Hurdle #1: Deciding Who Gets What
A great first step is to think through what you’d like to have happen after you die.
Don’t become overwhelmed by every detail. Instead, start with the big-ticket items and work down from there. You can always build on this base over time, but your biggest benefits usually come from resolving the biggest questions.
Who Gets What? A Handy Checklist
- Estimate your net worth, including assets and debts. You can ballpark it, or better yet, hire a Fiduciary Financial Advisor to help.
- Identify key beneficiaries, including heirs, charities, and any other significant relationships.
- Think about how you would like to divide the bulk of your estate among your beneficiaries. How much should each receive and how should they receive it? I.E., stairstep distributions based on age and/or fully discretionary distributions for Health, Education, Maintenance and Support (HEMS).
- Think about prized possessions you would like to pass on to specific people or places—such as collectibles, heirlooms, keepsakes, and historical memorabilia.
- Identify who you’d like to name as legal representatives – such as Trustees – to settle or manage your estate once you pass away. (As described in this AARP post, “Things to Know About Being an Executor of an Estate,” ask them if they are willing to accept the role.) You may want to seriously consider a corporate successor trustee to diminish friction among heirs and take a substantial burden off them as well. Warburton Capital now offers Trust Representative Services through our relationship with National Advisors Trust Company and can help fill this role for you.
- Identify conflicts of interest, such as multiple heirs each hoping to inherit the family cabin.
- Also identify anyone you might want to exclude from inheriting anything, such as ex-spouses or estranged family members.
Hurdle #2: Making It Legal
Once you know what you have, to whom you would like to leave it, and how you would like to implement your plans, the next step is to create a legal road map for others to follow. Typically, this involves getting a revocable living trust package. This will include a Trust (or trusts), Powers of Attorney, Advanced Health Care Directives (Living Wills) and Pour Over Wills.
Do not do this by yourself by downloading forms off the internet. It is a best practice to retain and pay for a qualified estate planning attorney. This is not an area that you want to recoil at professional help or the fees they charge. Any missing or misguided legal language can unintentionally sabotage your best intentions. A reputable estate planning attorney should take the time to get to know you and translate your wishes into legally binding documents. He or she will collaborate with your financial partners to seek the strongest outcomes for you and your beneficiaries. After you’ve established the relationship, it also should be easier to maintain your estate plans over time.
If you don’t have a Trust and die intestate or have to probate a will, it usually takes a lot more time and money to settle even a simple estate. This can leave a spouse, parent, or adult child with extra work during a painful time. Extra settlement costs as eat into their inheritance. You can also open the door to ugly, and even costlier infighting if your potential heirs don’t see eye to eye.
Now that we have identified hurdles to overcome, our next letter (which will also be posted on our website, https://warburtoncapital.com) will walk through some Common Estate Planning Techniques to help solve some of these issues. Stay tuned!
If you are a client of our firm, we would be happy to do a high-level review of your Estate Plan and connect you with an Attorney to finalize any necessary changes. We also offer an informative Estate Planning 101 meeting for clients of ours who have never had an Estate Plan or need a refresher. If you are not a client of our firm, please consider reaching out to us to see if we can help you!
If you have any questions in the meantime, or this has caused you to think about your own estate planning – please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our phone number is (918) 794-3000 or you can email wcm@warburtoncapital.com.
Estate Planning is an important gift you can bequeath to your loved ones; it can help to reduce their painful stress load during an already stressful time. If you’ve been putting off your estate planning, taking the initial steps can be daunting—but liberating. This letter will be the first of a three-part series…So, let’s get started today, facing one hurdle at a time.
Hurdle #1: Deciding Who Gets What
A great first step is to think through what you’d like to have happen after you die.
Don’t become overwhelmed by every detail. Instead, start with the big-ticket items and work down from there. You can always build on this base over time, but your biggest benefits usually come from resolving the biggest questions.
Who Gets What? A Handy Checklist
- Estimate your net worth, including assets and debts. You can ballpark it, or better yet, hire a Fiduciary Financial Advisor to help.
- Identify key beneficiaries, including heirs, charities, and any other significant relationships.
- Think about how you would like to divide the bulk of your estate among your beneficiaries. How much should each receive and how should they receive it? I.E., stairstep distributions based on age and/or fully discretionary distributions for Health, Education, Maintenance and Support (HEMS).
- Think about prized possessions you would like to pass on to specific people or places—such as collectibles, heirlooms, keepsakes, and historical memorabilia.
- Identify who you’d like to name as legal representatives – such as Trustees – to settle or manage your estate once you pass away. (As described in this AARP post, “Things to Know About Being an Executor of an Estate,” ask them if they are willing to accept the role.) You may want to seriously consider a corporate successor trustee to diminish friction among heirs and take a substantial burden off them as well. Warburton Capital now offers Trust Representative Services through our relationship with National Advisors Trust Company and can help fill this role for you.
- Identify conflicts of interest, such as multiple heirs each hoping to inherit the family cabin.
- Also identify anyone you might want to exclude from inheriting anything, such as ex-spouses or estranged family members.
Hurdle #2: Making It Legal
Once you know what you have, to whom you would like to leave it, and how you would like to implement your plans, the next step is to create a legal road map for others to follow. Typically, this involves getting a revocable living trust package. This will include a Trust (or trusts), Powers of Attorney, Advanced Health Care Directives (Living Wills) and Pour Over Wills.
Do not do this by yourself by downloading forms off the internet. It is a best practice to retain and pay for a qualified estate planning attorney. This is not an area that you want to recoil at professional help or the fees they charge. Any missing or misguided legal language can unintentionally sabotage your best intentions. A reputable estate planning attorney should take the time to get to know you and translate your wishes into legally binding documents. He or she will collaborate with your financial partners to seek the strongest outcomes for you and your beneficiaries. After you’ve established the relationship, it also should be easier to maintain your estate plans over time.
If you don’t have a Trust and die intestate or have to probate a will, it usually takes a lot more time and money to settle even a simple estate. This can leave a spouse, parent, or adult child with extra work during a painful time. Extra settlement costs as eat into their inheritance. You can also open the door to ugly, and even costlier infighting if your potential heirs don’t see eye to eye.
Now that we have identified hurdles to overcome, our next letter (which will also be posted on our website, https://warburtoncapital.com) will walk through some Common Estate Planning Techniques to help solve some of these issues. Stay tuned!
If you are a client of our firm, we would be happy to do a high-level review of your Estate Plan and connect you with an Attorney to finalize any necessary changes. We also offer an informative Estate Planning 101 meeting for clients of ours who have never had an Estate Plan or need a refresher. If you are not a client of our firm, please consider reaching out to us to see if we can help you!
If you have any questions in the meantime, or this has caused you to think about your own estate planning – please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our phone number is (918) 794-3000 or you can email wcm@warburtoncapital.com.
