Laura Pope

Laura leads Oath’s Arkansas offices, where she helps families get ahead of the curve with estate plans that work when they’re needed most. She made the shift from corporate law to estate planning to focus on work that puts family first.

After law school she set up shop in corporate America – working for Walmart—where she was in a great position to make a really fantastic salary, but she wasn’t fulfilled and she didn’t see her kids enough. She was making good money but she was very unhappy. She and her husband decided that their family had to come first, and that all the money in the world wouldn’t make up for a momma that wasn’t around. This led her to a law firm where they focused on estate planning and probate. She learned pretty quickly that probate is sad, costly, and stressful. The saddest aspect for her was learning it was completely preventable with the right planning. She also discovered that most folks have misconceptions about the law, and that folks think they are prepared, but ultimately, their plan is incomplete or insufficient. We are living in a DIY world, but DIY can be dangerous in estate planning. She has seen good people with good intentions do what they thought was right and believed their online trust was going to protect them and their families. Unfortunately, without proper guidance some of these folks were really no better off than if they had done no planning at all. She also discovered that not all attorneys share her goals and intentions to set up clients in way that will put them in the best position to accomplish their goals and avoid probate in the future. Some of these attorneys are just not experienced, but she believes some attorneys are ensuring they get future business—insufficient plans lead to probate or worse. Everyone can benefit from a plan, and although it is a complex area of law, once she has the opportunity to sit down with someone and break it down into simple terms, and see the lightbulb go off with folks who now understand their options, she can create the right plan for them and their family. This can be life changing. From the immediate relief of knowing they are now truly in a position to protect their wealth and their family to the actual use of those tools that have been put in place when the unthinkable or the inevitable happens, their plan will be there to protect them and their loved ones. A good plan doesn’t have to be complicated, or outrageously expensive, but it is something that everyone needs. She loves getting to be a part of that.