Many people think of estate planning as something they need to address “sometime” before they die.

Since death may seem like a distant and/or unsettling reality, estate planning gets put on the back burner. Yet even the youngest and seemingly healthiest among us aren’t guaranteed a long lead time during which essential decisions need to be made.

Moreover, your estate plan can take care of you and your loved ones as much while you are alive as it does after you’ve passed. Estate planning is an important part of your overall financial health.

Other areas we encourage you to review are asset ownership and beneficiary designations to ensure orderly transfers are consistent with your wishes. These include transfer by contract (retirement plans and life insurance policies) and transfer by operation of law (joint tenancy and trusts). Reviewing this annually with your team of advisors can be beneficial to ensure that you don’t forget something important.

Often times, people look at estate planning as a one-time event; after you have completed the initial paperwork, you never have to review or update the piece again. What we have found, is that estate planning is a process. Just as we continue to grow and our priorities in life change, we see estate planning as an evolution of your legacy.

• Discussing your estate planning goals every few years and reviewing documents that are more than five years old.
• Helping families communicate meaningful wishes and sharing best practices for storing your most important documents.
• Encouraging you to have the “living room” conversations with your family and your professional advisors so that you can have peace of mind.

Many estates end up in probate, which is a public process that can be both time-consuming and expensive. With proper planning and periodic reviews, you can be assured that your intentions are followed and you can avoid unintended consequences.

Our team would be happy to review your existing estate plan and discuss additional strategies with you. We will partner with your estate planning attorney to ensure implementation of the most advantageous and tax efficient planning strategies are put in place.

This information is not intended to be a specific recommendation. If you are interested in exploring these strategies to see if they are applicable to your specific situation please contact us. The information provided is accurate to the best of our knowledge.