Financial Estate Planning

Draw a better picture for those who will be affected.

When it comes to planning for your incapacity or death, it’s easy to do a quick Google search or pick up a publication with dozens of articles on drafting wills, creating trusts, or avoiding estate taxes. But, we believe you’re more than that. Inter-generational wealth transfer and estate planning are most successful when they go beyond the legal basics.

Did you just get married or buy a home? Maybe you’ve recently had children? Or, are you more settled in life and your children are ready for custodial roles? Planning for disability, incapacity, or death is not just for the elderly or wealthy – it’s a step everyone should be completing, and revising, at all times.

Be proactive

Planning today means you can potentially lessen the confusion and stress that accompanies the tragic loss, incapacity, or disability of a loved one. Use the following steps to help ensure that those affected have the time and emotional capacity to focus on what really matters.

1. Have a conversation

Start the forward-thinking conversations with your family regarding end-of-life decisions. Open and honest communication will help all those involved. The more questions you answer now, the more energy loved ones will have to focus on their own grieving process.

2. Name your advisors

Compile a list of the names and contact information for your legal, financial and tax advisors. These people will be critically important for your loved ones as they seek to understand your wishes.

3. Prepare comprehensive financial statements:

Include everything you would normally expect on an income statement and balance sheet…but go a little further. Make sure you have listed:

  • The circumstances of a pension payout
  • Information regarding every insurance policy you own including life, disability, long term care, homeowners and auto, etc.

4. Create a balance sheet, which includes your assets and liabilities

Some things to include:

  • Comprehensive information on your accounts
  • Account numbers
  • Information regarding ownership
  • Beneficiary designations
  • Company where the account is held
  • End-of-year statements
  • Secured and unsecured debts
  • Home, auto, and personal loans
  • Credit card numbers, online logins, and statements

*Special note: Are you using online portals to access this information? Make sure someone knows the usernames and passwords.

5. List your personal items

Name the personal property that is important to you or your family members. Have a discussion with those you’d like to transfer items to and clarify that they are interested and what you wish to give. Consider also:

  • Photographing each piece
  • Mentioning this list in your will
  • Reviewing the list with your attorney while drafting/amending your will

6. List your documents

Your documents are assets too. Create a list of legal items you have and indicate where each one is stored along with any other necessary information needed to translate what it’s for. Some of these might be your:

  • Will
  • Living will
  • Organ donation information
  • Health care proxy
  • General or springing powers of attorney
  • Statutory gift riders
  • Trust documents
  • Custodial information

7. Write out your final wishes

Consider writing a letter or note outlining your final wishes. There is an enormous amount of stress and guilt amongst surviving loved ones who try to best represent what they think you would have wanted. Don’t leave them wondering. Some things you can decide on now:

  • A funeral home of choice
  • How you’d organize a wake, calling hours and the funeral
  • If you’ve pre-paid for funeral services
  • Flower or music choices
  • Cremation or burial
  • Casket, urn or headstone choices
  • Cemetery information
  • An in memoriam charity

Keep in mind: The above instructions should not be included in your last will and testament. Instead, they should be kept in an easily accessible location. Sadly, these are frequently left in a locked safe, safe deposit box, or written in a will – all of which are often not reviewed until after the funeral has occurred.

Inter-generational wealth planning is increasingly complex. The more open we are about the realities of planning these events, the more we can help alleviate worry for those we love most.

Looking for more advice on writing your plan? Sign up for a complimentary consultation with True Living Financial.