Productivity & The Grave Part 3 – The Resources
The third part of this series on having your estate in order we're going to look at some resources that will contribute to being proactive and thereby, productive. In Part 1 we looked at the whole idea of getting our heads out of the sand and collecting the information on the things that we should handle in our will and trust. In Part 2 A&B we look at the conversations that need to be had within a family and with experts. Here we're going to overview the resources that could help you a lot and how to locate them.
The short list of resources that should be of value to you are:
- A couple of good books so you become educated
- An Estate Lawyer
- A Tax Accountant
- A Friend or Family Member to be your executor and trustee.
- A Financial Advisor
- A Great Filing Cabinet & Filing system (that's covered in Parts 4 & 5)
On why they're important and where to find them:
Books Book learning is vital to you being prepared because there is so much to learn that a professional would be outrageously expensive and
just wouldn't have the time to go over all these points with you. Reading a book or two before you meet with the resources below will allow you to streamline your time with them (saving $) and to ask relevant and intelligent questions (getting the right things in place as a result).
I found two books on Amazon.com that have served me very well in these few months after my Dad's passing. The titles of the books that I read cover to cover and educated me extensively are: Beyond the Grave by Condon, and The Wise Inheritor by Perry. The thing that will serve you well on Amazon is that you can type in these titles and Amazon will suggest at least 7 books that are similar. One of those might appeal to you more. These options come under the description of the book and are titled "Better Together" and "Customers Who Bought This Also Bought…"
An Estate Lawyer You need to find someone who has written wills and trusts and has been around long enough to learn what goes wrong with average, incomplete, and naïve documents and plans. For example, Charlie is worth $3,000,000+. His brothers are the successor trustees when Charlie dies. However, neither brother is worth more than $500,000 and neither brother would know how to utilize the resources to handle the $3+M estate of Charlie. An experienced Lawyer will counsel Charlie that he should consider someone who understands money well as co-trustee. Ask around to get 3 good options for your estate lawyer. Interview them sensibly and pick on who will give you the best plan and documents – beyond being likable.
A Tax Accountant A tax accountant can lay out the impact of your choices. For example, while there is a Federal exemption in 2008 of $2M some states charge the Estate an Inheritance Tax. That tax could be minimized or eliminated with good estate planning. Without good tax planning, you could be leaving tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Taxing Entity. And, you already paid taxes when you earned that money so keeping as much as you can going to who you want to receive benefits is rather satisfying! Some lawyers can help you will this aspect of overall planning. A lawyer friend of mine says an accountant is the best disinterested party with a hard-won license to be a trustee / executor. Discuss and study this and make your own decision consciously.
Your Executor and/or Trustee Just picking a family member to be the executor and trustee could lead to a lot of trouble. The trouble has, in some instances, been in the form of ignoring wishes and directions, inability to handle the responsibility, sibling rivalry, death of the executor before the maker of a will leaving no executor and more. Similarly your lawyer might recommend a Trust Company or Investment firm who could be unnecessarily overpriced (I've seen that done myself). You must collaborate with your legal counsel and trusted friends of the same socio-economic level to find the best people in terms of ability and integrity to uphold your plan.
A Financial Advisor Your financial advisor could be the manager of your local bank, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) at a Financial Institution such as a Brokerage firm, or another money professional. Some financial advisors have lawyers and tax accountants as resources on staff so you can get relevant advice from one stop. Build a relationship with a financial advisor so they can give you perspective and insight. My local bank manager rolled her eyes and said, "You wouldn't believe the messes I've seen!" when I mentioned reading the book on the possible downfalls of some decisions. If she were my only financial advisor I'd have gotten good insight through a long discussion with her.
Filing Cabinet & Filing System . .. that will be covered in our next parts.
This is the time to share your experience with resources via a comment below – who they are and how you found them and how you worked with them – let's help the current and the succeeding generation prepare for the inevitable with great Wills & Trusts!
I agree with your points, except for one, the need for a financial advisor. This person has a fiduciary and personal employment responsibility to keep you needing his advice.
Posted by: Prolific Programmer | May 10, 2008 at 05:58 PM