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How Advisors can help in the Estate Planning process
...and avoid being not-helpful
Bryan Hasling, CFPĀ®
May 23, 2024
I asked an Estate Attorney how Financial Advisors can be...
A) Helpful
B) Not-so-helpful (nay, annoying)
...to the estate planning process.
Here's what I learned ā
Starting with the ššØš ššš„š©šš®š„ advisor:
Some advisors sell their clients on complex strategies/recommendations ššššØš«š clients meet the attorney.
With the estate tax thresholds so high these days, many attorneys still generally advise to keep it simple.
"š¦š·š¦šÆ š£š¢š»šŖšššŖš°šÆš¢šŖš³š¦š“ š“šµš¢š³šµ šøšŖšµš© š¢ š³š¦š·š°š¤š¢š£šš¦ ššŖš·šŖšÆšØ šµš³š¶š“šµ. š š°š¶ š¤š¢šÆ š¤š©š°š°š“š¦ šµš° š¢š„š„ š¦š¹šµš³š¢ š“š¤š¢š§š§š°šš„šŖšÆšØ šš¢šµš¦š³."
On the flip side, the advisor could convince a family on an overly simple plan, when an estate attorney may need to suggest something more-involved to help the clients reach their end-goals.
In either case, you never want to put the attorney in a tough starting position.
Now, for the practical advice on how to be ššš„š©šš®š„:
1. Provide total picture (net worth) of client's assets, life insurance, and even family.
Advisors likely already have a wealth of knowledge around the current situation.
Forwarding that to the new attorney team speeds up the process.
2. Help clients execute the actual trust funding.
Every attorney knows the pain of creating a plan that the client never fully implemented.
Advisors can nudge clients to get their tasks done so the plan is actually live.
3. Start the beneficiaries conversations early.
In attorney meetings, clients have to decide which family members get what, and in what %.
This takes precious time.
Advisors can get the initial wishes conversation warmed up. Then the attorney can send it home.
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