What do I need to start the estate planning process?
When a client calls me to schedule a meeting, they usually ask “what do I need to bring with me to the meeting?” Or “is there anything I need to fill out prior to the meeting” and I generally answer with - just bring yourself and your questions and I’ll take it from there.
The reason for that is two-fold:
it just makes things a lot easier and convenient for you and
it makes the estate planning process less overwhelming - because, in truth, the estate planning process is usually not as complicated as most people initially think.
Yes, the documents the attorney creates can be somewhat long and boring, but that’s what the attorney is for - to deal with all the boring stuff. So, for the initial meeting, we really are just focusing on three things:
Your family situation - we want to learn about you, your family, and any concerns you may have.
General overview of assets and liabilities - ballpark figures are fine for the initial meeting - we need to understand whether you fall within the estate tax threshold territory (for either MA and/or Federal estate tax purposes) and also have a general idea about how complex your asset mix currently is (e.g., do you have various partnership/business interests/rental properties or it is more of a simple primary home with retirement accounts type of situation).
Who you would like to appoint as your agents - In other words, who would make financial decisions and medical decisions for you, and who would you like to manage your trust after you are gone.
Naturally, these three areas will lead us down rabbit holes and more questions, but that’s exactly why I prefer to discuss them in real time so you aren’t scratching your head trying to figure out how to best answer a generic form.
It’s also important to note that a lot of the information online (my own website included) can have so much legalese on it’s easy to get confused over terminology, so do yourself a favor and don’t try to feel like you need to know everything prior to the meeting. In fact, a lot of times I have to unteach clients what they read online because it’s either inaccurate, misleading, or only applicable in certain contexts.
If you have questions or concerns about your estate planning or trust, then feel free to schedule a call with me using the link below. I’m always happy to help!
