Tim Harty, The Business Times

After 17 years as a municipal court judge part-time in Glenwood Springs and New Castle, Amanda N. Maurer Miller said goodbye to the bench in December 2024 and returned to full-time duty as an attorney.

Awaiting her was stewardship of the life-and-legacy-planning law firm, Maurer Miller Law, PC, which she had opened a year earlier in Glenwood Springs.

Now, she’s taking another step in her law firm’s evolution with the recent opening of a second office, this one in Grand Junction at 3154 Lakeside Drive, Unit 101.

The move made sense on a couple fronts.

One, Miller has been living in Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs since 2014. Her husband, Randy Miller, whom she married in 2018, has been in Grand Junction most of his life, and they have family in Grand Junction.

Two, she wanted to grow her firm and “work in the community I live in and support local families.” Grand Junction gives her access to a larger potential client base to help, and it will become her primary office location and residence.

At her previous law firm with two other attorneys, Miller primarily practiced estate law since 2004, but she also did some work in real estate, homeowners associations, construction law and business law.

Her focus with Maurer Miller Law will be life and legacy, helping people with estate planning and asset protection, business planning, real estate, wills and trusts, powers of attorney and advance directives, and probate and estate administration.

When it comes to practicing law, that’s where she’s most passionate, in part because she knows the benefits first-hand.

“Personally, I have lost friends and family members close to me, and I know how difficult it is for families to lose a loved one,” she said. “My children’s father, Christiaan Maurer, died at age 46 in 2019 from cancer one year after diagnosis. 

He had time to get a plan in place that helped make a very difficult situation as easy as possible from a legal perspective for our children and his family, so that we could focus on grieving and not have to go through a court process.”

Her experience tells her most people don’t understand the importance of estate planning. Of course, everyone eventually dies, but many elderly people also get to a stage where they are incapacitated, and not planning for that happening to themselves or loved ones can be complex, confusing and costly.

“Most people think it’s not going to happen to them,” Miller said. “Most people think that just happens to somebody else.”

Changing that thinking and seeking help from a professional can prevent a lot of heartache.

“It is human nature to think that we have many more years to live and that big accidents or illnesses only happen to other people,” she said. “Unfortunately, we are all going to die, and almost everyone that becomes incapacitated did not expect it to happen. It is very important to take time when we are living and have capacity to put a plan in place that will support our loved ones when we are not able to.

“Life and legacy planning is an act of love and a gift to your loved ones.”

Miller said estate-plan documents like durable powers of attorney allow family members “to avoid guardianship and conservatorship court if you become incapacitated, and wills and trusts can make the court process much easier or avoid it altogether after your death.”

The mention of wills leads to another misunderstanding many people have about end of life. They think that’s all they need to have when they die for their family to avoid probate, and that’s not the case.

“If you want your family to be able to avoid the court process, you can plan with a trust or a beneficiary (transfer on death) deed,” she said. “It is best to have a legal professional advise you about this process rather than DIYing it and hoping that it works the way you intended it to after your death.”

Miller said an area where her law firm stands apart from other firms is in the way it bills clients.

“We have flat fees rather than hourly billing,” she said. “I initially meet with new clients for two hours. During the first hour, we discuss your goals and family dynamics. You then choose the plan and flat fee that would work best for you and your family. If clients do some pre-meeting homework to prepare for the meeting, get organized, and make the most efficient use of our time together, I waive the initial meeting fee.”

Miller currently has four employees between her two offices, and she’s the only attorney. She anticipates adding an attorney to each office in the next two to three years, but she said she wants to keep the law firm small and client-focused.

She said she wants people to feel empowered, not intimidated, by the process of planning for the future.

“Life and legacy planning isn’t just about legal documents,” Miller said. “It’s about creating peace of mind for the people and the causes you love.”

Maurer Miller Law’s offices are at:

• 3154 Lakeside Drive, Unit 101, in Grand Junction
• 214 Eighth St., Suite 303, in Glenwood Springs

Phone: 970-945-4994

Email: office@maurermillerlaw.com

Website: maurermillerlaw.com

Book a consult online at maurermillerlaw.cliogrow.com/book