The Weible Law Firm

08/21/2026

It’s a bad idea to hire a ‘licensed document preparer’ or a ‘paralegal’ or someone who really just sells “financial plannng” and “who works with lawyers” to do your estate planning. EVEN a “simple” will is not that simple when the drafter doesn’t know what they are doing.

There are lots, and lots, and lots of probate fights, and lots and lots and lots of money spent, needlessly, in probate fights, that happened JUST because the drafter was a ‘document preparer’ or ‘paralegal’ and did not know what they were doing.

You won’t be around to see the awful mess these incompetently drafted documents make. So choose wisely.

And, this includes those people who offer you a ‘free dinner’ or ‘free lunch’ to give you a lecture on Estate Planning. How, for goodness sake, can someone explain to YOU what YOU need … not just inaccurate generalities … without knowing ALL about YOUR estate? Do you want to spill your guts about YOUR estate in front of 100 people finishing their lunch?

Finally, it is just flatly false, in Arizona, that you should want to ‘avoid probate’. It is quite false that trust administration is easier, faster or cheaper than probate. Not true. Anyone who. tells. you otherwise is not trustworthy.

12/09/2024

Please be advised that “Luke Weible” is an imposter.

“He” does not work for the Weible Law Firm and never has.

He is a scam artist. Beware.

Scott Weible.

03/31/2024

I, and my Firm, prepare many revocable trusts every year. I think they are, one of many, useful estate planning tools. Every attorney you talk to about estate planning should talk to you about them.

It is, not, however, true that probate cases involve “excessive attorney fees”. The attorney fees for a contested probate case are not markedly different than those for a contested trust administration.

SOOOOOO, if you speak to one of these ‘document preparers’ or ‘paralegals’ or attorneys who operate ‘trust mills’, who try to scare you into buying a “trust” because of what they tell you are “excessive attorney fees” in probate, or because probate “takes years”, you should run the other way.

So, here’s a kind of primer in how to talk to an “estate planner”:

1.) Are you a licensed attorney?
2.) What kind of license do you have?
3.) Do you have license which qualifies you to prepare trusts?
4.) What qualifies YOU to prepare trusts?
5.) What course of study did you complete that trained you how to prepare estate plans?
5.) Do YOU yourself prepare the trust (or will!)
6.) If you ‘work with an attorney’, what specific role does the attorney play in drafting my documents? How long does the ‘attorney’ typically spend on a set of estate planning documents?
7.) Does “the attorney” read, correct and approve the specific wording of the trust/documents you want to prepare for me?
8.) Please explain exactly how “probate involves excessive attorney fees”. What exactly do you consider “excessive attorney fees”?
9.) Isn’t it true that, a contested trust can also lead to significant attorney fees?
10.) Do you also handle probate litigation? Trust litigation?
11.) If my trust/will becomes embroiled in litigation who is the attorney who you would recommend to handle that litigation?
12.) How many trusts a month/a year do you personally prepare?
13.) How many trusts a month/a year does this ‘Firm’/Business prepare?
14.) What is the “attorneys” standard hourly billing rate?
15.) What part of the $x,###.oo that you charge for my estate planning is paid to the attorney?
16.) How many people in your firm are tasked with preparing estate plans? What are their licensures?
17.) If something is not done right with my estate plan, who is responsible for the errors … You? The Attorney?

As the Knight says to Indiana Jones: Choose wisely.

01/07/2023

New Short-Term Rental Law in Oro Valley, Arizona.

If you live in Oro Valley, or even the Greater Tucson Area, you’ll want to know about these new laws, whether you are a “short-term landlord” or a near-by property owner. In addition, if you yourself use short-term rentals, you’ll want to ask your landlord to prove that they have complied with all local laws, as the landlord’s failure to meet local codes could get you into hot water, too:

Thanks to the Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce:

OV adopts rules for short-term / vacation rental properties
by Dave Perry
Special to The Chamber


On Wednesday, a unanimous Oro Valley Town Council adopted what it called “reasonable regulations” for short-term / vacation rental properties in the community.
And it’s giving owners of short-term / vacation rentals until early May to comply with the rules.

“We didn’t invent this ordinance,” Councilmember Tim Bohen said. It is being created to anticipate any “major problems” with parties, noise, parking and other violations experienced by communities “throughout the state,” he added.

Paul Melcher, Oro Valley’s director of community and economic development, estimated there are between 260 and 400 short-term vacation rental properties within Oro Valley. Some may not be registered with the town. It is a growing industry of businesses, generally operated by sole proprietors, generating economic activity, tourism, employment, and resulting sales, utilities and bed tax revenues for the community. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022, Oro Valley collected $512,456 in 6 percent bed tax revenues from short-term rental properties. That makes short-term / vacation rentals a multi-million-dollar industry in the community.

Doug Seemann, a 30-year Oro Valley resident, and his wife own their primary residence as well as a second home in Oro Valley they rent through the platform AirBNB. He told council the economic benefit and tax revenue generated through short-term / vacation rental properties is “far in excess” of the town’s regulatory and enforcement expense.

At this point, complaints about short-term / vacation rentals are relatively few. Lt. Carmen Trevizo of the Oro Valley Police Department told the council that, in 2022, OVPD responded to 7 complaints about short-term / vacation rentals “that affected quality of life.”

“The biggest thing is, people don’t want party houses,” Councilmember Josh Nicolson said. Party houses “reflect poorly on responsible short-term rental owners.”

Council studied rules and regulations for months ahead of Wednesday’s approval. These rules identify prohibited uses of such properties, requirements to notify neighbors both before a business is opened and annually prior to its permit renewal, provision of emergency contact information, requirement for background checks, and more.

“It’s something we definitely want to be ahead of,” Councilmember Steve Solomon said Wednesday. “There could be, in the future, potential” for abuse by renters. Mayor Joe Winfield expressed his agreement with Solomon.

Owners of short-term / vacation rentals are being given time, and tools, to comply with the town’s rules. Nicolson suggested the grace period; “most are small business operators, not big corporations,” he said.

“We want to make sure it’s easy to follow the process, and be in compliance, without it being an undue burden,” Solomon said.

To read Oro Valley’s current rules regarding short-term / vacation rentals, click here: Short Term Rental and Vacation Rental Regulations

07/09/2022

Inflation Everywhere. Even justice costs more.

I read today in the “Legal Dive”

(https://www.legaldive.com/news/large-cities-saw-highest-law-firm-rate-hikes-in-the-us/626573/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20Weekly%20Roundup:%20Legal%20Dive:%20Daily%20Dive%2007-09-2022&utm_term=Legal%20Dive%20Weekender >

that, basically, lawyer rates in the U. S. have risen an average of 3.4% compared to 2021. This data comes from the 2022 Enterprise Legal Management Trends Report LexisNexis CounselLink that came out last week.

Just to give you an idea about what the rates are in different places, it was reported that New York City’s “median” rate for partners is $955.00 per hour, Washington, D.C.’s $872.00 per hour, San Francisco’s $580.00 per hour, Boston’s $830.00 per hour, Houston $572.00 per hour, Nebraska’s state median rate rose to $349.00 per hour, while Wisconsin’s state median rate rose to $475.00 per hour. Whereas the Netherlands came in at $687.00 per hour, UK at $736.00 per hour,

The rates law firm partners in the U.S. charged clients last year rose an average of 3.4%, according to a LexisNexis CounselLink report.

05/17/2022

"THE BITTERNESS OF POOR QUALITY
REMAINS LONG AFTER THE
SWEETNESS OF LOW PRICE IS
FORGOTTEN.”

-BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

04/27/2022

We, at the Weible Law Firm PLLC, are not the most expensive lawyers in town, nor are we the cheapest lawyers in town.
But, we DO provide excellent and unequaled CUSTOMER SERVICE. We give our clients MORE than what they pay for;
and we do it with a smile.

"Customer Service" can be defined as what, for example, you do for your client that you do not charge them for ... such as agreeing to an evening appointment without an extra charge, or delivering your product on the way home, without an extra charge, or even letting your employees perform off-site services for your good clients (say, driving to their home to notarize their documents) without charging the client extra. Customer Service includes just calling your potential client back promptly ... even sometimes after hours. Customer Service is the most important thing a business provides ... even more important than the actual products/services it sells, because good customer service personalizes the business relationship and gives the customer the proper respect and honesty he, or she, deserves.

So, for example, Starbucks replaces the coffee you just bought, if you drop it. Or, when the USPS delivers mail, sometimes they will bring it to the door, instead of leaving it the mailbox. No extra charge. FedEx carefully closes your gate, and does not slam it ... or delivers the package the day you need it, even if they have to work overtime. A lawyer might, for example, offer to mail copies of her clients' estate planning documents to the client's children on the East Coast, at no extra charge.

My favorite example is of the Porsche dealership in Pasadena. If a customer brought his, or her, 911 Turbo Carrera in to change the spark plugs, the normal service charge is $600.00! This is because the car is designed so that you have to actually drop the engine down out of the (rear-engined) car to get at the sparkplugs. Even the people who can afford these cars don't like paying $600.00 for someone to change their sparkplugs. So, this particular dealership gives its mechanics permission to do 'off-site' tune-ups for their customers, essentially as independent contractors. The Dealership doesn't get any money for the work, but the mechanic gets a little fee (not $600.00, but probably a couple of hundred bucks), and the customer saves some money and time. So, everyone's happy ... most of all the customer. So, the customer is so impressed with the Dealer's willingness to 'do her a favor' that the customer never thinks of buying their next $150,000.00 car from anyone else! CUSTOMER SERVICE!

You should look for lawyers, law firms, coffee shops and people who mow your lawn, who charge you a good and fair price for their services, but don't niggle with you about the little things.