Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/216837
ESTATE PLANNING | Special Advertising Section On the flip side are older clients that have substantial savings, but put estate planning on a to-do list that never gets done. Haslam says that while denial of death is prevalent in our culture, a client assumes greater risk by leaving her assets unprotected. "Some gamble and lose," says Haslam. And then so do their heirs. No matter the extent of your assets or the size of your estate planning team, all advisors you employ should be fully informed of your wishes, so they can coordinate and ensure the best plan and proper asset titling are in place for your individual goals, says The Reserve's Lokrantz. WHO'S IT GOING TO—AND WHY DOES IT MATTER? Defining your assets is an important initial phase. When it comes to naming names, knowing this data becomes even more vital. The estate planning conversation really begins—not ends—at who's going to inherit the assets, says Wilson Law Group's Haslam. There is a stigma in the industry, he says, about "controlling money from the grave." Clients usually leave this school of thought when they realize they can create a detailed road map for their funds that's beneficial—not oppressive—to their loved ones. "Beneficiary designations are a critical part of anyone's estate plan and people overlook that," says Boardman & Clark's Heiner. "This gets litigated all the time." "There are cases where people inadvertently disinherit people they love," says First Business Trust & Investments' Van Fossen. How certain accounts are titled, she warns, will supersede what a person's will says. Life insurance and retirement accounts are the top two offenders in this category. Heiner points to an example: An unmarried woman who starts a new job may list a sibling as a beneficiary. As life changes and she perhaps marries, she might not think to change or update her beneficiary designation, and her spouse then loses out. Women also need to realize, says The Reserve's Schmidt, that assets can be passed in ways that will unnecessarily hinder an individual, especially in the case of minors or those with special needs. "You can't just give [the assets] to someone on a disability program," The Reserve's Lokrantz explains. "They would lose their benefits and the time to get back on [those benefits] would hurt them substantially—physically as well as financially." When it comes to their minor children, explains Haslam, "Parents can set up children as future trustees of their own trust, so that money management responsibilities go to them when the parents want it to." Many people have the mistaken belief that the only way to pass along assets is to outright give them to someone. Not true, he says. 40 BRAVA MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2013