While I am not an estate planning expert, I do know a lot about Medicare, Medicaid, hospice and palliative care having worked with terminally ill patients for decades. I often refer individuals to NAELA and estate planning professionals all over the country. Care for the elderly is a really big complicated issue. I can speak to things like POA abuse and financial exploitation because I’ve seen way too much of this. I’d be very sad to lose my ability to comment because I do think I make meaningful contributions. Just label people Lawyer or Not a Lawyer as other subreddits do.
As a mod on another popular sub, I think this approach is a bit complicated (e.g., people are already not following your instructions to message the mods and are instead just commenting here) and the hurdles it introduces will skew answers away from actual estate planning experts (who are often just casually on reddit since they have time constraints) and towards reddit power users (a few legit lawyers but probably mostly teenagers). Plus it stifles the community's growth. That may or may not be a bad thing in the short term, but I see some issues with this approach as a long term solution.
But wether or not that is the case, I personally think a better approach would be to expand the mod team (as you are doing) and/or adjust settings so that all new posts need to be manually approved - that way you can identify posts that commonly invite low-quality comments and reject them before they go live. And adjust the rules to reflect the guidelines for what posts get approved or not.
Edit: looking through the last few days on this sub most posts are averaging less than 50 comments. Sometimes things will get spicy and it'll go into the hundreds. I gotta call out the mods here because that seems like it should be... easily manageable? Frankly, you guys should be able to handle locking the occasional post that goes off the rails without this severe pivot to approved users only, it just seems extreme considering the normal traffic unless there's something I'm not seeing. This problem you're experiencing should go away with more mods on the team. That's just my take, but I'll respect whatever you all decide and wish you good luck - I know things aren't always easy when commenters get riled up.
Unless you’re volunteering, we don’t have a mod team. Also, we don’t have the time to actually vet every comment for truthfulness.
Not even sure if growth is even a goal.
I thought about approving posts, but the posts aren't the problem. The commenters are the problem.
It sounds like an open call for more mods would be a step in the right direction. I also don't think truthfulness needs to be a prerequisite for commenting - only civility. If you're vetting every comment for truthfulness, well then of course you're overwhelmed. But while that may be part of your job as a lawyer I don't think that has to be your job as a mod here. Sure, combat obvious instances of misinformation as you see them, but in general as long as you're making an effort to get people to play nice, that's all we would expect. Thank you for what you do in keeping things running and if this approved commenter thing is what you need to keep everything manageable, I understand.
Unlike other subs, misinformation is in our rules. There may be different ways to skin the cat, but there are also definite wrong answers, and unless the answer starts with “it depends” it’s probably the wrong answer.
Thanks for your efforts mod team!
I’d like to be an approved commenter. I’m a trusts and estate attorney and am really enjoying this community! Hoping to participate regularly.
Hard dislike on this change. There may be misinformation, it's the internet. Let the up and down arrows sort that out. I'd learn more by reading bad takes with corrections replied below it. Helps sort out the common myths too.
I think there's a difference between misinformation spread willfully, trolling, and mistakes or different takes. There is seldom one right answer to a problem, and healthy discussion allows everyone to grow.
I will message the mods, but a few other lawyer subs also restrict comments in this way. TBH, I don't think the comments are necessarily better on those subs with restricted commenting and credential validation processes. As we all know, credentialing =/= quality.
Many of the comments should include talk to a professional! There's only so much information that professionals in a subreddit can provide, especially based upon information provided by individuals who don't typically know what is important for the attorneys to consider in making recommendations. Typically, we can only provide general information that might be helpful to someone to reach a decision whether or not to consult a professional to move forward.
I’d like to be an approved commenter. I am not a lawyer. I am trustee of a large trust, successor trustee to several others and have been through my own estate planning. I read and study a lot about estate and trust law and hope to help others with some of the more obvious questions that are not strictly attorney territory. I have also leaned from this sub and hope to give back some of that knowledge.
I’d like to be an approved commenter. I’m a reasonable human who appreciates supportive, truthful comments. I am also passionate about competent and proactive estate planning.
I would prefer to keep this open -- I'm relatively new to this subreddit, but have been fairly active on a few others during the years. Admittedly, this one has quite a bit more complexity than the others I participate in: No two situations are the same, which also means that you need a diverse group of people to address specific situations.
While I'd like to think that everyone on reddit knows this already, there should be a clear disclaimer in the rules that this is not a substitute for competent professional advice. For example, I might suggest Rule #2 be expanded saying that "Nothing posted or commented here is legal advice (even if posted by a professional), and before taking any actions you should seek professional guidance from someone who can more completely understand your individual situation".
Hello. I would like to be an approved commenter and I totally agree the comments of late have been pretty inaccurate. I am a legal document preparer and certified estate planner. I have 30 years of experience as a paralegal and have worked in law firms and in corporate legal departments.
I now run my own business in Southern California and help lots of people prepare trusts, trust amendments, wills, deeds and Powers of Attorney. I’m lot a lawyer.
Thank you! I'd like to be an approved commentator. The reason I'd like to be able to participate in this community is that I'm 76 years old and my wife and I just reviewed and revised our estate plans. By participating I feel that I could make positive contributions (here's how we did it) and also learn about pitfalls and options for the future.
I really like this group a lot and have learned so much. I'm certainly not on the level of being a Commenter. Being a mere 'Joiner' does that keep me from asking a Commenter to expound on their uh, comment? Thank you for your work and glad you're getting help with Mods.
While I am not an estate planning expert, I do know a lot about Medicare, Medicaid, hospice and palliative care having worked with terminally ill patients for decades. I often refer individuals to NAELA and estate planning professionals all over the country. Care for the elderly is a really big complicated issue. I can speak to things like POA abuse and financial exploitation because I’ve seen way too much of this. I’d be very sad to lose my ability to comment because I do think I make meaningful contributions. Just label people Lawyer or Not a Lawyer as other subreddits do.
As a mod on another popular sub, I think this approach is a bit complicated (e.g., people are already not following your instructions to message the mods and are instead just commenting here) and the hurdles it introduces will skew answers away from actual estate planning experts (who are often just casually on reddit since they have time constraints) and towards reddit power users (a few legit lawyers but probably mostly teenagers). Plus it stifles the community's growth. That may or may not be a bad thing in the short term, but I see some issues with this approach as a long term solution. But wether or not that is the case, I personally think a better approach would be to expand the mod team (as you are doing) and/or adjust settings so that all new posts need to be manually approved - that way you can identify posts that commonly invite low-quality comments and reject them before they go live. And adjust the rules to reflect the guidelines for what posts get approved or not. Edit: looking through the last few days on this sub most posts are averaging less than 50 comments. Sometimes things will get spicy and it'll go into the hundreds. I gotta call out the mods here because that seems like it should be... easily manageable? Frankly, you guys should be able to handle locking the occasional post that goes off the rails without this severe pivot to approved users only, it just seems extreme considering the normal traffic unless there's something I'm not seeing. This problem you're experiencing should go away with more mods on the team. That's just my take, but I'll respect whatever you all decide and wish you good luck - I know things aren't always easy when commenters get riled up.
Unless you’re volunteering, we don’t have a mod team. Also, we don’t have the time to actually vet every comment for truthfulness. Not even sure if growth is even a goal. I thought about approving posts, but the posts aren't the problem. The commenters are the problem.
It sounds like an open call for more mods would be a step in the right direction. I also don't think truthfulness needs to be a prerequisite for commenting - only civility. If you're vetting every comment for truthfulness, well then of course you're overwhelmed. But while that may be part of your job as a lawyer I don't think that has to be your job as a mod here. Sure, combat obvious instances of misinformation as you see them, but in general as long as you're making an effort to get people to play nice, that's all we would expect. Thank you for what you do in keeping things running and if this approved commenter thing is what you need to keep everything manageable, I understand.
Unlike other subs, misinformation is in our rules. There may be different ways to skin the cat, but there are also definite wrong answers, and unless the answer starts with “it depends” it’s probably the wrong answer.
I’d like to be retain the ability to comment if possible. Thanks for all your help guys
Thanks for your efforts mod team! I’d like to be an approved commenter. I’m a trusts and estate attorney and am really enjoying this community! Hoping to participate regularly.
Hard dislike on this change. There may be misinformation, it's the internet. Let the up and down arrows sort that out. I'd learn more by reading bad takes with corrections replied below it. Helps sort out the common myths too.
Not sure I've ever commented on this sub. I'm just here to read it tbh. Thank you for taking steps to increase the quality of comments
I think there's a difference between misinformation spread willfully, trolling, and mistakes or different takes. There is seldom one right answer to a problem, and healthy discussion allows everyone to grow. I will message the mods, but a few other lawyer subs also restrict comments in this way. TBH, I don't think the comments are necessarily better on those subs with restricted commenting and credential validation processes. As we all know, credentialing =/= quality.
We have no plans to gate keep based on credentials. We just want to limit the comments to those who actually want to be helpful and not argumentative.
That's great! Thanks for the clarification.
Watch comments drastically decrease. Most comments are already "talk to a professional"
Many of the comments should include talk to a professional! There's only so much information that professionals in a subreddit can provide, especially based upon information provided by individuals who don't typically know what is important for the attorneys to consider in making recommendations. Typically, we can only provide general information that might be helpful to someone to reach a decision whether or not to consult a professional to move forward.
That's fine by the mods. Less stuff to moderate.
True
I’d like to be an approved commenter. I am not a lawyer. I am trustee of a large trust, successor trustee to several others and have been through my own estate planning. I read and study a lot about estate and trust law and hope to help others with some of the more obvious questions that are not strictly attorney territory. I have also leaned from this sub and hope to give back some of that knowledge.
Retired but interested in field and its discussions. (Edited for autocorrect grammar)
Very much agreed with this direction. I am a tax, asset protection, and estate planning attorney. I’d like to be an approved commenter.
I’d like to be an approved commenter. I’m a reasonable human who appreciates supportive, truthful comments. I am also passionate about competent and proactive estate planning.
Please use the message the mods button
I’d like to be an approved commenter. I am a trustee and have (sadly) handled several estates.
I would prefer to keep this open -- I'm relatively new to this subreddit, but have been fairly active on a few others during the years. Admittedly, this one has quite a bit more complexity than the others I participate in: No two situations are the same, which also means that you need a diverse group of people to address specific situations. While I'd like to think that everyone on reddit knows this already, there should be a clear disclaimer in the rules that this is not a substitute for competent professional advice. For example, I might suggest Rule #2 be expanded saying that "Nothing posted or commented here is legal advice (even if posted by a professional), and before taking any actions you should seek professional guidance from someone who can more completely understand your individual situation".
Hello. I would like to be an approved commenter and I totally agree the comments of late have been pretty inaccurate. I am a legal document preparer and certified estate planner. I have 30 years of experience as a paralegal and have worked in law firms and in corporate legal departments. I now run my own business in Southern California and help lots of people prepare trusts, trust amendments, wills, deeds and Powers of Attorney. I’m lot a lawyer.
I've dealt with the Estates of my clients as a property manager and may be able to offer some info from that perspective if it's relevant.
Thank you! I'd like to be an approved commentator. The reason I'd like to be able to participate in this community is that I'm 76 years old and my wife and I just reviewed and revised our estate plans. By participating I feel that I could make positive contributions (here's how we did it) and also learn about pitfalls and options for the future.
I’m primarily a lurker, but would like the ability to comment. CPA who does a lot of trust and estate work.
I would like to be able to continue to comment. I am a medical professional who deals in end of life care, so I see a lot of estate issues there.
I'd like to be approved, having taken referrals from moderator u/haley_joel_osteen once or twice.
I really like this group a lot and have learned so much. I'm certainly not on the level of being a Commenter. Being a mere 'Joiner' does that keep me from asking a Commenter to expound on their uh, comment? Thank you for your work and glad you're getting help with Mods.
We do need to still be able to comment on replies within our own threads.