Posted by LKT/CA on 2/4/12 12:51pm
Msg #410871
Estate Planning
I network with an estate planning attorney and receive invites for her office presentations on estate planning. Since we notarize signatures for Wills and Trusts, I thought I'd share excerpts from the email invite I received.
THE BENEFITS OF PROPER ESTATE PLANNING:
· Provide instructions for your care and that of your loved ones in the event of your disability.
· Be effective if you move to or own property in another state.
· Avoid probate and its associated legal costs.
· Keep your affairs private and confidential.
· Control all your property including pensions and life insurance.
· Allow you to leave explicit instructions for the care of your loved ones.
· Create protective trusts for your young children, disadvantaged children, adult children and grandchildren.
· Provide federal estate tax planning.
THE PITFALLS OF WILLS:
· Wills guarantee probate –which can generate executor and attorney fees and cause much time delay before your loved ones can receive their inheritance.
· Wills are fully public. They are open to inspection by anyone who wants to know about your Will and personal affairs.
· Wills offer no planning or direction for you or your family in the event of your disability.
· Wills are easily challenged by unhappy relatives.
· Wills most often do not control their makers’ life insurance proceeds, retirement benefits, or jointly owned property.
· Wills are often bare-bones form document written in hard-to-understand language. They do not capture the hopes, fears, dreams values and ambitions of their makers.
· Wills may not be effective when their makers move to or own property in another state.
THE PITFALLS OF CHOOSING THE WRONG PERSON TO CREATE YOUR TRUST:
· Unfortunately, there are many businesses and salespeople masquerading as estate planning professionals. They are inundating the public with sales schemes that involve selling wills, living trusts, and other estate planning documents without the involvement of attorneys in the design and drafting of the documents.
· Our firm requires professional thoroughness by our attorney, your CPA/Accountant, Financial Advisor and/or our team of professionals to ensure the overall well-being of you and your family.
· Many times trusts go unfunded and cause probate anyway.
· If a trust is not reviewed and you let it sit for years in a shelf without ever reviewing it, you may find out too late that the trust that was created many years ago may no longer have the wishes or goals you desire now. It may also not comply with recent law changes.
| Reply by Lee/AR on 2/4/12 1:33pm
Msg #410872
Know this all sounds good, but, in my experience, the promises made by Trust pros rarely survive for very long. The lives of people making out a Trust move on, and, so, too, do the lives of the Estate Planners--who are also frequently Attorneys. I only add this to be sure you do your own homework when contemplating this. This warning is from personal experience.
| Reply by ikando on 2/4/12 1:39pm
Msg #410873
The Estate Planning attorney with whom I work has similar comments in her marketing material.
Even though I'm not an attorney, the one thing I routinely suggest to people is to consider more the "what happens if you become unable" to direct your affairs. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to a hospital or nursing home to notarize a POA so a member of the family can take care of paying bills or some other everyday activity. In my opinion, the POA is a more critical document to have than either the trust or will because a person will need someone to take care of them and their affairs while they are still living as opposed to what happens after they're dead. The "after they're dead" documents (will and trust) are for other people.
| Reply by LKT/CA on 2/4/12 6:28pm
Msg #410899
POAs and AHCD are a part of the package. I've seen the gigantic binder of detailed documents for *some* packages. I've attended her presentations (usually about 20 people are in attendance) where she is more than happy and willing to answer any and all questions. I'm called to notarize for this attorney's client's when the client requests mobile service to their home (particularly on the weekends and holidays). Her executive assistant is a notary (I know her personally too) but only notarizes at the office and doesn't handle mobile business. This is when I'm called.
As far as disposition of "things" as Shoshanna mentioned - that's handled by the attorney. The Trust can be as detailed and specific as one wants it - even down to requiring "Junior" to be drug tested before he gets a certain amount, or Junior must get at least a "C" grade in college, where the dog or other animal goes is part of the estate planning including who is to care for it and how much of a stipend they get, etc., etc., and so forth.
| Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 2/4/12 2:12pm
Msg #410875
What might also be important to some people is disposal of family heirlooms. Many times, our kids have no appreciation of "things". In 2010 when my mother-in-law passed, my daughter was given my father-in-law's antique pharmaceutical scale. After it was in her possession she said that she had no room for it. She was going to sell it on Ebay. (Daughter is well off and doesn't need the money.) OMG, my husband nearly had a fit. So she gave it to us.
Please leave instructions regarding disposal of these items.
| Reply by jba/fl on 2/4/12 2:17pm
Msg #410877
Please leave instructions regarding disposal of these items.
Even if all you do is pencil a note on the bottom or back of the item the intent is there. A gift list would be better, added to will, etc.
| Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/4/12 2:19pm
Msg #410878
So True Shoshana...my husband and I have discussed the
same thing - the things that mean so much to us will mean nothing to our kids...we're thinking about selling stuff off now because I know they won't want it.
| Reply by ikando on 2/4/12 3:04pm
Msg #410885
Re: So True Shoshana...my husband and I have discussed the
Same thing goes for pets. I volunteer at the SPCA, and too often see the animals coming to the shelter because the family doesn't want Mom's beloved poodle.
Since I have parrots, it's even more important. Even though birds are the third most popular pet (behind dogs and cats), some species live almost 100 years. Most families aren't prepared to take that on, so some sort of arrangement, generally through a trust, is necessary for after our death.
| Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/4/12 3:40pm
Msg #410888
Never gave the pets a thought...hjrrmmm
My sister-in-law's single wide is in trouble if anything happens to both of us - 4 cats, 2 dogs..
2 horses outside..uh oh..
| Reply by Shoshana/AZ on 2/4/12 3:50pm
Msg #410889
Also, don't leave your kids a mess to clean up!
After we went through cleaning out my inlaw's home, we vowed not to leave a mess for our kids. My inlaws corned the market on TP and light bulbs! LOL!
| Reply by HisHughness on 2/4/12 3:07pm
Msg #410886
I'm bothered by the recitation...
...of the allegedly negative aspects of a will. This is not directed at anyone or any approach to life's-end matters.
A will is very much a part of disposition of one's estate upon death. For many of us, if there is no real estate and if there is a high level of trust between benefactor and recipients, virtually everything can be resolved without a will and without probate of the estate, whether there is or is not a will. Financial accounts can be joint, car titles can be signed in advance, understandings can be reached about the disposition of personal property. Even in those circumstances, though, a simple will is desirable, in the event something was overlooked. If nothing was, the will never needs to be filed for probate.
Absent a will, if advance provisions have not been made, an estate is distributed under the general laws of a state, and that is often a quite different disposition than a decedent would wish.
One of the reasons that estate plannners don't especially like wills is that they are inexpensive means of taking care of life's-end matters, they are readily available through services such as Legal Zoom, and often -- well, maybe sometimes -- can be done effectively without the assistance of an attorney.
As an aside, the federal government is most solicitous of borrowers in reverse mortgages. The Gov just doesn't want anyone taking advantage of seniors, especially in a process that has been designed specifically to keep them in their homes in their declining years. The government is most dubious of estate planners' involvement in reverse mortgages; there is a specific document that an RM borrower has to sign that says none of the proceeds from the mortgage will go to an estate planning firm.
Estate planning, and, by extension estate planning firms, has its place, and that generally is in making arrangements for the disposition of estates with substantial assets. Estate planning is not for everyone; a will is.
| Reply by LKT/CA on 2/4/12 6:32pm
Msg #410900
Re: I'm bothered by the recitation...
<<<Estate planning, and, by extension estate planning firms, has its place, and that generally is in making arrangements for the disposition of estates with substantial assets. Estate planning is not for everyone; a will is.>>>
That's what I thought - it's for "others" - not for me, who barely has two nickles to rub together. While TODAY I've only got two nickles....but tomorrow, next week or next year could be a whole different story. I also thought that about financial planning....thought it was for "others" who HAVE something.....until I met a financial planner at a networking event, chatted with her and got a whole different view than my own "stereotype" I'd been believing. Now she's MY financial planner.
To each his own...
| Reply by BrendaTx on 2/4/12 6:59pm
Msg #410902
To me, the important point here is not whether or not one believes that this is a good presentation or that financial planning is necessary, it is an opportunity for work. This is an honest stream of income for a notary, in my opinion.
I feel it was generous of Lisa to share it.
| Reply by gotogirl on 2/6/12 10:03am
Msg #411010
How skills would be requird for a Notary like myself need to enter the Estate Planning profession ?
| Reply by jba/fl on 2/6/12 1:16pm
Msg #411018
Attention to detail, which means knowing how to spell and present oneself. That is of paramount importance when you are marketing yourself. People read here too, so you need to improve in this area. It does matter.
| Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/6/12 1:27pm
Msg #411020
You need a financial background (STRONG financial
background) and/or maybe be an attorney, to do estate planning.
If you're asking how a notary handles these, you already know this - you notarize the signatures for an ack or jurat, you identify, notarize...and market market market to SS's and possibly estate planning firms - but you don't market as an estate planner - you market to them and offer to assist them in getting their paperwork signed and notarized - you're a notary, that's it.
| Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/6/12 4:57pm
Msg #411038
If you're just planning to do notary work for Estate Planning professionals, then you need to know your state's notary law backwards and forwards, and BE a professional in every sense of the word. You will probably find that most estate planners either are notaries themselves or have one or more notaries on their staff. Most of our work for them would be mobile or remote. (I know one estate planning attorney who operates his legal practice as a mobile service. Unfortunately, he's also a notary and does all his own notary work, too. No comment on what I think about that!  )
To go beyond that, to actual be someone who provides Estate Planning services to the public, I would say that being an attorney first would be essential if not required, especially in CA. These documents can have enormous impact on critical events in people's lives and errors could have catastrophic consequences.
| Reply by AA1 Mobile Notary - Cheryl on 9/28/12 9:22am
Msg #436270
Are you an attorney? You are giving alot of information that isn't relevant here to what we, as notaries, really are supposed to be discussing. Our job is only to witness documents, not pick them apart and advise other people what they document is saying.
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