, the new firm's CEO. That explains the suburban locations.

St. Louis has no shortage of lawyers doing estate work, offering wills and trusts and handling probate. Still, only half of people who die in the St. Louis area have a will, Coleman said, indicating a big under-served market.

Coleman said her research indicated a "lot of confusion" among the public. People realize they should have documents but don't know how to find an estate lawyer.

When people die without a will, their property is divided according to state law. Jointly owned property goes to the surviving owner. Certain property, such as a house, with a designated beneficiary goes to that person. The rest ends up in probate court, where it is divided among heirs, usually a spouse and children, according to a formula.

The name TuckerAllen comes from the former name of the parent firm, Lewis Rice Tucker Allen and Chubb.

American law firms rarely form other law firms within the U.S.

"I've never heard of this," said Betsi Roach, CEO of the Legal Marketing Association, a trade group for law firm marketers in Chicago. But it's common for firms to identify a specific legal niche and target their practice toward it, she said.

TuckerAllen will have 10 lawyers, hired from outside Lewis Rice. Lewis Rice, founded in 1909, has more than 160 lawyers.

Jim Gallagher --314-340-8390

[email protected]

@JimGallagher14 on Twitter

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