Compliments ofJohn D. Laughton, A Professional Law Corporation,
Written By: The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys
An effective estate plan is not just a stack of well-drafted documents, its an arrangement designed to take care of you and your family during the most challenging moments of your lives.
It takes a team of advisors to pull together all the details to be sure that your plan is ready to spring into action when you need it. Most people need these core players on their team:
Experienced Estate Planning Attorney. Think of your attorney as the quarterback of your estate planning team. Your attorney listens to your goals and concerns and crafts a plan to meet your needs and those of your family – in case of your disability or death.
Because estate planning is a complex and dynamic area of law, youll want to work with an attorney whose practice is focused on estate planning. This is not the time to seek out a general practitioner.
Financial Planner. One of the easiest ways to derail an estate plan is to miss your financial goals. Your financial planner can keep you on track to hit your retirement planning targets and help make sure you have the assets in place to fund your overall estate plan.
Accountant. Your accountant can work with your attorney to identify and address tax issues before they threaten your estate plan.
Insurance Agent. Your insurance agent can help ensure you and your loved ones are covered against lifes unpredictable and costly risks. Life insurance, in particular, can be an invaluable estate planning tool. Depending on your needs, life insurance can be used for a wide range of purposes, including estate tax planning, income replacement, business planning, and wealth building.
So, how do you go about building an estate planning team? Its as simple as picking up the phone. All you need to do is call your estate planning attorney and make an appointment. Your attorney will guide you through the rest of the process, step by step.
If you already have the other team members in place, perfect! If not, your attorney can likely recommend a network of professionals to round out the roster.
Theres no better time than now to get in the game!
