THE REAL COST TO YOUR FAMILY OF FAILED ESTATE PLANNING: NOT UPDATING YOUR PLAN

If you’re like most people, you probably view estate planning as a burdensome necessity—just one more thing to check off of life’s endless “to-do” list.

You may shop around and find a lawyer to create planning documents for you, or you might try creating your own DIY plan using online documents. Then, you’ll put those documents into a drawer, mentally check estate planning off your to-do list, and forget about them.

The problem is, your estate plan is not a one-and-done type of deal.

In fact, if it’s not regularly updated when your assets, family situation, and/or the laws change, your plan will be totally worthless when your family needs it. What’s more, failing to regularly update your plan can create its own unique set of problems that can leave your family worse off than if you’d never created a plan at all.

The following story illustrates the consequences of not updating your plan. Experiences like this are why DeCosimo Law uses a family-centered, heart-centered model of estate planning with all of our clients.

Sarah had hired the best estate planning attorney in the city to draft her living trust. She paid a hefty sum of money to ensure her family wouldn't have to deal with probate court or legal disputes when she passed away. However, years went by, and she never funded her trust. When she passed away, her family found out the hard way that most attorneys don't bother making sure their clients fund their trusts. The trust was essentially worthless, and her family was left dealing with the very problems Sarah had hoped to avoid.

Unfortunately, Sarah's situation isn't unique. In California alone, there are over $11 BILLION of property in the unclaimed property department, much of which is a result of poorly drafted or unfunded trusts. It's crucial to work with an experienced attorney who not only drafts a solid estate plan but also takes the time to ensure all assets are properly funded and titled. Don't make the same mistake as Sarah - protect your family's future by taking the necessary steps to ensure your estate plan is comprehensive and up to date.

KEEP YOUR PLAN UP TO DATE

We hear similar stories from our clients all the time. Indeed, outside of not creating any estate plan at all, one of the most common planning mistakes we encounter is when we get called by the loved ones of someone who has become incapacitated or died with a plan that no longer works. By the time they contact us, however, it’s too late.

We recommend you review your plan annually to make sure it’s up to date and immediately amend your plan following events like divorce, deaths, births, and inheritances. We have built-in systems and processes to ensure your plan is regularly reviewed and updated, so you don’t need to worry about whether you’ve overlooked anything important as your life changes, the law changes, and your assets change.

You should also create (and regularly update) an inventory of all your assets, including digital assets like cryptocurrency, photos, videos, and social media accounts. This way, your family will know what you have and how to find it when something happens to you, and nothing you’ve worked so hard for will be lost to California’s Department of Unclaimed Property.

We’ll not only help you create a comprehensive asset inventory, but we’ll make sure it stays up to date throughout your lifetime.

PROPERLY TITLE YOUR TRUST ASSETS

When you create a trust, it’s not enough to list the assets you want it to cover. You have to transfer the legal title of certain assets—real estate, bank accounts, securities, brokerage accounts—to the trust, known as “funding” the trust, in order for them to be disbursed properly.

While most lawyers will create a trust for you, few will ensure your assets are properly funded. We’ll not only make sure your assets are properly titled when you initially create your trust, we’ll also ensure that any new assets you acquire over the course of your life are inventoried and properly funded to your trust.

This will keep your assets from being lost, as well as prevent your family from being inadvertently forced into court because your plan was never fully completed.

KEEP YOUR FAMILY OUT OF COURT AND OUT OF CONFLICT

As your Personal Family Lawyer®, our planning services go far beyond simply creating documents and then never seeing you again. Indeed, we’ll develop a relationship with your family that lasts not only for your lifetime but for the lifetime of your children and their children, if that’s your wish.

We’ll support you in not only creating a plan that keeps your family out of court and out of conflict in the event of your death or incapacity, but we’ll ensure your plan is regularly updated to make certain that it works and is there for your family when you cannot be. Contact us today to get started with a Family Wealth Planning Session.

This article is a service of DeCosimo Law, Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That's why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.