You’ll often hear me advise clients that estate planning is not an event or a one-time “check the box” transaction. Sometimes people may look a little confused when they hear this for the first time. I can’t blame them because oftentimes someone told them that they “need a Will” or “they need a Trust” etc. Which is true they definitely need an estate plan. But, they also definitely need to do it the “proper’ way if they want it to truly work to protect them, their assets and their family! This is the reason I created ‘Hanover Family Estate Planning Center’, an educational community service of free estate planning workshops so that people could learn these important things to benefit their families.
When teaching my educational estate planning workshop recently “How To Protect Your Family with Proper Estate Planning” I covered the 3 keys to “proper” Estate Planning. I informed the class that someone “selling you a stack of documents” is not an estate plan that will work! If I created the very best estate plan for a client in the year 2012 with all the very best protections and strategies that the laws will allow, what will happen to that plan in the year 2017? Well, legacy studies reveal that most people who “get the will” or “get the trust” in a transactional one-time event usually throw the documents in a lock box or a junk draw for roughly 15 years. They don’t go looking for “it” until either a disability or death occurs. They unfortunately find out that the 3 L’s of life crept into their estate plan over the past 15 years or even 5 years as in my example. 1. Countless Changes in Laws, 2. Countless Changes in their Life with family and money matters and even many 3. Changes in the Learningin the Estate Planning Industry with better and improved ways to do things. Due to the 3 L’s it is a very good chance that the old very out-dated estate plan will not work or in some cases may even be more detrimental to the client than they could ever imagine.
This can result in your affairs being dragged through the Probate Courts, family fighting over money and power, paying hefty taxes and legal fees, exposing the family lifetime of assets to financial creditors and predators in the form of lawsuits, divorces and bankruptcies. The end result is “it” didn’t work for the client or their family and the children and loved ones are the ones who are left to pick up the broken pieces.
The good news is these awful consequences can be avoided if people take action and do “proper” estate planning while they are alive and well!
I advise clients to take action with the 3 Keys to “Proper” Estate Planning because it will be an estate plan that works:
1. “Custom Create” your Life & Estate Plan with the assistance of qualified legal counselling (while you are alive and well);
2. “Fund” your Plan with a formal Trust Funding System (while you are alive and well);
3. “Maintain & Update Estate Plan” with a formal update and maintenance program throughout life! (due to the 3 L’s)
Create your Life & Estate Plan with this process because your family will be happy you did!
Our firm does this work for our clients and has helped many families with our unique ‘My Family Life Plan’ estate planning process where we custom “create” your estate plan to meet your goals and needs, we “fund your estate plan” to protect your property from probate court, taxes and lawsuits, and keep it “maintained & updated” throughout your life with our formal update and maintenance program ‘Client Care Plan’!
We don’t charge for telephone calls and the “meter is not running” when we work with members of our Client Care Plan!
http://www.myfamilylifeplan.com/Testimonials.php
If you have any questions or would like to schedule a consultation please call Attorney Patrick Kelleher at 781-871-PLAN (7526) or by email at Pat@myfamilylifeplan.com
Patrick J. Kelleher is a South Shore, MA resident and estate planning attorney serving and protecting families and businesses in the South Shore, MA area. For more information on estate planning visit our firm’s website at www.MyFamilyLifePlan.com where you can check out our Blog, free Newsletter library, free Estate Planning Channel on Youtube and sign up for a Free e-Newsletter!
Also serving the following communities South of Boston; Quincy, Milton, Braintree, Randolph, Holbrook, Weymouth, Scituate, Norwell, Hingham, Cohasset, Hull, Hanover, Pembroke, Duxbury, Marshfield, Plymouth, Rockland, Hanson, Halifax, Plympton, Carver, Abington, Whitman, Kingston
This article is not intended to provide legal or tax advice or create or imply an attorney-client relationship. No information contained herein is a substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney.
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