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This Month’s Secret :
My wife tells me it’s time to write another article for this newsletter. She insists that I didn’t even write one last month. I tell her that I’m sure I did. So she asked me what it was about—exactly what have I written since that story I composed in Paris? Hmmmm. I can’t remember . . . and I can’t find it either. Maybe she’s right again—but I’m sure I wrote something. I feel a little like the man who said: “Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most!”
I think I’ll just return to the question with which I’m confronted over and over again as an estate planning attorney: “Why do I need to do any planning, anyway? I don’t have anything!”
In my seminars, I give three suggestions to begin planning your estate. The second suggestion is to make a list of all your assets. Most people have more than they think they have, so this is usually a pleasant experience. Begin with your most valuable asset. In most cases that’s your home. Even if you don’t own a home, you will have other “stuff.”
Here are some of the other things you might have:
-cash, checking, savings accounts
-certificates of deposit
-stocks
-bonds (including US savings bonds)
-mutual funds
-brokerage accounts
-retirement savings (IRAs, 401Ks, SEPs, other special accounts)
-household furniture
-automobiles
-other vehicles (boats, ATVs, planes, motorcycles, etc.)
-life insurance
-annuities
-jewelry
-special collections (coins, stamps, sports memorabilia, books, antiques, china, silver, etc.)
Were you surprised as you added up the things you’ve accumulated? Now . . . how do you want to leave it behind? As there’s no taking it with you, don’t you want to leave some special instructions? Or are you really content with someone else deciding what to do with all your stuff?
That reminds me of a cartoon I once noticed with a caption which read: “As you know, your uncle died intestate (that means without a will). In this state we have our own way of distributing assets to the heirs. Now, do you all know what a pinata is?”
That’s likely to be similar to the outcome you will achieve if you don’t prepare your own plan for your stuff. And that’s why the first suggestion I give to people who attend my seminars is to decided to do something! You must decide to do something and then pick a date by which it must be done. We both know what will happen if you don’t. Nothing.
The third suggestion I give at my seminars: Decide how you want your stuff distributed in the event of your death. Do you want everything to go to your spouse? Your children? Do you want to include your children’s spouses or your grandchildren? Do you want to leave something to your college or university or to your church? Would you like to avoid probate upon your death? Exactly what would you like to do?
To help you with these tasks, I have come across a wonderful tool prepared by Jeff Radich called the Estate Planning Organizer. I highly recommend it. To learn more about the Estate Planning Organizer, click here. (If the link doesn't work, paste the following into your web browser: http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=142067 )
My next suggestion is to prepare a plan that will meet those objectives. And that’s what we will help you to determine in the next newsletter. That is, if I don’t totally lose my mind. I have a poem in my office which is credited to a client of mine, Iris Hancock. It reads:
I am fully aware
That my youth has been spent
That my get up and go
Has got up and went.
But I really don’t mind
When I think with a grin
Of all the many fine places
My get up has been.
Do prepare your list of assets. Do decide what you want to have happen with those assets upon your death. Do it before our next newsletter arrives . . . and do it before your get up and go has irretrievably got up and went!
Until next time,
Steven W. Allen
Legal Awareness Series, Inc.
1550 E. McKellips Road, Ste. 111
Mesa, AZ 85203
info@legalawareness.com
1-800-733-LAWS (1-800-733-5297)
