The holidays are traditionally the time for family gatherings, where generations come together and perform holiday rituals that have been passed down through the years. Part of those rituals includes material possessions – a well-worn set of silver at the holiday table, grandmother’s china or treasured tree ornaments from childhood.
When we sit down to that holiday meal, rarely do we contemplate Susie and Sally engaged in a bitter fight over the sterling butter knives. But it happens. A lot. To ensure that family memories are kept in a good place, your estate plan needs to include the orderly disposition of your material possessions. Unbeknownst to a lot of us, these possessions can hold special meaning to younger generations, and a family feud that could be in the offing can be avoided by advance planning. As part of your comprehensive estate plan, you may want to consider distributing some material possessions to your heirs prior to your death. If not, then you need to be sure you specify exactly who you want to get what by: · Listing in detail each item and the name of the intended recipient · Sharing this list with your estate executor as well as with your family · Including the list within your last will and testament or other estate planning documents If you’d like to learn more about estate planning strategies for your family, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk. We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth 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. Estate planning rarely comes up in the course of regular conversation and if it does, it is usually involves what has happened to a celebrity’s fortune after his or her death. The distance is safe, so the conversation can take place.
But what if you need to discuss estate planning with a loved one – either your own estate plan or the one they have (or should have)? Because no one likes to talk about the death of someone close to them, we rarely have this critical conversation. But we all should. So how do you talk to a loved one about estate planning? A recent Forbes.com article provides some good tips: Pick the right time. If it is too difficult to schedule a time for this conversation, have it when you’re doing something else, like taking a walk. Start with a story. Use a story as an opener to the conversation, like the death of a celebrity and the havoc that failure to plan is wreaking on his or her estate or how you created your own estate plan. Talk separately. It may be easier for parents with more than one child to have separate conversations with each child rather than talking to a group. Use a team approach. If you are having difficulty getting your spouse to focus on estate planning issues, communicate your concerns as a couple. Talk about how aging means making mature decisions and how you need to protect children with estate planning. Ask for feedback. After discussing your estate plan with your children, ask them individually how they feel about what you have explained. It may not change what you are doing, but it will let them feel they have a voice. Explain why. Explain to your children the principles that guided your decision about how your estate is being divided. This lessens the chance of conflict among siblings. If you’d like to learn more about estate planning strategies for your family, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk. We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth 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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