Nosy questions

Published: Nov. 24, 2019, 2:48 p.m.

When we meet with a new client, we ask a lot of nosy questions. You can guess why we are so invasive, but we do want to assure you that it is more than just prurience or idle curiosity. We really do need to know about family dynamics, capabilities of your family members (or limitations), and your own background, interests and desires. After we schedule your initial appointment, we will send you a questionnaire. We really do need you to fill it out. You should be as thorough, and as candid, as possible. Can't you just wait until you are actually sitting with us before answering our nosy questions? We'd rather you gave us more information in advance. That helps us direct the discussion and think of follow-up items we need to explore. It also gives you a chance to think about issues you hadn't initially considered. Also consider this: if you will fill out the questionnaire, we won't have to write down your children's names (we'll misspell someone if we do) or the account numbers we need to gather. You won't get impatient with the transcribing and skip over details that we actually need. The entire process will improve. A "scrivener's error" won't usually invalidate the document, but we all want to avoid confusing mistakes. Join us for this week's podcast as we discuss the significance of some of the nosy questions we tend to ask.