CT Trust Counsel, LLC, www.cttrustcounsel.com, was established by Attorney John O'Brien to provide relationship-driven estate planning services for all members of the family.  The process is about you.  You tell us what you would like to achieve, we listen, and then give you a recommendation based on your goals and objectives.  The process must be more than simply creating and executing documents.  For us, it's about our relationship with you.

In addition to getting away from a traditional model of estate planning focused solely on the drafting and execution of documents, we have also moved away from the traditional fee model.  When you hire us, we will tell you the price.  You will know what our bill will be so that there are no surprises.  You wouldn't buy anything else without knowing the price up front and you should expect the same when you hire us.

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John O'Brien - Before telling you about myself, I want to make clear my philosophy.  Why?  Because it's most important that you understand that I am most concerned about you and what you want to achieve, rather than merely explaining who I am.

My team and I are committed to relationship-oriented, relationship-driven representation.  Estate planning is necessarily a personal process and as such, it is absolutely essential that an ongoing life-long relationship is developed with our clients.  It is through this ongoing relationship and our active listening to the client's needs that we work best with our clients.  I want to stress that this is about you, not me.

Now that I have made my philosophy clear, please let me tell you a little about myself.  I graduated from Fairfield University with a B.A. in Political Science and from Boston University School of Law.  Professionally I'm active in WealthCounsel an organization of more than 1,700 attorneys nationwide collaborating on estate planning techniques; the American Bar Association, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section; and the Connecticut Bar Association, Trusts and Estate Section and the Elder Law Section.  I am also the author of the CT Estate Planning Report.  Staying active in the estate planning field, I frequently speak to groups about estate planning topics.

To balance life, I enjoy spending time with my family - wife, two kids, dog and cat -- frequenting many of the wonderful museums in and around Connecticut.  Passions include tennis, golf, rowing and sailing.  Reading anything about Early America and the Civil War keeps me hooked to my love of American history.

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Jacqueline Ezell - Jacque has been Attorney O'Brien's paralegal for the last sixteen years and an estate planning/probate paralegal for twenty-four years.  She graduated from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Business Administration and is a member of the National Association of Legal Assistants & Paralegals.  Jacque is also the Client Services Director at CT Trust Counsel.  She makes the place run well.

When Jacque is not working, she enjoys cooking, water activities, and spending family time with her husband, two kids, granddaughter, cat and a dog.