Wealth Planning Blog

So I’m an estate planner …well … what’s that mean? That’s a question I get all the time, whether by a prospective client or a neighbor or somebody sitting next to me at the bar. My answer: I make things easier for families during the worst possible situations. Whether that is a result of a loved one dying, becoming incapacitated, getting divorced… But let’s be honest, isn’t estate planning the easiest thing to put off and not talk about? I mean it’s morbid… sad to think about. 

When we meet with families, we not only try to recommend a customized estate plan that incorporates all of their desires, but we then proceed to hound them to get all of their “homework” done once their plan is in place. After all, signing the documents is only the first step. An “unfunded” estate plan is about as worthless as only having one sock. Although getting our clients to do their homework sometimes seems harder than teaching an old dog to do new tricks, we refuse to let our clients fail themselves. So, on the path of funding, we typically start with the house.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of administering someone’s trust estate yet, you are likely to either be involved in such an administration someday, or will have someone administering yours for you in the future. Many trusts being administered today, however, were drafted in the 80’s and 90’s and were never updated or revisited once they were put into place. This leaves children and grandchildren struggling to administer trust estates subject to terms that are either outdated or simply don’t make sense anymore for their families.