Estate Planning

Estate planning is often portrayed as a very complicated topic. In reality the planning is not complicated, but the tools that are used can be. In order to do an effective plan, you need to ask yourself and your spouse a number of questions, and be very honest in how you answer them.

Dying is by no means a pleasant topic, and certainly one that most people avoid. It is a natural human tendency to avoid discussions regarding our death and it's consequences to our families, and hope for the best outcome. The problem is if we do not plan for this event, our heirs will have to accept the plan that has already been drafted for them by the government. The government does not have the same uneasiness that we have in regards to planning for our eventual death. They have given us the right to draft our own plan, but if we choose not to, they have already completed one for us.

The government plan is simple and complete, and has the following provisions:

1. List all of my assets publicly so that anyone who feels they have claim against my estate may take legal action against it.
2. Tax me at the highest rate possible, and give as few options as possible to my heirs to reduce the amount of tax owed.
3. If I do not have liquidity in my estate, sell my assets within nine months to pay for the tax that is owed. If this is not the best time or if it takes longer to sell these assets at the best price, sell them now at a loss.
4. Divide my assets by a prescribed formula regardless of the consequences, even if that will expose them to creditors, litigation, divorce settlement and the state if I have a special needs beneficiary.
5. If extending credit to my heirs to pay the tax on my business or farm: place the highest restrictions on a future sale of that property, keep my heirs in the business as owners even if it is inappropriate, and charge them the highest rate allowed by law.

We have developed a process that starts by working with you to get answers to the right questions, and by determining how you would like to live for the rest of your life. Estate Planning is often looked at as "death planning", but it is really "life planning". Once you know what your needs will be for the balance of your life, you can start to plan how you want to impact the world around you at your death. You can create financial instruments that can be used for the benefit of your children and grandchildren, and experience those benefits during your lifetime. You can assist charitable organizations who are committed to causes that you are passionate about. You can help to assure that the companies that you created and built will continue to serve the community and prosper. The possibilities are truly endless, but all of these begin with the planning phase and an honest assessment of your situation.

You may notice that we did not spend anytime discussing planning instruments such as trusts, annuities or life insurance in this section. These are tools, and tools are best used once we know what the job at hand is. We believe that planners in general spend too much time discussing tools with a client, and in essence put the cart before the horse. Once you have determined your goals, there is a myriad of financial tools that can be used to accomplish those goals, but these are meaningless until you have set your course and determined your desired outcome.

We have a number of strategic relationships which assist our clients in reaching their goals, and we only use concepts which have a proven track record. There have been many planners which have used the latest and greatest planning tools, only to find that at best they did not live up to expectations, and at worst they actually harmed their clients and proved to be counter productive. The key, once again, is to assemble a team of experts and to allow the client to play a collaborative role in the process. We do the planning with them, not at them.

We look forward to assisting you in this area. By becoming a part of your team we can assist you in reaching your life's goals and aspirations.