Doing your estate plan (Will, Trust, Power of Attorney, Health Care Proxy, etc.) is a step in getting organized and obtaining peace of mind knowing that your loved ones are taken care of.
Along with that, it is also important to make sure that you allow your advisors to talk and collaborate on a regular basis. Each advisor (estate planning attorney, CPA, financial advisor, life insurance advisor, etc.) has his or her own specialty - that's why you hired them, right? As an estate planning attorney, I might know a bit about each specialty, but that doesn't mean that you'd want me to do your income taxes (even I have my own CPA to take care of that for me). Our breath of knowledge in these other areas usually gives us the ability to "issue spot" but we can't solve that particular problem without the specialist getting involved.
So knowing that advisors have their specialty areas, doesn't it sound reasonable that your advisors should have the opportunity to talk with each other to make sure we are putting our heads together regarding your needs and goals?
Here's an example of where that can come in handy. A client recently gave me the okay to sit down with his financial advisor to talk about the client's overall situation. My client had done his estate plan about three years ago and hadn't been back to see me. During that three year period, his financial situation changed. He switched his assets over to another financial institution and his assets had increased during that three year period. Sitting down with the financial advisor, we were able to determine that the beneficiary designations on his new accounts needed to be adjusted to be in line with his estate plan (he hadn't named a beneficiary on his new accounts and because of this those assets would have needed to go through probate court upon his death...something he didn't want to happen). His financial advisor and I were also able to talk about possible strategy for this client. The client had told me three years ago that he wanted to do some charitable planning but that he didn't feel financially ready. Talking together, we realized that the client could now pursue this goal. What a win for the client and for the community and the causes the client is going to be able to benefit.
Keep your advisors in the loop - so that your advisor will know what's going on in your life and so that your advisors can collaborate together....This will help ensure that your needs and goals are heading in the right direction and are in sync.
For more information, Tiffany can be contacted at tiffany@OConnellLawGroup.com or (508) 202-1818. Additional information is also available on the O’Connell Law LLC website: www.OConnellLawGroup.com.
