GIVING
WHAT DO WE
Owe Our Children?
JEFF McMANUS Planned and Leadership Gifts Officer
As a parent and grandparent, and an estate planning attorney for over 40 years, I have had the opportunity to see the way many people approach planning for end of life issues. I have seen people who have put off the preparation of essential estate planning documents to the detriment of their surviving spouse or children. I have seen people content to make a simple will believing that such a document would provide an adequate and cost effective means to pass property on to their heirs. And not nearly often enough, I have seen people who were genuinely concerned enough about their families to timely complete and document a plan that would allow their survivors to avoid being forced to work through a maze of complex and costly tasks to administer their estate.
We all have an estate — some kind of assets or property that will be left to others when we pass away. Most of us have more than we realize. Think about your real estate, investment accounts, retirement plans, checking and savings accounts, life insurance, health savings accounts, business interests, cars, boats, personal property, safety deposit boxes, and more. To the extent that we have not left a well-organized roadmap for those we leave behind to follow, we are not only doing them a disservice but we are risking the need to spend thousands of dollars in that forced discovery process.
I have found that if people will do just three things well, they will be more comfortable during their lifetimes and more importantly, their survivors will be able to deal with the pain of a loss without also having also to deal with costly unknowns to clear up their loved one’s unplanned estate.
Think about the need after death for survivors to provide a birth certificate, military records, social security number and Medicare information. Think about what secure information is kept primarily on line with private (and perhaps unknown to the survivor) passwords.
PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR FAVORITE CHARITIES IS AS EASY AS 1,2,3!
1
GET ORGANIZED!
3
CONSIDER THE LEGACY YOU WANT TO LEAVE 44 avemarialaw.edu
2
ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT YOUR ESTATE PLAN
1
GET ORGANIZED!
Think about all the professionals you deal with on an ongoing basis—tax, financial planning, legal, banking and investments. If you do not have all this information in one place and keep it updated, you will be leaving your survivors with an unwelcome and overwhelming task. This can be avoided easily by creating a record book containing all of the information set forth above. These type of books with blanks to fill in are usually available in office supply stores, bookstores or on line. If you send me an email or call me, I will even send you one. Please do yourself and especially your family an invaluable service by finding and filling out a record book today. Then, keep it in a safe place and tell your family where they can find it. This can of course be done on line as well. If done on line, it is still a good idea to make a printed copy, and make sure a trusted family member knows your password and where to find your on line records.
