Mary L. Barrow - Estate Planning for the Savvy Client: What You Need to Know Before You Meet With Your Lawyer (Savvy Client Series, #1)

Estate Planning
for the
Savvy Client

What You Need to Know Before
You Meet With Your Lawyer

Mary L. Barrow, Esq.

Copyright 2017 by Mary L. Barrow.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Savvy Client Press

620 Park Avenue, Ste. 242

Rochester, New York 14607

info@savvyclientpress.com

Ordering Information:

Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the address above.

Estate Planning for the Savvy Client/ Mary L. Barrow. 1st ed.

ISBN print edition 978-0692853061

This book is a brief summary only and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice law in your jurisdiction. You should always consult your attorney before implementing or changing any estate planning strategy. You should never delay seeking legal advice, disregard legal advice, or commence or discontinue any legal action because of information in this book.

Contents

This book is dedicated to all of my clients and students over the years.
You are the joy of my practice.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Albert Einstein

About the Author

Mary L. Barrow has been an attorney for more than 30 years. She has a BA from Brown University and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania law school. For many years she practiced estate planning, probate and trust law, in three different states, both as a partner in a large law firm and as the principal of a boutique trusts & estates firm. She has helped numerous clients to define their goals and objectives, and then implement those wishes as simply and efficiently as possible through their estate plans.

In 2009 Attorney Barrow was approached by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of South Carolina Beaufort to create a course for its members on the topic of trusts. She was delighted to teach the resulting course for a number of years. Attorney Barrow enjoys speaking to groups of non-lawyers on estate planning topics.

Introduction

Welcome to Estate Planning For the Savvy Client . This book is your guide to getting the most out of your relationship with your estate planning lawyer.

A quick search of any online or brick-and-mortar bookstore will tell you that there are already many trusts & estates books in the world. They cover wills, trusts, probate, and a variety of other estate planning topics. There are do-it-yourself books and technical lets-learn-everything-from-a-book books. There are guides and templates and checklists. There are in-depth analyses written by experts in the field. But when it comes to planning your own estate, no matter how many books you may read, unless you have a law degree and years of experience practicing trusts & estates law, youll benefit greatly from the guidance of a qualified trusts & estates attorney. In the pages that follow, I draw on my extensive experience to help you get as much as you can from your lawyers time.

Why I Wrote This Book

When I taught a course on trusts for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), I found that many of my students were sophisticated, successful people who had already met with an attorney and obtained estate planning documents, such as wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. But they came to my course because they still had questions or concerns. I understand how this could happen: In the first place, trusts & estates is a highly technical, detail-oriented area of the law. There often simply is not enough time to address all the fine points. Second, people are sometimes reluctant to ask questions that they feel are either too basic (and therefore embarrassing) or too complex. In addition, there is a mindset and a vocabulary in the world of estate planning, probate and trust law that is second nature to the people who work in that system. Lawyers and other people working within the system may assume that people understand certain terms and procedures when that simply is not the case.

I wrote this book so that the money you spend on estate planning is money well spent. Ill explain some basic concepts and dispel some common estate planning myths and misconceptions so that you can be better-informed and more self-confident before you consult a prospective lawyer or meet with your current lawyer. Ill also help you close any communication gaps that may exist between you and your lawyer. Better communication between you and your lawyer will make it easier to achieve your estate planning goals and objectives efficiently.

Did You Know? It is unlikely that all your assets will pass as specified in your Last Will and Testament. Read Chapter 2.

Did You Know? Putting your daughters name on a bank account or putting your house in your sons name could have serious adverse consequences. Read Chapter 4.

What This Book Is

This book is designed to make you more comfortable with the estate planning process. It will give you insight into what to expect and explain important terms and concepts. Well start with the basics and move on to more advanced concepts. Understanding these fundamentals will help you make the most of your time, energy and money when planning your estate, as well as give you more confidence.

Whether you are new to estate planning or making changes to your existing plan, youll benefit from reading this book before your next meeting with your attorney. The Savvy Client is you!

What This Book Is Not

This book is not legal advice and it isnt a substitute for legal advice from a qualified estate planning attorney and/or tax advisor. It provides a general overview of selected trusts & estates concepts in the United States of America. Keep in mind that specific laws and practices differ in each of the fifty states. Moreover, the information in this book may not apply to your specific situation. You should always consult an experienced estate planning attorney and/or tax advisor for legal or tax advice on your local laws and unique circumstances.

After reading this book, you will have a greater understanding and be better prepared to work with your lawyer, but you wont be qualified to plan your own estate or draft your own estate planning documents any more than you would be qualified to remove your own gall bladder after reading a book on surgery. And you wont know more than your attorney (if you suspect you do, get a different attorney).

Finally, reading this book is not intended to and does not create an attorney-client relationship between us, and the book is not a solicitation for legal work.

CHAPTER 1

Basics Youll
Want to Know

YOULL BE MUCH MORE comfortable with the estate planning process if you have a solid understanding of some of the basic concepts. I remember (although it was many years ago) being perplexed the first time I heard the term estate planning. What was that, exactly? What do we mean by an estate plan? Is it a single piece of paper with a plan on it, or is it something altogether different? And how do we do whatever it is? This chapter will shed light on these and other murky areas.