This is a sentence that I’ve heard over the years. Heck, I’ve even said it myself.
I mean, let’s be honest, how many of us want to spend an hour or two discussing our own demise?
I’m not an attorney. I did not go to law school. None of this is to be considered legal advice.
If you are feeling stuck in the ‘we’ve gotta get our wills done’ camp, then here is a framework that might help you get unstuck.
Step 1: Schedule a Meeting with an Estate Attorney 60 days into the future. Make a commitment to yourself, your spouse and your new attorney by putting a hard date on the calendar. Don’t know a good estate attorney? Ask your friends. Ask associated professionals (financial advisor, CPA, etc). Don’t have any professionals? Don’t have any friends? If you live in the DC Metro area, send me a DM and ask me.
Step 2: Get Your Data Organized. When you schedule with the attorney, ask them for a PDF copy of their questionnaire or their data intake document. DO NOT LET THIS DOCUMENT INTIMIDATE YOU. This document is usually 10+ pages and set-up to handle everything from the single person getting basic documents all the way to the decamillionaire that owns four businesses and a portfolio of apartment buildings. Get started on the pages where you will list important people in your life with DOBs, addresses, phone numbers, etc. Then, record the data surrounding your financial stuff (assets, liabilities, insurance contracts, group benefits, etc). Your financial advisor can be a big help with preparing the intake document.
Step 3: Gather Your Supporting Documents. Set up a folder on your computer for PDFs and/or a physical cardboard box to gather documents. Statements from retirement accounts.Life insurance annual statements. Brokerage account statements. Cash account statements. Debt statements (car, mortgage, student loans, etc). Again, if you have a financial advisor, they can be helpful in gathering these documents with you.
Step 4: Keep Your Scheduled Meeting With The Attorney. Bring your electronic documents, cardboard box and your intake form. Many attorney’s use the intake form as their guide to running the initial meeting. This initial meeting is where the attorney will gather the majority of the data they will need in order to create draft documents. At the end of this meeting, schedule a target signing ceremony with your attorney to give everybody a deadline. You will likely have a punch list of decisions and documents. Please get those back to the attorney within three business days while everything is still fresh in your and your attorney’s mind.
Step 5: The Signing Ceremony. This is the day where you meet with your attorney to sign your documents in-front of witnesses. Once signed, your documents will be in-force. There may be a couple more steps that your attorney will walk you through. For example: depending on how your documents are set-up, you may need to adjust beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and/or life insurance. Your financial advisor can help you coordinate your financial instruments with your legal documents.
Step 6: FINANCIAL ADVISOR CLIENTS ONLY. Put a note or the business card of your financial advisor with your legal documents. Your financial advisor should have a wide angle view of your financial picture (investment accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance contracts, legal documents, etc) and can be AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE in helping the survivors navigate your financial landscape.
In closing, although this is not a comprehensive guide to getting your legal documents complete, it gives you a framework to follow.Engage your financial advisor to help you gather documents and to help you implement on the back end.
Make this the year to get your legal documents done.
Let me know how I can help.