In one corner of Jeffrey Condon’s office rests a large Garfield stuffed animal. A “Kung Fu Panda” movie poster adorns one wall. An image of Snoopy hangs on another.
It’s not necessarily what you’d think of as the prototypical working space of an estate planning attorney, but Condon doesn’t see himself as the prototypical estate planning attorney.
The longtime Santa Monica resident knows the material he covers with clients can be dense, dull and highly technical, so he tries to infuse it with humor. He tries to bring it to life with anecdotes, cautionary tales and other droplets of wisdom.
It’s the approach he takes to his latest book, “The Living Trust Advisor: Everything You (and Your Financial Planner) Need to Know About Your Living Trust,” the hardcover edition of which was recently released.
Condon, who has practiced law in the fields of trusts and estates for about 30 years, will share his insights during a book signing and seminar March 12 at Barnes & Nobles bookstore on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
“If this subject is not written about in an entertaining, funny, eccentric way, then even I would fall asleep,” he said. “Humor is the way to go. ... It’s written for and accessible to the layperson, the person who knows nothing.”
For Condon, the upcoming talk builds on a law career that is rooted in Santa Monica. The son of Gerald Condon, who graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1949, he attended Franklin Elementary and Lincoln Middle schools before graduating from Samohi in 1979.
Condon then attended Santa Monica College to swim under legendary coach John Joseph before studying English at UCLA and going to Whittier Law School.
When Condon joined the family law practice, his father gave him a box of notes and dictation that the two eventually synthesized into “Beyond The Grave,” a book about leaving money for loved ones that was published in 1996 and revised in 2001. Condon has held hundreds of talks for financial institutions, insurance companies, charities, civic groups and other organizations.
Condon and his father were in business near the corner of 7th Street and Arizona Avenue until his father died in 2006. Condon now has an office near the eastern edge of the city on Ocean Park Boulevard.
In his latest book, Condon takes readers on a tour of the living trust process: from the time someone thinks about arranging a trust, picking a lawyer and understanding its parameters to the passing of one spouse and then the second spouse.
“What good is saving money for your clients ... if after they’ve died, you’ve left the family in conflict and chaos because the estate plan was messed up?” he said. “I look at is as helping families stay together, as being needed at a time when the clients most need that help,” he said. “When both parents are gone, kids come into the office and maybe they haven’t seen each other in years. Now they’re here with me for advice on what happens next. That never ceases to impress on me how important I can be in their lives.”
jeff@www.smdp.com
