I’ve always been a list maker – the idea to list an action and then “get it done” has plagued me since I was a young child – literally so I could sleep. I would ruminate on concerns over my spelling test in 3rd grade until my mother suggested putting all my worries to a list to shift the worries to piece of paper out of my mind. Why am I commenting on this? In many ways – New Year suggests a New You? Or, at the minimum, cleaning up old items from the past year that never got done. Some tasks we suggest or advise are painful for many to accomplish. One of these is the effort to manage the inevitable task of organizing our affairs for our own death. Estate planning is something that impacts everyone, so in addition to your own affairs, we urge you to discuss with your circle of family and friends – the organization of all items relating to our eventual deaths. In the past year, we have been assisting many of our clients as well as friends and family with:
- Organization of estate documents and confirming all in good order. This means signed and dated documents, confirming the personal representative(s), verifying who is responsible for powers of attorney as well as powers in the health care directive. We also suggest a review of beneficiaries named on IRAs, life insurance, annuities.
- The titling of current assets (individual name, joint with rights of survivorship, revocable trust, TOD, etc.)
- Review of password lists, locations of tax documents, bill paying or auto pay.
- Review of social networks and items in the cloud.
- Lists of items of family history for designation to family and friends – i.e., my favorite collection of “x” goes to nephew Jim.
Many of us may be named as personal representatives, powers on financial and health care without our knowledge. Also concerning is that individuals are named in documents that really have limited capacity or comprehension to take on the task. Per the Gallup poll only 46% of the population has a will. What is even more surprising is that 76% of those over age 65 have a will but that means that 1 in 4 adults over 65 do not have a will! https://news.gallup.com/poll/351500/how-many-americans-have-will.aspx#:~:text=Forty%2Dsix%20percent%20of%20U.S.,between%2044%25%20and%2051%25.
It is a solemn task to contemplate the efforts to organize your own affairs at your death. It is even more important that you review to assist others in your circle to consider these tasks. The best gift you give and get is a well-organized estate plan so that as grieving occurs, additional stress in money management and the legal processes are lessened. Whether this comment prompts you to review the tasks above or others in your circle – let’s all try to check this one off of our lists early in 2024 so it doesn't show up yet again next year!
While Baird does not offer tax or legal advice, our Financial Advisors regularly work with clients' attorneys and tax professionals to help ensure that all phases of wealth management are addressed. Please consult your legal or tax professional for specific information.
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