Rory Morse (Stone Arch Law Office)

Rory Morse is a partner and attorney at Stone Arch Law Office, an estate planning firm in Minneapolis. 

Born in Santa Rosa but raised an hour north of San Francisco in Petaluma, Morse’s formative years didn’t initially suggest that he would one day become a revered attorney.  

“From a social standpoint, I was a pretty awkward kid,” Morse recalls of his teenage years, albeit with a laugh. 

“I had a stretch as a goth, but with that being said, high school was really good. People were very welcoming and for the most part we had an uplifting community.”

After high school, Morse eventually attended San Francisco State to become a computer programmer, but the strenuous and arduous curriculum caused him to pivot and ultimately earn a degree in philosophy. 

Inspired by one of his professors who mentioned that philosophy students exhibited traits that would make them successful attorneys, Morse later signed up for the LSAT, which is a standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council for prospective law school candidates. 

“Critical thinking, logic, argumentation; those are all skills that translate really well to law school,” Morse shares. 

“In that sense, it seemed like a good idea to go that route because a philosophy degree was not going to get me very far,” he adds with a chuckle.

Not long after sitting for the LSAT, Morse was accepted into the Santa Clara University School of Law.  

An intentional listener who prides himself on assessing his clients needs versus inundating them with legalese, Morse was attracted to estate planning, a side of the law one will likely never see adjudicated on a TV show, but a niche that is still a vital element for certain factions of society. 

“And estate planning seemed like an area of the law where I could truly feel proud about that kind of work I did,” says Morse, who before graduating got an internship with a probate court and a small firm in California that specialized in estate planning. 

For context, estate planning involves creating legal documents pertaining to matters such as:

Assigning power of attorney, establishing wills, healthcare directives, and revocable trusts. 

What makes these four components of estate planning crucial is that by cementing a trust or will, Morse’s clients can ensure that their loved ones are taken care of in the event that something tragic or unexpected occurs (i.e. death or critical injury).  

“Essentially, we’re creating a series of documents that allow someone to take action on behalf of a client at some point in the future, if need be,” says Morse, who then stresses that if an individual does not establish a trust or will prior to an unforeseen circumstance, then their affairs are turned over to probate court, where the government then disperses one’s assets under State law.  

For reference, the people who typically seek out Morse and Stone Arch Law Office’s services are younger couples who have just started a family, and those nearing retirement who want to be proactive in fortifying the delineation of their estate upon their passing. 

“Many times people aren’t thinking about incapacity, or what could happen if they were out of commission, but once they have a child that mindset begins to change, and then they become more mindful of wanting to protect their assets and plan for the future,” Morse explains.

“As for clients approaching retirement, by that point in their lives they have likely accumulated a collection of assets, and so now they’re looking to establish a plan of action for the years ahead, and their eventual passing.” 

It should be noted that while establishing a trust or a will is not a cheap endeavor, to do so also won’t cost a small fortune. 

For basic estate planning services at Stone Arch Law Office, clients can expect to spend around $1,500, a flat fee that may increase if the scope of work is larger than initially anticipated, but that contingency is something Morse discusses with his clients at the outset. 

“That $1,500 fee is for a simple will-based estate plan that includes power of attorney and a healthcare directive,” Morse says. 

“Working off that, the price goes up to around $6,000 for a married couple who requires additional tax planning and wants to make sure that they keep all of their assets out of probate with a revocable trust.”

The term probate has been mentioned several times in this article, and just for clarity’s sake, probate refers to a court dividing up an individual’s assets if there is no plan in place prior to their death. 

Counterintuitively, probate is still required even when a valid will exists.

“If there is no estate plan in place, then the assets go to intestate estate, which means state law controls every aspect of the estate,” Morse reaffirms. 

“Most people want to avoid that, so that’s why they work with my firm.”

Just as life is wont to change unexpectedly and mercilessly, a will or trust can be updated after it has been established, so while estate planning protects people for the future, that same estate can also be amended to account for life’s unpredictability.  

That type of info, when combined with Morse’s consultative approach to estate planning, is what makes him and Stone Arch Law Office unique among their competitors. 

“We bring a lot of value for the price that we charge,” Morse confidently states. 

“Clients can certainly find a cheaper legal service than us by going online to Legal Zoom or working with a smaller firm, but those services are going to be reflective of that lower price.”

Adds the dynamic Morse, whose nuanced expertise has brought countless families peace of mind:

“With firms at a lower price point, often those attorneys are not as sophisticated as the ones we have here [Stone Arch Law Office], but the reverse is also true. A client could go to a big firm in downtown Minneapolis for a more comprehensive service, but they could easily pay $10,000-$15,000 for that level of service.”

In that sense, clients come to Stone Arch Law Office not because they’re looking to hire someone to file paperwork on their behalf, but because they want a seasoned and experienced professional to guide them toward their ideal solution, all while ensuring proper communication occurs at every step of the process. 

“I’ve had conversations with clients who have noted that when they work with other firms, the communication is poor, or they are not prioritized after they make a payment,” Morse shares. 

“Particularly for estate planning, we have a verified communication process and we are able to ensure that our clients’ needs are consistently met and that we are doing what we can to effectively communicate with them.” 

As for the future of Morse and Stone Arch Law Office, they have big plans that include building out satellite offices in Woodbury and Minnetonka, a move that will involve the firm hiring more attorneys and in-house staff to manage a presumed increase in workflow. 

“By opening those other locations, we obviously want to attract more clients, but we also want to deliver the same care and service that our clients have become accustomed to for all these years,” Morse says. 

“Again, we’re happy with our growth, which is why we are looking to expand, but we also don’t want to sacrifice our core principles to achieve that success because with what we do, it’s all about helping people.” QS

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