The people who answer the phone

He draws up wills and trusts, settles estates and sits through the long family meetings that make the documents easy to write. Clients tend to leave with a one-page list of who does what, and a plan their children have actually read.

He explains the ways care gets paid for, helps with Medicaid and veterans benefit applications, and handles guardianship when a parent can no longer decide alone. His rule is that nobody signs anything until they can say back, in their own words, what it does.

She drafts wills, powers of attorney and health care proxies, and names guardians for children. She works in English, Tamil and Hindi, and often meets a parent and an adult child together so the plan is explained once, to both.

She handles estate administration from the first court filing to the last accounting, and writes trusts that keep a disabled relative’s benefits safe. Executors get a calendar on day one so nothing is a surprise.