So, your doctor (or mechanic) has retired. So what now?

For over five decades, Dallas customers have trusted Inwood Motors owner Clay Hansard to repair their vehicles with unquestioning integrity. He first bought the venerable garage on Newmore Avenue in the early 1970s with his father, who ran it for years to the same ethical standards.

Hansard decided to retire in 2022. But before he did that, he arranged for his customers to be taken care of by Scott Richardson of Eagle Transmission & Automotive, another Dallas mechanic with the same values. Today, the old Inwood Motors phone number calls Richardson directly.

“I had the best clientele in Dallas,” Hansard, 76, says. “It was hard to leave my clients with nowhere to go, and that’s why I made the deal with Scott.”

Inwood Motors customers are in luck. As more and more proven professionals such as Hansard retire or, in some cases, pass away, their longtime patrons and clients may find themselves in a difficult position. Finding a replacement can be stressful, especially for seniors who are faced with the task of choosing a new lawyer, therapist, doctor, CPA, veterinarian or hairdresser after years of working with one trusted service provider.

Fortunately, there are ways to navigate these situations that will make the transition easier, whether the provider’s departure is planned or not. Take, for example, attorneys who are advised by the State Bar of Texas to appoint a “trustee-attorney” in advance. This ensures that if your lawyer’s practice suddenly ends for any reason, the custodian lawyer can take certain steps – such as accessing your files to return them to you or transfer them to your new lawyer.

Lawyers are also strongly encouraged to create formal succession plans, ideally several years before their target retirement date. They may hire a younger lawyer and, with your permission, gradually transfer part of your business to them. Or they may join or merge with another firm.

In these cases, “I think the client should ask to meet with the person or say, ‘Tell me about him; I’d like to know what their experience is, whether they can handle my case—just be a good consumer,” says Gregory W. Sampson, senior counsel at Gray Reed in Dallas and chairman of the state bar’s practice management board. A committee that deals with succession planning. What if the client doesn’t like the new lawyer? “Then they should ask that lawyer if he can refer them to someone else, or ask friends if they have a lawyer they can refer them to,” Sampson says. “These are your two best paths.”

Reassessing your needs

According to Wendy Palmer, a licensed clinical social worker in Dallas, therapists, like attorneys, are encouraged to appoint a “record custodian.” When faced with both sudden and planned retirement, patients may experience a “grief reaction,” which includes phases of shock, denial, sadness, anger and ultimately acceptance, she said.

Transferring to a new therapist can be an opportunity for a patient to reassess their needs, Palmer notes. “Maybe (you) don’t need to go to therapy anymore. … Or maybe it’s time to try a new type of therapy—a different model, technique, or even a different method, like group therapy. Hopefully, this discussion will take place in the context of the therapeutic relationship as part of the termination process.”

Dr. Hugh McClung, 72, a recently retired internist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said he gave his patients at least six months’ notice and also made recommendations about who they would be best matched with. He also told people: “Talk to your friends, see who they go to, see who they like. Go in and talk to the suggested doctor and see what you think,” he notes. “Because it’s an interview type process. It’s good when there is some kind of mutual understanding.”

“Deeper Questions About Aging”

The transition process is equally important when it comes to those who care about your money, such as a financial advisor or certified public accountant. When you switch to a new CPA, you’ll need copies of all your tax records, according to Aaron Borden of accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton in Dallas.

As Palmer noted, Borden says clients can use financial experts’ transitions to reconsider their sometimes-changing requirements. “Have I outgrown this prepper?” Or, on the other hand: “As my complexity decreases, I may not need the services of a firm of this caliber.” I see it going both ways.”

Palmer places such transitions in the context of modern aging itself. “I’m still working. I’m a baby boomer. But I saw people younger than me retiring and thought, “This is so interesting,” Palmer says. “It can be shocking, upsetting and cause great anxiety because suddenly someone you have known and relied on for advice for years is out of the picture.

“I think it speaks to deeper questions about aging—and our sense of ourselves as vital people and not wanting to be sidelined,” she adds. “It’s also just a way of life. For some reason, baby boomers think (when faced with such transitions) that this is something new. But people have been doing this for years.