Your Estate Planning Consultation
Preparing for Your Initial Consultation
You will receive a Welcome Package from my office prior to your initial consultation. Included will be a short questionnaire designed to help focus your thoughts on the planning process
and help me gather important facts about you and your family to design your estate plan. Please take the time to review these documents and either fax or mail them back to my office in the
enclosed, self-addressed postage paid envelope included in your package before your appointment.
Expect to receive a reminder phone call from my office the day before your appointment. This is simply to confirm the time and date of the appointment. If you must reschedule your
appointment, please contact us immediately so that we may rearrange our schedule and perhaps make an appointment more convenient for another client.
There is no need to go on a "treasure hunt" at this point for financial or legal documents, stock certificates or insurance policies. Sometimes we find clients procrastinate
in getting their planning done because they cannot locate, or do not have time to locate, all of these documents. Truthfully, these documents will not be needed until we begin the funding
process ... which is one of the last steps in the process! Instead, spend the time before your appointment contemplating the Three P's of Estate Planning.
Understanding the Three P's of Estate Planning
#1 -- People
Who are the Important People in your life?
Beginning with you, they may include your loved ones: your spouse, if you are married, children and grandchildren if you have any, perhaps your parents, siblings or other relatives.
"Important People" may also include charities, special causes, colleges or universities, or churches. For some, "Important People" could even include pets. Spend some
time thinking about the impact others have had on your life. Make a list and jot notes if you like. This is where the planning process truly begins.
#2 -- Property
By Property I mean your assets in general.
Make a list of the assets you own or control. At this point, you do not need to identify insurance policy numbers and exact dollar values. Rather think through your assets in terms of
their nature (cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.); their value in thousands of dollars; and your ownership interest. Do you own assets in your name only, in joint tenancy with someone
else, or through a trust agreement or some other arrangement? Be sure to include often-overlooked assets like life insurance (the death benefit, not the cash value), business interests,
and any inheritance you may expect to receive.
#3 -- Plans
After you identify the Important People in your life and your Property, the next step is to consider the plans you would make for those people (including yourself) and that Property in
the event of your incapacity or death. Who would you want and trust to make decisions for you if you could no longer do so yourself? Who do you want and trust to take care of you if you
are disabled? Would the same persons handle your finances and your personal and health care decisions? Who would care for your minor children? How would you distribute your assets to your
heirs? Do you want to spare your heirs the cost, delays and hassles of probate? Do you want to minimize estate taxes ... or maximize the impact of a charitable bequest? Do you want to
protect the Property you leave your heirs from divorce, lawsuits, bankruptcy and foreclosures? Is there someone in your family with a disability or special needs for whom you would like to
provide? Is there someone who perhaps should not receive a great deal of money without some independent oversight?
These are just a few of the issues to consider when approaching the planning process. They are much more important than the "treasure hunt" for legal documents at this stage.
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