Some people assume that because they’ve named a specific heir as the beneficiary of their IRA in their will or trust that there’s no need to list the same person again as beneficiary in their IRA paperwork. Because of this, they often leave the IRA beneficiary form blank or list “my estate” as the beneficiary.

But this is a major mistake—and one that can lead to serious complications and expense.

IRAs Aren’t Like Other Estate Assets
First off, the person you name on your IRA’s beneficiary form is the one who will inherit the account’s funds, even if a different person is named in your will or in a trust. Your IRA beneficiary designation controls who gets the funds, no matter what you may indicate elsewhere.

Given this, you must ensure your IRA’s beneficiary designation form is up to date and lists either the name of the person you want to inherit your IRA, or the name of the trustee, if you want it to go to a revocable living trust or special IRA trust you’ve prepared. For example, if you listed an ex-spouse as the beneficiary of your IRA and forget to change it to your current spouse, your ex will get the funds when you die, even if your current spouse is listed as the beneficiary in your will.

Probate Problems
Moreover, not naming a beneficiary, or naming your “estate” in the IRA’s beneficiary designation form, means your IRA account will be subject to the court process called probate. Probate costs unnecessary time and money and guarantees your family will get stuck in court.

When you name your desired heir on the IRA beneficiary form, those funds will be available almost immediately to the named beneficiary following your death, and the money will be protected from creditors. But if your beneficiary must go through probate to claim the funds, he or she might have to wait months, or even years, for probate to be finalized.

Plus, your heir may also be on the hook for attorney and executor fees, as well as potential liabilities from creditor claims, associated with probate, thereby reducing the IRA’s total value.

Reduced Growth and Tax Savings
Another big problem caused by naming your estate in the IRA beneficiary designation or forgetting to name anyone at all is that your heir will lose out on an important opportunity for tax savings and growth of the funds. This is because the IRS calculates how the IRA’s funds will be dispersed and taxed based on the owner’s life expectancy. Since your estate is not a human, it’s ineligible for a valuable tax-savings option known as the “stretch provision” that would be available had you named the appropriate beneficiary.

Typically, when an individual is named as the IRA’s beneficiary, he or she can choose to take only the required minimum distributions over the course of his or her life expectancy. “Stretching” out the payments in this way allows for much more tax-deferred growth of the IRA’s invested funds and minimizes the amount of income tax due when withdrawals are made.

However, if the IRA’s beneficiary designation lists “my estate” or is left blank, the option to stretch out payments is no longer available. In such cases, if you die before April 1st of the year you reach 70 ½ years old (the required beginning date for distributions), your estate will have to pay out all of the IRA’s funds within five years of your death. If you die after age 70 1/2, the estate will have to make distributions over your remaining life expectancy.

This means the beneficiary who eventually gets your IRA funds from your estate will have to take the funds sooner—and pay the deferred taxes upon distribution. This limits their opportunity for additional tax-deferred growth of the account and requires him or her to pay a potentially hefty income tax bill.

A Simple Fix
Fortunately, preventing these complications is super easy—just be sure to name your chosen heir as beneficiary in your IRA paperwork (along with at least one alternate beneficiary). And remember to update the named beneficiary if your life circumstances change, such as after a death or divorce.

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth and defining your legacy,

living trust 91024In 2017, NBA team owner Gail Miller made headlines when she announced that she was effectively no longer the owner of the Utah Jazz or the Vivint Smart Home Arena. These assets, she said, were being placed into a family trust, therefore raising interest in an estate planning tool previously known only to the very wealthy­–the dynasty trust.

Dynasty Trusts Explained

A dynasty trust (also called a “legacy trust”) is a special irrevocable trust that is intended to survive for many generations. The beneficiaries may receive limited payments from the trust, but asset ownership remains with the trust as long as the trust is in effect. In some states, a legal rule known as the Rule Against Perpetuities limits how long a dynasty trust can last.

The rule against perpetuities is a common law concept that still applies in most states. It generally provides that a trust may not last longer than 21 years after the death of the last potential beneficiary to die who was living at the time the trust was established.

California has enacted the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities (USRAP), which provides that a trust may last at least 90 years before the common law rule is applied. In fact, this 90-year “wait and see” approach in USRAP now applies in most other states, too.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Wealthy families often use dynasty trusts as a way of keeping the money “in the family” for many generations. Rather than distribute assets over the life of a beneficiary, dynasty trusts consolidate the ownership and management of family wealth. The design of these trusts makes them exempt from estate taxes and the generation-skipping transfer tax, at least under current laws, so that wealth has a better ability to grow over time, rather than having as much as a 40-50% haircut at the death of each generation.

However, these benefits also come at the expense of other advantages. For example, since dynasty trusts are irrevocable and rely on a complex interplay of tax rules and state law; changes to them are much more difficult, or even potentially impossible as a practical matter, compared to non-dynasty trusts. Because changes are so difficult (or impossible), the design of a dynasty trust needs to anticipate any and all changes in family structure (e.g. a divorce, a child’s adoption) and assets (e.g. stock valuation, land appraisals), decades before any such changes occur.

Is a Dynasty Trust Right for Your Family?

In the past, these kinds of trusts were usually only used by very wealthy families whose fortunes would be subject to large estate taxes. However, dynasty trusts are powerful tools for “regular” families today who which to protect estates not only from taxes, but also from divorces, creditors or the ill-advised spending habits of beneficiaries. To learn more about dynasty trusts other estate planning strategies, call our office today.

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth and defining your legacy,

Marc Garlett 91024

legacy 91024One of the most important aspects of your estate plan is – or at least should be – protecting and passing on your legacy. And this coming holiday season is a great opportunity to reminisce about your family’s stories, values, and history because you’ll probably have your loved ones nearby.

While having those conversations is important, did you know you can also use a personal property memorandum in your estate plan to pass along special memories and stories about specific items that are meaningful to you and connect your family with the past?

What Is a Personal Property Memorandum?

California state law allows you to include a “personal property memorandum” in your estate plan. This supplemental document, specifically referenced in your will or living trust, lets you describe which personal property items you wish to leave to heirs, without having to call your lawyer and arrange for a meeting. You can handwrite or type this document, but it must be signed and dated to be valid. In conjunction with a will or living trust, a personal property memorandum can provide a roadmap for your executor regarding the distribution of specified items to your beneficiaries.

One important feature of a personal property memorandum is that you can change or update it whenever you like without the assistance of an attorney or notary. This freedom can be beneficial to you, because although you can also change your will as often as you like (and you absolutely should update it periodically to make sure it still reflects your wishes!), updating your will or living trust does require a visit to the estate planner’s office.

Another great reason to have a personal property memorandum in addition to your will and living trust is that your personal possessions likely change more frequently than other assets. For example, you probably add items to your closet more often than you add vehicles to your driveway.

What Can Be Included in a Personal Property Memorandum?

Not every asset can be distributed using a personal property memorandum! However, here are a few examples of assets that we commonly see people list in their personal property memorandum:

  • Furniture
  • Jewelry
  • Clothes
  • Books
  • Photographs and portraits
  • Important certificates (birth, marriage, death, citizenship/naturalization)
  • Collections (coins, stamps, dolls, figurines, etc.)
  • Other family heirlooms

Taking Your Personal Property Memorandum to the Next Level

We include a personal property memorandum as part of each client’s trust plan, but more importantly, I always suggest being a little creative with the process. Instead of just using the legal documents to pass on valuable heirlooms, I encourage each client to take a picture of every item of importance and write two paragraphs on the back of each picture.

The first paragraph is the story of why that item is meaningful. How, why, and when was it acquired? What is the item’s history? Why is the item so important to you? The second paragraph is the story of why you chose that particular person to receive the item. Why is continuing that item’s story on through them so important to you?

The picture makes it clear which items you’re talking about so there’s no confusion. The two paragraphs transform the gift from the realm estate planning documents and legalese into that of heart and soul, making the gift that much more meaningful to the recipient, and continuing the story of the item for future generations just as you ensure the story of your connection to the item lives on.

Giving It Away Now Versus Waiting Until Later

One option you always have is to give personal items to your loved ones while you’re still alive. You can share with them the accompanying stories as you’re making the gift. Indeed, this in-person exchange is often the surest way to know your wishes will be followed. If you do choose to give away possessions during your lifetime, you must be aware of any potential gift tax consequences that could arise for items of a larger value. But, generally any gift or series of gifts, within the calendar year, valued at less than $14,000 (up to $15,000 starting in 2018) can be given without concern.

Remember, verbal wishes alone are insufficient to gift personal property after you’ve passed away. So whether you decide to hand down your prized possessions now or later, know that one of the best gifts you can give your loved ones is the story behind a personal possession that connects it with you and your family forever. A good estate plan not only protects your family financially, it also protects and passes on the stories and heirlooms of your life’s legacy.

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth and securing your legacy,

Marc Garlett 91024

children's inheritanceMost people know estate planning can help you pass along your material wealth, but what about your intangible wealth like your wisdom, values, and life experiences? Studies show that intangible wealth is valued by heirs even more highly than tangible wealth. It is also the wealth that lasts the longest, and the wealth that’s lost forever if care isn’t taken to preserve and pass it along.

Don’t get me wrong. The money’s important. But focusing on the money alone squanders an incredible opportunity during the estate planning process to account for the most important part of your wealth – the human capital you’ve accumulated during your life. With that in mind, here are five things which should be included in every comprehensive estate plan, but often aren’t:

  1. Your rich life story

You may think it’s all been said before, but this is the perfect time to schedule or conduct recording sessions about your own personal life narrative. These recordings will be treasured while you’re still here and long after you’re gone, too. It doesn’t have to be scripted or scary. You can just talk about particularly fond memories, knowing you’re creating a time capsule of sorts that will contain the uniqueness of your personality and the experiences that shaped you into the person you are today. And perhaps most importantly, this gives you the opportunity to share the valuable lessons you’ve learned from those experiences. Your family will be better for it.

  1. How you’d like to be honored

Estate planning involves considering some weighty decisions when it comes to long-term care, powers of attorney, and other situations that may arise should you become mentally incapacitated. Although these are not the sunniest of topics, it’s important to express to your family why you feel most aligned with the choices you’re making. This will ease the processes for your loved ones, should these things ever come to pass. And once you get this part of the conversation out of the way, there are better things to come.

  1. Your family tree

Your family might be curious about more than just your own life story. Take this time to go over your family tree and inform the younger members of your family about the details of your heritage. Getting a who’s who on paper and/or in a digital format is an excellent gift to your heirs, as they’ll be able to reference it and build upon it throughout their own lives.

  1. Significant heirlooms

Every family has heirlooms, and every piece tells a story. It’s common for estate plans to contain physical objects that matter dearly to their owners, such as furniture, garments, jewelry, hobby collections, and memorabilia. Keeping the story of the object alive is more important than transferring its monetary value to the next generation. So rather than just document who gets what, I encourage my clients to take a picture of each heirloom and then write about why that item means so much to them, and why they want to give it to the particular beneficiary they have chosen to receive it.

  1. Your core values

Your estate plan can be customized to include specific language (such as a family mission statement) that carries your values along with it while still leaving room for your beneficiaries to grow and explore on their own terms. Educational, incentive, and charitable trusts are other great tools available to you to express your values through your estate plan.

You know there’s much more to you than the material wealth you’ve accumulated during your life. As such, your estate plan should be about much more than just your financial worth. After all, what’s passed down from generation to generation amounts to something far greater than numbers on paper.

Don’t be afraid to insist that your estate plan includes a balanced representation of who you are and what you believe. And make sure you choose an attorney who isn’t only focused on your financial assets, but who wants to help weave your “whole wealth” into your trust and other critical documents so that the legacy you’ve built will mean something to your family for generations to come.

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth and securing your legacy,

Marc Garlett 91024

 

 

How to Pass Your Stories and Values to the Future Generations

estate planning 91024Money may be the most talked asset within a person’s estate, but the riches of experience and wisdom can – and most of the time do – mean even more to family members down the line. Reinforcement of family traditions can be built into your estate plan alongside your wishes regarding your money, property, and belongings. After all, what really makes a family a family is its values and traditions — not the way its finances read on paper.

It’s an excellent idea to hold a family meeting in which you discuss the sorts of things that matter to you most. In addition to the value of sharing your wisdom, you can also make it more likely that your heirs will handle their inheritance wisely if they understand the motives behind your choices. This is just one of the many reasons to have a family discussion about your estate plan and your legacy.

How to tell your story through your estate plan

It’s a delight to get to hear your elders’ stories of their fondest memories and wildest adventures, as well as the struggles they overcame to get the family where it is today. This wisdom provides connection and meaning for a financial inheritance that otherwise might just be viewed as a windfall. So as part of your estate and legacy planning, I encourage you to record your own personal history. Here are a few ideas:

  • Audio files: With the broad range of audio formats available today, you can record in the way that’s easiest for you – anything from a handheld cassette recorder to the Voice Memos app on your iPhone. There are some easy-to-use digitizing services that can compile your stories into audio files to make available to your family and descendants.
  • Video files: The same goes for home movies and other video recordings. Older film formats can be easily digitized and organized along with the videos from your phone. Today’s technology also makes it easier than ever to add narration (and context) to a video, making the story all the richer.
  • Photo albums: Many families have prized photo collections that catalog generations. It’s a tragedy when something like this is lost in a fire or misplaced in a move. Creating a digital database is a gift to your family in more ways than one: Not only will they have access to these memories at any time, they can also feel secure knowing that these family treasures won’t be lost anytime soon and that multiple copies can be made for the different branches of the family.
  • Letters and other writings: If you enjoy writing, you can also include handwritten or typed letters or stories to your family members in your legacy plan to be received and read at the time of your choosing. You can also include past letters and postcards that might be tucked away in the attic. It’s not only a personal delight to relive the memories of the past by reviewing your old letters and postcards, but it’s also a great way for younger generations to get to know and sincerely appreciate your life journey and legacy.

Your financial assets are important. Protecting and planning to pass those assets is a key part of any estate plan. But focusing only on those types of assets leaves a hole for your loved ones and does a disservice to the biggest part of your wealth. Your estate plan becomes exponentially more valuable when it incorporates and showcases your memories, history, and values in a long-lasting way that truly benefits your heirs. And that is really what estate planning should be all about.

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth and securing your legacy,

Marc Garlett 91024

 

 

legacy 91024You come into the world a blank slate, and as you grow, you gain wisdom. You’ve planned your estate to leave physical assets to beneficiaries, but what about leaving them something just as important but less tangible: the hard-won wisdom you’ve accumulated over your life. Along with the physical assets, how about empowering your family and friends to learn from your mistakes, and profit from your successes?

Living (and Other) Trusts

If you’re a regular reader of my column, you already know a properly-funded living trust avoids probate. But what if you have concerns about some of your beneficiaries’ ability to handle a windfall? Living trusts can be structured to protect beneficiaries from themselves and others. For example, incentivizing the beneficiary by only paying out money when he or she meets certain conditions, such as finishing college or staying clean and sober, can help ensure your gift enhances, rather than impedes, a successful and fulfilling life. Incentives combined with a personal statement explaining why you’ve put conditions on the beneficiary’s inheritance offers wisdom, guidance, and a demonstration of love to the next generation.

 Legacy Videos

You can (and should!) create a personal video. You may have seen or heard of a videotaped “reading of the will”. That’s not what I’m talking about. One of the most powerful gifts you can leave your loved ones is a video describing your stories, experiences, values, and wisdom. I call this a legacy video and we include it a part of every living trust package we do for clients. It’s that important. And if you already have a family video collection, consider making a new video including favorite snippets and commenting on the earlier days. Time gives you perspective and appreciation, and those gifts are priceless. The memories and meaning that these videos have will be memorialized for generations to come.

 The Old-Fashioned Way

Scrapbooking is a time-honored pastime that’s recently experienced a renaissance. Pass on journals, photos, newspaper clippings and other ephemera via scrapbooks or albums. You can leave specially constructed letters inside for your family and loved ones. While only one family member can have the physical scrapbook at any one time, digital scrapbooking tools are fast-evolving and now allow you to create either a digital version or multiple print copies so that all your loved ones can share your life and thoughts.

Leave a History, Not Just Items

When you’re bequeathing antiques, art, jewelry and the like, leave the beneficiary a history of the piece and why it was important to you. If it’s a family heirloom, write down whom it has passed to, from generation to generation. It’s possible the family ties outweigh the actual value of the item. Sharing these stories will make a family heirloom cherished even more.

Regardless of how you’re leaving your memories and the meaning behind them to the next generation, you want to make sure that your family avoids unnecessary hassle and expense. That all starts with a living trust. But estate planning can – and should – be so much more than just a set of documents. Remember, the best plans bequeath not just financial assets, but the troves of wisdom and personal wealth you’ve accumulated, too.

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth and securing your legacy,

Marc Garlett 91024

family-valuesBaby boomers know money isn’t the only important aspect of estate planning. For example, a 2012 study released by the Allianz Life Insurance Co. showed baby boomers wanted to leave their family more than just financial assets. Researchers found baby boomers identified family values as some of the most important things to pass down to heirs.

In 2012’s economic climate, it’s no wonder family values were at the top of the list. In economic downturns, financial inheritances are always more tenuous than the consistent worth of family values. Thus, family values (tax-free of course!), made the top of the list in importance.

But what is interesting is a similar study released by Allianz in 2005 which showed family values were also among the most important legacies boomers wanted to leave behind, even though the economy was more robust.

What these studies demonstrate is the enduring importance of family values, morals and meaningful possessions as part of a carefully crafted estate plan, regardless of the economic climate.

Do you have family values you wish to pass on? Of course you do! And yet you likely haven’t acted to ensure the legacy you are creating is the one you really want to leave behind.

Including family values in your estate plan can be easy, when it’s built into the process, though that is not the norm with most estate planning lawyers or with the DIY legal document services. You should consider including written memoirs, video or audio recordings of family stories in your estate plan. Think about it. These are the things most likely to be lost after your death. While your finances will be managed per estate law, intangible values and lessons have no protection and easily fade away soon after you die.

Could you imagine how valuable it would be to hear your family history directly in the words of your grandparents, great-grandparents or even earlier generations right now? What would that be worth? Can you even put a price on it?

I encourage you to think of estate planning not as just a set of documents. If you want to pass down a truly holistic legacy, one that manages and preserves both your finances and your family values, you absolutely can. Work with a lawyer who will guide you in creating a comprehensive estate plan that protects and preserves your whole wealth – not just your financial assets, but your family’s heritage, too. Your heirs will be all the richer for it.

Dedicated to empowering your family, increasing your wealth and building your legacy,
Marc Garlett 91024

Legacy Planning 91024Traditionally, one of the primary reasons for establishing a living trust has been to avoid probate. But your living trust that can help you accomplish much more than that, if it’s set up correctly:

Asset protection for heirs. One of the most significant benefits of a living trust can be to protect inherited assets for heirs. For example, because minor children are not allowed by law to inherit property, a guardian is appointed by the state to hold the property for them until they reach the age of 18. Most parents would agree, however, that 18 is still too young to manage even a modest inheritance. Executing a living trust on the other hand, allows you to control how and when an inheritance is distributed and to name a trusted person to act as trustee. In addition, a living trust can be especially useful in protecting assets from spendthrift heirs, their creditors or a potential divorce, if it’s set up right.

Most living trusts I review have been set up to distribute assets outright to kids at age 21, 25, or 30 instead of keeping assets in trust for the life of the kids – and eventually giving the kids control of those assets. This type of planning is still fairly unknown to most attorneys, but can ensure that what you leave to your kids will not be at risk from any future divorces, lawsuits, bankruptcies or other creditor matters.

Ensure none of your assets are lost. The vast majority of the time a living trust is created, one of the most important and valuable aspects of creating the trust is lost — making sure that when you become incapacitated or die your loved ones stay out of Court and the assets you’ve worked so hard for make it to the people you want to have them.

If your assets are not titled in the name of your trust correctly, that won’t happen. Your loved ones will have to go to Court to take ownership and control of your assets. And, oftentimes, they may not even be able to find your assets. There are currently billions of dollars in assets sitting in the State Departments of Unclaimed Property because people die and their loved ones didn’t know what they had.

One of the things we do in our office is prepare a Family Wealth Inventory to ensure your assets are easily located by your family. As long as it is kept up to date (and we help with that, too) you’ll never have to worry that what you are working so hard to create will be lost when you are gone.

Plus, when you have a relationship with our office, we’ll make sure your loved ones know just what to do if anything ever happens to you.

Incentivize your children to grow your wealth, not squander it. As I mentioned, most trust plans are crafted to distribute assets outright to kids when they turn certain ages, whether they are ready for it or not. And chances are that if you die when your kids are still young, they will not be ready to fully inherit your wealth at an early age.

We recommend you use your living trust to properly prepare your children to receive their inheritance. That means allowing them to be a co-trustee for some period of time before receiving full control of their trust assets. It means introducing them to us, if we are your lawyer, so we can begin to help guide them during your lifetime and not wait until after you are gone.

You may also want to consider making small lifetime gifts into an irrevocable trust for their benefit so you can start to teach them how to grow the assets while you are living and enter into a partnership for creating more family wealth that can last for generations.

One of the main goals of my law firm is to help families like yours plan for the safe, successful transfer of wealth to the next generation. Call our office today if you have a trust that hasn’t been reviewed recently or if you’re ready to get a comprehensive plan in place to protect your loved ones.

To your family’s health, wealth, and happiness,
Marc Garlett 91024

 

Legacy Planning 91024My wife started a “tradition” our first New Year’s Eve as a married couple. We each wrote down our resolutions for the coming year. That was in 2003. On New Year’s Eve in 2004, we pulled them out to see how we’d done. New Year’s resolutions are not something I would have ever done on my own, at least not in so formal a manner, but that’s just one of the countless ways my wife has broadened my horizons.

We’ve done this now each and every year for eleven years – writing our resolutions for the upcoming year and reviewing our resolutions from the previous one. And each year our resolutions always center on being better spouses to each other and better parents to our children. I love looking ahead to how I can improve in those areas over the next year. But even more, I love looking back at how well I was able to accomplish my goals during the prior year. It’s always an opportunity to reflect, learn, grow, and have an honest and intimate conversation with my wife.

This year again, my resolutions will certainly be focused on making things better for my family. And even if you’re not as formal about New Year’s resolutions as my wife and I are, I’m willing to bet one of your major goals for 2015 is to make things better for your family, too.

I can tell you from personal experience that if getting your estate planning in order is one of those things you’ve been putting off for years, you’ll feel incredible actually getting it done. It’s one of the best things you’ll ever do for your family. And believe it or not, it’s also one of the best things you’ll ever do for yourself. The sense of satisfaction, peace of mind, and accomplishment are deeply fulfilling.

I’m not telling you this simply to try to get your business. To be honest, not everyone who needs estate planning is a good fit for my firm. And my firm isn’t always the right fit for everyone who walks into my office. I don’t take every client who’s willing to pay. The right fit is much more important than money.

I am telling you this because if estate planning is something you’ve been putting off, there’s no better time than the present to take care of it. Your family will thank you (if not now, they certainly will later when they realize you’ve given them the gift of making things as easy as possible for them after you’re gone) and you will have lifted a great weight from your shoulders.

To encourage you to not only make estate planning a part of your resolutions this year, but to help you follow through, I’m offering a complimentary Family Estate Planning Session to the first five people who mention this article when making a January appointment with my office.

A Family Estate Planning Session is a no pressure, no obligation conversation designed to educate you about your options and answer all your questions. If there’s a good fit between you and my firm, great. If not, we’ll be glad to refer you somewhere that may be a better fit.

If you have a family like I do, I know getting your planning handled weighs on you each year. But it doesn’t have to any longer. Make this the year to get it done. Resolve to do it in 2015 and count it as already accomplished before the end of January. I know you’ll be thrilled you did.

Happy new year to you and yours,
Marc Garlett 91024

Legacy Preservation 91024They say diamonds are forever. We, of course, are not. But through science – I’m not making this up – there is now a way to immortalize ourselves or our loved ones by turning cremated ashes into diamonds.

Always on the lookout for ways to help my clients preserve and pass on their legacies, I came across a recent article in The Atlantic profiling a Swiss company called Algordanza which has perfected the process that turns the carbon from human remains into diamonds.

The company receives 800 urns every year, and for a cost ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, it turns them into unique diamonds using diamond presses that apply pressure of almost 800,000 pounds per square inch at temperatures of up to 2,500°F. The entire process takes approximately three months to produce a diamond.

Each diamond is unique in color, resulting from the specific combination of trace elements that are present in every person. Many different things can affect color: the presence of metal in the body, remnants of chemotherapy and other variables all have an impact on the final color. Many diamonds turn out blue because of the presence of boron in the human body; if the decedent had blue eyes, this can be especially meaningful to the family.

Algordanza says it does not add any chemicals or other treatments to color the gems artificially: “We do not believe in manipulations. As soon as you have additives, there’s something in a diamond that doesn’t belong.”

Most people elect to have their diamonds set in jewelry, although there are some who have buried them in special places or have even thrown them in a lake at a favorite fishing spot.

LifeGem is an American company that produces diamonds from cremated ashes or even a lock of hair. To makes its diamonds, the company harvests the carbon elements from the cremated ashes. Under high heat, the carbon is purified into graphite, which is then placed into a diamond press that exerts high heat and pressure to create a rough diamond.

The rough diamond is then cut and polished by skilled diamond cutters and certified for authenticity. Each diamond is molecularly identical to natural diamonds, with the same brilliance, luster and hardness found in mined diamonds.

Whether you think this is weird or cool, if preserving your legacy is important to you, you should look into the services we provide to clients. For example, we can help you capture and pass on your own stories, wisdom, and guidance to your loved ones through a special video we produce for each of our clients as part of our legacy planning process. It’s a gift your family will cherish forever!

To you family’s health, wealth, and happiness,
Marc Garlett 91024