As Time Goes By… Part 2
November 26, 2009
In our recent blog post we listed 6 essential components of your Estate Plan that should be reviewed on a regular basis and why it’s so important to keep them updated. Today we’ll go into more detail about the first of these components; what they are, and how to review them.
Fiduciaries- Make a list of all the people you’ve named in any fiduciary role in your estate plan, including Trustees, Executors, Health Care Agents, Financial Agents, Guardians, and Advisors. Has your relationship with any of these people changed? What about the person’s own family or financial situation? Do you still feel confident in each person’s ability to carry out your wishes?
Assets- Look at the schedule of assets you have with your Estate Planning materials. If you don’t already have a schedule of assets, make one right now. Don’t forget to include property, bank accounts, stocks, Retirement accounts and Life Insurance policies. Of all the assets on this list, have all of them been put in the name of your trust or has your trust named as the beneficiary? Have all of your new assets been added to your trust? If you refinanced your home, was it put back in the name of the trust? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, it’s time to call your attorney.
Distribution and Beneficiaries- For most people, the whole purpose of a will or trust is to make sure that property is distributed according to their wishes upon death. So take your time reviewing that section of your estate plan. Is your list of beneficiaries still accurate? Do you have any new children or grandchildren? If so, your estate plan should reflect these changes.
In our next blog we’ll have more information about the second part of the list of things to review in your estate plan: Health Care, Guardianship and documents pertaining to minor children, and last but not least, legal updates.
As Time Goes By… Part 1
November 24, 2009
For many people the holiday season brings more than just celebration. Seeing family and friends you may not have seen since this time last year means seeing children who have shot up like weeds, siblings and cousins with noticeably more gray in their hair, and even sometimes seeing an empty place at the dinner table that wasn’t empty last year. In short, for many people the holiday season means facing the passage of time and the changes that passage can bring.
The passage of time is inevitable, as is the change it brings; and when your life changes it’s important that your estate plan change with it. Reviewing your estate plan every 1-3 years is essential to keeping it up to date and working the way you intended it to work. Luckily, reviewing your estate plan can be quick and easy if you know what you’re looking for. Here is a list of 6 key components you’ll want to review regularly:
- Fiduciaries
- Assets
- Distribution and Beneficiaries
- Health Care
- Guardianship and documents pertaining to minor children
- Legal Updates
If we’re lucky, our lives are constantly changing—our families evolve, our finances improve or decline, we meet and form strong relationships with knowledgeable friends and professionals. It only makes sense that your estate plan should change too. What seemed best for your family 4 years ago might not be the ideal situation now. By reviewing and updating these 6 components on a regular basis, and touching base with your attorney, you will insure that your estate plan will continue to protect yourself and your family the way you intended it to when you first created it.
The Fine Art of Informing Your Fiduciaries
April 12, 2009
At the end of the day, when all of the decisions have been made and documents have been signed, many estate planning clients still have one question: Should I tell my Fiduciaries that I’ve nominated them as executor, healthcare agent, guardian, trustee, etc; and how much should I tell them?
The answer to the question is yes; unless you have an extraordinary circumstance which makes secret-keeping best for the time being, you should absolutely inform your fiduciaries that they’ve been named. Most fiduciaries will be honored to know that you place such trust in them. This is not to say that you need to explain the entirety of your estate plan to them, or even tell them in which order they’ve been named, but it is polite to let someone know that you’ve nominated them for a role.
Healthcare agents especially have a need to know that they’ve been nominated, as they will need a copy of your HIPAA Authorization in order to get information from the hospital staff, and a copy of your healthcare directive both to prove their authority, and to make medical personnel aware of your wishes for treatment.
It is also important to let your fiduciaries know that being nominated places them under no legal obligation. If and when the time comes they are unwilling, or feel that they are no longer prepared to take on the responsibility for which they have been nominated, they are perfectly free to decline. (This is also why it is so important for you as the creator to nominate secondary or back-up fiduciaries.)
Part of the process of informing your fiduciaries is also preparing them. Give them the name and contact information of your attorney and let them know if the attorney is available to answer any questions they might have. Let them know where a copy of your estate plan can be found so they aren’t flying blind when something happens to you. And if you feel comfortable, inform them of the finer points of your plan, your specific wishes, and help prepare them for the role they may someday step into.
Telling your fiduciaries just how much faith you have in them, and how important they are to you can be a very moving process, and often has the unexpected result of opening the eyes of both parties to the quality of the relationship, and bringing you even closer together.
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