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Legacy
Planning - 5 Steps
Legacy
planning should be an
essential part of every family’s financial plan.
Setting up a legacy properly
ensures the
client’s wishes and family values carry on and prevents
family quarrels by
clearly stating the expectations. No
matter how large or how small the
estate is there are always important factors to consider.
Our primary focus when helping a client design
a legacy plan is to properly organize the resources of his/her estate
so that s/he
can provide for the future needs of his/her surviving family and leave
behind a
lasting legacy as someone who was important in the lives of his/her
family.
In
the next few paragraphs you are
about to learn the 5 steps to effective legacy planning.
Step # 1 - Gather The Facts
To
ensure a legacy is left just the
way our client desires we gather important information about each of
the family
members. We discuss
our client’s goals
and wishes for his/her assets when s/he has passed as well as the
family values
and traditions that s/he would like to ensure carry on. We
prepare a financial inventory of all assets
and liabilities as well as review the property ownership.
The
legacy plan guarantees our
client’s deepest concerns are met including fair division and
distribution of
assets and making sure all beneficiaries are properly named in the
wills,
trusts, protection plans and retirement plans.
Step 2 - Analyze The Facts
After
we gather the facts we analyze
how effective the plan would be in the event of death. We
consider how much cash will be
needed to
pay off debts, estate administration costs, estate taxes, and to give
to heirs. Our
analysis reveals the ability of the
estate owner’s assets to provide the surviving family members
with an income to
match their needs.
We
look at any business arrangements
our client has and determine if a buy-sell agreement is necessary to
provide
fair compensation to the client’s surviving spouse and other
beneficiaries.
We
have some clients who lack trust
in their family’s ability to make good financial decisions so
they create
lifetime streams of income so they cannot spend all the money at once.
Step
3 - Design The Legacy Plan
The
next step is to design the
legacy plan to match the estate owner's intentions. We
consider the value of using a will or
trust and also the nature at which assets pass. There are
some assets that pass outside the probate
estate because of law
and others that pass due to terms of contract. There are certain assets
that
should be held until death and in some cases there are others that
should
gifted away during life.
Step
4 - Implement The Legacy Plan
After
we create a comprehensive legacy
plan the estate owner must make the decision to implement it.
Knowledge without action
is useless.
Implementation
may include gifting certain
assets, purchasing additional life insurance or annuities. It
may require new trusts,
deeds, contracts,
or wills with the assistance of an attorney.
Step
5 - Perform Periodic Reviews Of The Legacy Plan
Since
our laws are always changing
its necessary to review the legacy plan periodically to ensure that our
client’s
wishes are carried out after s/he is gone.
At
Family Protection Group we work
with you and your family every step of the way to make sure your legacy
lasts
for many years after you are gone and you are remembered as someone who
was
important.
If you would like Family Protection Group to take a look
at your current legacy
plan and share our professional perspective on the latest legacy
planning strategies
then click below.
Request
Your Free
Consultation
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