LEGACY PLANNING IS ABOUT GROWTH VALUES TRADITION HERITAGE
The Legacy Planning Process
If you reach out via phone, email, or through this website’s contact form, I’ll chat with you briefly and then direct you to my scheduling page so that you can pick a convenient time for our 30-minute Legacy Plan Initial Consultation. If you’d like, you can skip the Meet & Greet and go straight to the scheduling page.
The legacy planning process starts with an initial complimentary 30-minute meeting, which you can schedule online here. Once you schedule your appointment, I will email you a client registration form to fill out online (you must complete this form prior to our Initial Consultation).
We will use these 30 minutes to:
get to know each other a bit
go over the answers you entered on your registration form
discuss your needs and goals
address any initial questions or concerns you might have
schedule your Design Meeting
discuss your preparation for the Design Meeting (see Note below)
Note: After your Initial Consultation, I will email you an Estate Planning Worksheet to fill out (you can complete it online, as a fillable PDF, or feel free to print it out). The Worksheet will prompt you to submit certain documents to me, including things like previously executed estate plans, property deeds, marital agreements, LLC operating agreements, and the like. You must submit this form and these documents to me (digital or hard copy) no later than 1 week before your Design Meeting.
If you don’t have an existing legacy plan, the goal of the Design Meeting is to set out the details of your estate plan. To do this well, you will need to submit your preparatory documents to me at least one week prior to your appointment so that I can be best prepared to advise you on your specific wants and needs.
We will discuss various options regarding your wishes for how you want your tangible property distributed, who will make financial decisions for you if you become incapacitated or pass away, who will advocate for your medical needs, who will care for your children, and much more. We will discuss various choices and I’ll make recommendations based on your particular situation. At the end of the meeting, we’ll have a clear blueprint that I will use to build you a comprehensive estate plan.
Once the design of your estate plan is complete, we will discuss the second component of your legacy: your deliberate family plan. This plan is the best way to ensure a smooth, conflict-free transfer of both your tangible and intangible assets. Together, we will go over the various planning tools and decide which ones you would like to employ.
If you do have an existing estate or legacy plan, we will review it and discuss your desired changes. We will determine whether an Amendment or Restatement is more appropriate.
If you have them, we will review your:
- Prenup/Marital Agreement
- Estate Plan
- Advanced Directive/Living Will
- Financial Powers of Attorney
- Healthcare Powers of Attorney
- HIPAA Authorizations
- Business Succession Plan
- Life Insurance Plan
- Retirement Plan
- Family Plan
Note: The Design Meeting typically takes 2 to 4 hours to complete (often depending on how prepared you are). Please plan accordingly.
The next time we meet will be to review the documents that make up your estate plan. We will go through the documents together and ensure that you understand them and that they achieve your goals. At this time, we will discuss any remaining questions and mark any necessary changes. Once the review is complete, we will schedule your Signing Meeting and your Legacy Interview.
The Signing Meeting is our final “formal” meeting and the moment you will sign all of the documents that make up your estate plan. Your documents will be witnessed and notarized, then I will take them back to my office to digitize them.
Note: You do not receive your estate planning documents at this meeting because I still need to digitize them.
After your Signing Meeting, we will conduct your Legacy Interview (on the same day or another day that is convenient for you). A Legacy Interview involves you and me sitting down together in a very informal way. You can share your stories, values, lessons-learned, advice, and anything else you’d like to say to your loved ones while I record our meeting via audio or video. This recording will be included as a file on the USB you will receive from me in your Legacy Plan binder.
Note: I know telling your personal stories to a relative stranger probably seems off-putting right now, but don’t worry, by this time, we’ll have built a great relationship.
One week before the Legacy Interview, I will send you a “guide” that will outline our conversation and help you informally prepare. This is also a good time to collect your photos and historic documents for digitizing (if you choose to take advantage of that service).
Note: If you choose to have our meeting recorded on video, this interview may also serve as proof of your mental capacity at the time of making your estate plan.
Trust funding can be accomplished in 3 ways:
I can fund it for you for an additional fee (0.25% of all assets funded).
I can connect you with a trusted financial advisor who can assist you with funding your trust and provide additional financial advice, if desired.
You can fund it yourself using the written instructions I will provide you.