Prepare Your Heirs to Receive, Protect, and Grow Their Inheritance

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family estate plan 91024There are many iconic American families that come to mind when we think of vast family wealth. The Vanderbilts, for example, were one of the riches families in America in the 19th century. Cornelius Vanderbilt, the family patriarch, built his railroad and shipping fortune to $100 million before he died in 1877 – which was more than the U.S. Treasury held at the time.

That massive family fortune — which would be more than $200 billion in today’s dollars — has been gone for more than 40 years now. It did not even survive past three generations, primarily due to mismanagement by successive generations of heirs.

A recent Forbes article (it’s a great read, check it out) looked at ways to prepare heirs for an inheritance, with an emphasis on protecting and growing that inheritance. Here are some tips:

Share your vision. Conduct a family roundtable where the heads of the family come together with everyone and share their hopes and dreams for the family, as well as how they plan to reach their goals for the future. The idea is to start an open multi-generational dialogue.

Tell your story. To help younger generations understand the importance of protecting and growing inherited wealth, it helps if they first understand the values and visions of their predecessors. Sharing family memories, experiences and life lessons from older generations is one key component to ensuring the family story continues on well into the future.

Record your story. Your lasting legacy should be much more than just money; it should also be about those valuable intangibles that make your family unique, told through your insights, values and experience. We do this through our legacy planning process, helping you capture and pass on your own story and your aspirations for your loved ones through a special video we produce for each of our clients.

Gather together. Annual family retreats, gatherings, or reunions also help solidify family values and nurture common ground and goals. Consider holding an annual retreat where multiple generations can gather to bond, make plans for the future, and renew family harmony.

Family is one of the great human institutions. Yours can, and should, be the foundation for building real wealth – both financial and personal – for your children and for generations yet to come. With a little foresight and effort it can be done. You can do it. We can help.

As always, I wish all the best to you and your family,
Signature - Marc

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The Last Important Gift to Give Your Family

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Legacy Planning 91024As hard as it is for all of us to “plan” for our deaths, doing so is actually one of the best things you can do for your family. Adding to their grief and pain by giving them no clue as to where to find your personal and business paperwork should not be a memory you leave behind.

Gather the following information in a folder and let your family know where they can find it in case you die unexpectedly or have a health crisis:

Advisors – Provide the name and contact information of any financial advisors, including attorneys, estate planners, CPAs, accountants, etc.

Bank Accounts and Safety Deposit Boxes – Bank name and account numbers for each bank where you have an account. Include PIN numbers for online banking. If you have a personal banker, include his or her name as well, with contact information. If you have a safety deposit box, record the name of the bank, the box number as well as contents of the box and location of the key.

Investment And Retirement Accounts – For investment accounts, provide the name of the brokerage, your personal broker, the location of your statement file, account and PIN numbers. For retirement accounts, provide contact information for plan administrators as well as account and PIN numbers.

Insurance – For all your policies – health, home, car, life, long-term care – provide the name and contact information for the agents as well as account numbers.

Health care – For your health care providers, give contact information for physicians, Medicare information and any other gap coverage you may have.

House – If you still have a mortgage on your home, provide information on your lender and payment due dates. Also provide the location of deeds and property titles. Include contact information for any home service providers – cleaning help, lawn care, etc.

Credit Cards – Make a photocopy of both sides of each credit card and provide balance and payment information.

Vehicles – Provide information on where titles and registration information are kept. Make a photocopy of your driver’s license as well.

Personal – Include a list of your friends and neighbors with email and phone contact information as well as all your email account log-ins and passwords.

This last “gift” on your part will go a long way toward helping your family cope in the immediate aftermath of your death or incapacitation, and ensuring you leave a lasting legacy of love and financial security.

All the best to you and your family,
Signature - Marc

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Father’s Day Reflections

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Legacy Planning 91024My daily goal is to be a better father today than I was yesterday. Some days I feel like I achieve it. Most days I don’t. But after opening my homemade Father’s Day cards and gifts this year, I decided to put pen to paper (actually, fingers to keyboard) as I reflected on the many challenges encompassed in that lofty objective, which I’m sure most other dads share.

At the top of that list would be protecting our children in every possible way, including legally. One of the most difficult things to do is think about the possibility we may die unexpectedly or too early, leaving our children without one of the most important people in their lives. But stepping up and making a legal plan to protect your children if something should happen to you is one of the best Father’s Day gifts you can give yourself and the people you love.

Here are 10 steps to help you get there:

1. List of potential guardians. Identifying the people you would like to raise your children if something should happen to you is the first step. Write down everyone you would consider, and for now, do it separately from your spouse.

2. Prioritize what’s important to you. Write down everything that is important to you when you think about how you want your kids to be raised. Do you want them to be raised with the same values you were raised with? Do you want them to live where they are living now? What about their education? List all your priorities and then rank them in order of importance.

3. Don’t make it about the money. Many people are tempted to turn to the person with the most money to be guardian, but providing for your children financially is your job. You can leave enough money behind to ensure your children are well taken care of by using life insurance, trusts, savings or a combination of all of these.

4. Compare your lists. Take your list of potential guardians and compare it with your prioritized list of what’s important to you, then rank the list of guardian candidates. You should wind up with a list of at least three good candidates that match your prioritized values.

5. List people you don’t want raising your kids. Think about all the people who may be in line for custody in case something should happen to both you and your spouse or co-parent and then create a list of those people you would never want raising your kids.

6. Exclude the people you don’t want as guardian in writing. Write a confidential letter of instruction outlining who you would never want raising your kids and why. This letter will be sealed away unless someone on the list tries to gain custody. Having that letter will make it less likely those people would want to pursue a claim in court.

7. Name temporary guardians. We all hate to think that this could happen to us, but we know it happens to others like us every day — couples leave their children with a babysitter and get into a terrible accident. The babysitter calls and calls, but there is no one to answer. The police are summoned and the children have to be placed with Child Protective Services. It’s terribly frightening. To prevent this possibility, you should name local temporary guardians who can take over in these circumstances until long-term guardians are appointed.

8. Make it all legal. Once your choices are made, you will need to legally document them. If you don’t, a judge will make these decisions for you. We can help you create a comprehensive Kids Protection Plan® as well as other estate planning essentials like a will, powers of attorney, health care directives and even a trust that will ensure your plan is done right and will last for as long as you need it.

9. Make a plan for your assets. Once you’ve taken care of your children, be sure you take care of your assets. We can explain how a trust can be used to bypass the court system and protect your assets.

10. Leave more than money. Your lasting legacy should be much more than just money; it should also be those valuable intangibles that reveal who you are through your insights, values, wisdom and experiences. We make this possible as part of your legacy planning process, helping you digitally capture and pass on your own story and your aspirations for your loved ones.

Call our office to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk about a Family Estate Planning Session, where we can identify the best ways for you to ensure your legacy of love and financial security for your family.

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Greatest Wealth Transfer in History Underway – What’s Your Plan?

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Estate Planning 91024A new study by the Boston College Center on Wealth and Philanthropy found that the greatest wealth transfer in history is currently underway, with more than $59 trillion passing to heirs, charities and Uncle Sam between now and 2061.

The majority of this wealth — $36 trillion — is passing directly to heirs and another sizeable chunk — $27 trillion – is passing to charity, either through final bequest or total lifetime gifts.

And even though the study notes that the transfer of $59 trillion is the largest in history, it goes on to estimate the final figure will likely be even higher – much higher.

So what is your plan for either transferring or receiving inherited wealth?

If you don’t have one – and far too many people don’t – I encourage you to start planning now, since in my view your estate plan is more of a process than a static document. In fact, my relationship with clients continues long after the estate planning documents have been signed.

As your life changes and your family grows, legacy planning will play an important role in how you choose to transfer wealth to future generations. The law firm you choose to work with on your legacy planning should keep all your estate planning documents accessible to you in an electronic file, and schedule timely reviews so they can furnish you with three very important services:

1. Ensuring all your assets are owned correctly so your family isn’t stuck dealing with an expensive, unnecessary, and public Probate Court process. Establishing a Trust once and then never looking at it again isn’t the answer — regular updating and assurances that all your assets are documented and owned properly, is the right way to do things.

2. Making sure the guardians you have named for your minor children, the trustees you have chosen to carry out the terms of your trust, and the agents you have designated to make health care decisions for you in case you cannot make them yourself are still the people you want in charge.

3. Helping you record your values, experiences, family history and the other important intangibles you want to pass on to future generations so they are never lost. A comprehensive estate plans should cover far more than just your money, focusing on what matters most — your values, insights, stories and experiences. The things most often lost when someone dies.

Call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and have a Family Estate Planning Session, so we can help you look at what would happen now if something were to happen to you and ensure everything passes to your loved ones exactly the way you want.

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Your Legacy Should Be More Than Just Money

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Legacy Planning 91024One of the most striking aspects of the recent opening of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum is the voice recordings left on the phones of the victims’ families of their last messages to loved ones. We hear so many stories of family members who keep voicemails and answering machine messages for years after a loved one dies. There is something so comforting about hearing the voice again of someone you love and miss.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you were able to leave something like this behind – not a voicemail or message that could easily be lost, but a full recording of the hopes and dreams you have for your children and grandchildren, your own history and life lessons you feel are too important to die with you.

You may have even been intending to do this for some time, but have just never gotten around to it. You may have even written a letter and stuck it away hoping it would be found by the right person at the right time. Unfortunately, this does not always happen – and your words are simply too precious to leave that to chance.

Part of my firm’s mission is to make this possible as part of your legacy planning process, helping you capture and pass on more than just your assets, but also your own story and your aspirations for your loved ones through a special video recording we produce for each of our clients. It’s a gift your family will cherish forever!

Think about how much you would love to have a recording from your grandparents or parents who are no longer here, and what that would mean to your children as well. Your lasting legacy should be much more than just money; it should also be those valuable intangibles that reveal who you are through your insights, values, wisdom and life experiences. It’s a gift your family will cherish forever as an heirloom to be passed down from generation to generation, and we are honored to be able to provide it for our clients.

Call our office to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk about the best ways for you to ensure you leave a lasting legacy of love and financial security for your family. Be one of the first two callers to mention this article to receive a complimentary and comprehensive Family Estate Planning Session.

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How to Use Estate Planning to Leave a Lasting Legacy

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father and sonSo what exactly is your estate? Simply put, it is everything you own. This includes your home (and any other real property you own), furniture, personal possessions, car, bank accounts, insurance, and anything else owned by you.

Estate planning is act of preparing for many important issues, including:

  • Providing instructions for your care in the event you are incapacitated or unable to communicate;
  • Naming someone to manage your financial affairs in case you are unable to do so yourself;
  • Naming legal guardians for your children;
  • Providing for your children (or other family members) with special needs in a way that won’t affect their government benefits
  • Protecting loved ones from creditors, predators, opportunists, and unnecessary taxes;
  • Providing protection for your assets, both during your lifetime and after;
  • Minimizing estate taxes and probate fees;
  • Planning for your retirement and long-term care costs.

Unfortunately, that’s about as far as most estate plans go. And that’s why they ultimately fail to help build wealth and preserve a legacy for the families that are counting on them.

You see, your wealth is much more than just the financial assets in your estate. Real wealth includes your purposes, passions, family values, memories and the stories that make up your own personal journey. This is your legacy.

A complete estate plan should not only give you control over how your estate is distributed to the people or organizations you care about, but also help to preserve and leave your real wealth and legacy for the next generation and beyond.

If you don’t already have an estate plan – or have one that needs to be reviewed and updated – make 2014 the year you get this done. We normally charge $750 for a Family Estate Planning Session, but because this planning is so important, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article.

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