My family was once told by a tax lawyer that a certain trust absolutely, positively wouldn’t have X effect. And, several years later…it had X effect. When we went back to him, he said, “that’s not possible”. Not just some lame-ass tax lawyer. A family friend at a super-high powered wall street firm who would never have handled our piddly matter otherwise–fees wouldve been more than the amt at issue.
Ever since then, i have taken any hardline legal opinion about the outcome of any event as wrong. Maybe my skepticism is too strong, maybe the lawyer was right and the effect was absolutely unforeseeable, the result of a rule change, or god knows what….. but I prefer to hear from anyone offering an opinion, “Almost certainly” the outcome would be X, unless (and then the explanation of how it potentially goes the other way….)
the best laid plans, contracts, trust, schemes, CDOs, of mice and men oft go awry.
And I personally never ever guarantee anything, ever, no outcome, nothing. I won’t guarantee that we’re not in the f**king Matrix right now getting fed by tubes.
