Living Trust Planning | Estate Planning Attorney

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  • Want to Show Your Partner How Much You Love Them? Put Them In Your Will

    Want to Show Your Partner How Much You Love Them? Put Them In Your Will

    Love is undoubtedly the most profound and cherished thread that weaves us all together, and there are many different ways to express our love to the people who mean the most to us. Often when we think of showing our love, we think of bouquets of flowers, surprise gifts, and meaningful notes. But an often overlooked – and incredibly meaningful – way of showing your love is to put that love into a plan for the future. 

    While estate planning may seem like a realm of financial jargon and legalities, it is, at its core, a tangible expression of your care for those closest to you (that’s why I refer to estate planning as Life & Legacy Planning).

    In this blog, we’ll look at why adding your partner to your will and estate plan as a whole isn’t just a romantic gesture but the ultimate act of love.

    Providing Care and Protection

    Estate planning is typically associated with financial matters and legal technicalities, but at its core, it’s an expression of love for those we hold dear. It’s about not leaving a mess for the people you love. It’s about providing comfort and security to your loved ones long after you’re gone. And when you include your partner in your estate plan, you’re solidifying the foundation of your love and commitment, ensuring they’re cared for when you can no longer be there in person.

    One of the most tangible ways to demonstrate your love is by securing your partner’s legal and financial future through thoughtful estate planning, but not just any old estate planning — in our book, it needs to be “Life & Legacy Planning” so you know you have a “plan that works to keep your family out of court and out of conflict.”

    While a will, trust, and other estate planning documents are valuable, if they’re not properly counseled, regularly updated, and combined with additional planning tools such as a Kids Protection Plan, if you have minor children, and a Family Wealth Inventory plus Legacy Interviews to capture your tangible and non-tangible assets, your loved ones could be left with an expensive mess.

    If you’re married, your spouse already has some rights in the event of your incapacity or death, but that doesn’t mean they have automatic access to your accounts, or even to make your health care decisions for you the way you would want. If you’re not married, your unmarried partner or partners would have no rights to anything in the event of your death or incapacity. Truly the greatest gift you can give your beloved is a Life & Legacy Plan.

    Avoiding Legal Complications

    Love conquers many things, but we have to acknowledge that legal matters often require a bit more than just sentiment. Without a well-counseled, prepared, and updated Life & Legacy Plan, your partner might find themselves entangled in legal complications when it comes to inheriting assets if something happens to you. In fact, if you and your partner aren’t married, they won’t inherit anything at all!

    That’s because the law that controls what happens to your assets if you die without a plan is written with married couples in mind. That means that anyone you love who isn’t married to you or directly related to you through blood will be left with nothing when you die or if you become incapacitated, unless you plan in advance. 

    By including your partner in your will and overall Life & Legacy Plan, you get to ensure they’ll receive what you would want them to in the event of your loss and spare them the stress of navigating legal intricacies during an already emotionally trying time.

    Protecting The Life You Built Together

    Maybe the institution of marriage isn’t your thing or you and your partner are putting off marriage plans for the time being. Nonetheless, having a plan in place isn’t something you want to put off until you’re older. Chances are good that you’ve already begun to build a life together that’s worth protecting.

    Whether it’s the charming house you turned into a home or the vintage car you spent countless road trips in, shared assets are more than just possessions – they’re a part of your shared history. Including your partner in your estate plan ensures that these shared treasures are passed on smoothly, preserving the memories you built together.

    If you have children with your partner, Life & Legacy Planning takes on an even greater significance. If your partner isn’t biologically related to your children and hasn’t legally adopted them, there’s no legal guarantee that your partner would be able to care for your children or even visit them if something happens to you.

    Creating a Kids Protection Plan for your kids in your estate plan is an act of profound love and responsibility. By ensuring your partner has legal authority in matters of your children’s well-being, you’re displaying a commitment to everyone’s future happiness and security.

    Helping You Show The One You Love Just How Much You Care

    Love binds us together – but proper estate planning, and specifically Life & Legacy Planning, puts the love you have for your partner and your family into action. It’s not just about assets and legalities; it’s a declaration of your commitment and a promise to provide for your loved one even when you’re no longer physically present. 

    After all, in matters of the heart, there’s no gesture more profound than securing a future together.

    If you want to show your partner just how much you love them, contact us today to learn more about our Life & Legacy Planning process to get started. 

    Schedule a complimentary 15-minute call with us.

    This article is a service of Jeannette Marsala, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t 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 Life & Legacy Planning Session, during which you’ll 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 Life and Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

  • Not Your Regular Estate Planning Attorney: Why Your Family Deserves a Lawyer With a Special Needs Focus

    Not Your Regular Estate Planning Attorney: Why Your Family Deserves a Lawyer With a Special Needs Focus

    Families caring for a loved one with special needs experience challenges as varied as the types of special needs themselves. Nonetheless, each faces a shared reality: the savings or life insurance proceeds you intend to provide for your child with special needs after your death or disability can cause your child to lose their disability payments, health care, and support services. 

    As a lawyer with a special needs planning focus, I can help prevent this, ensuring that your loved one can keep their public benefits while your assets supplement and improve their care for years to come.

    But it takes more than basic estate planning to create a plan for an individual with special needs.

    Keeps reading to learn why.

    How a Lawyer With a Special Needs Focus Makes The Difference

    I’m an estate planning attorney who has committed to providing premium special needs planning in my community and have undergone rigorous training and testing to earn the designation.

    My goal is to use my comprehensive legal training to help maximize your loved one’s public benefits, preserve family resources, and enable all family members to live their best lives.

    Special needs planning requires substantial knowledge beyond what an ordinary estate planning attorney provides. 

    Each public benefits program such as Social Security, Medi-Cal, and Housing Assistance have specific eligibility requirements and asset limits that are difficult to understand without the proper training. A seemingly helpful change in the life of your loved one with special needs, such as them getting a job at a local grocery store or getting financial help from their grandparents, can result in the loss of their eligibility to receive much-needed benefits for months or even years.

    Thankfully, there are several estate planning tools that help individuals with special needs and their families live meaningful and comfortable lives without needing to sacrifice their needs or their family’s best intentions. I help you understand these options and evaluate all of the legal tools available to find the best methods for protecting your assets while ensuring your loved one with special needs continues to receive excellent care.

    In the end, we create a plan that not only meets your family’s unique needs and circumstances but also helps your loved one foster their independence while always having the best possible support so they can live their life to the fullest.

    Supporting Your Family Every Step of The Way

    Imagining a future where you aren’t there to care for your child with special needs can be difficult. I gently guide families in preparing for the realities of death and disability with clear eyes and an open heart. 

    I understand that your loved one is everything to you and making sure they have the care and support they need throughout their life is of the utmost importance.

    To make the planning process as easy as possible, I help you set up your core estate planning foundations and then incorporate the special needs planning tools that best serve your loved one and their future caregivers. 

    In addition, I work with you and your family to make sure that everyone involved in your loved one’s care knows their role and knows they can count on my office for support in understanding how best to serve as your loved one’s guardian, trustee, or power of attorney. 

    Finally, I review your plan at least every three years to keep it up to date with life’s changes so it will always work for you and your family.

    I embrace the responsibility of empowering individuals with special needs to live their best lives, and am honored to join in solidarity with the special needs community to serve that goal. 

    If you’re ready to create an estate plan that is specifically tailored to your family dynamics and needs, schedule your free 15-minute call to learn more. I can’t wait to serve you and the ones you love.

    This article is a service of Jeannette Marsala, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t 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 Life & Legacy Planning Session, during which you’ll 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 Life and Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

  • What Caregivers Need to Know About Estate Planning for a Loved One With Dementia – Part 2

    What Caregivers Need to Know About Estate Planning for a Loved One With Dementia – Part 2

    Last week, we started our discussion on estate planning for a loved one with a dementia diagnosis and what this means for their ability to protect their wishes through an estate plan. We covered: 

    • What it means to have mental capacity or be incapacitated
    • How dementia affects capacity for estate planning purposes
    • The essential estate planning tools a person with dementia needs to create right away

    However, as dementia progresses, estate planning must become more proactive and strategic than ever to avoid court and conflict over your loved one’s wishes in the future. If dementia becomes too advanced before planning is complete, the question of who will manage your loved one’s assets and care will be left to a judge who doesn’t know your loved one or their wishes.

    Keep reading to learn what steps need to be considered when estate planning for someone with more advanced dementia.

    Seek a Cognitive Evaluation

    If your loved one’s cognitive capacity is in question, seeking a professional evaluation is a prudent and proactive step in the estate planning process. Schedule an appointment with your loved one’s primary care physician or a specialist in dementia care to assess their mental state and make a recommendation on your loved one’s ability to make estate planning decisions.

    During this evaluation, the medical professional will talk to your loved one and ask them questions about their everyday life, how aware they are of their circumstances, and what they would do in certain situations, such as if a stranger came to the door or if a pipe burst in their home. 

    Your loved one doesn’t need to remember every detail about their life for the evaluation to be beneficial. The professional will be most concerned with your loved one’s ability to analyze a scenario and make a thoughtful decision on how to respond. For example, your loved one may not remember what day of the week it is but may remember they shouldn’t open the door for a stranger.

    Receiving a report from your loved one’s doctor stating they have the cognitive ability to make estate planning decisions (at least when they’re in a lucid state) protects their ability to make decisions for their finances and healthcare, and dissuades any future debate from third parties as to whether your loved one had the ability to make a plan in the first place.

    Encourage Private Meetings Between Your Loved One and Their Lawyer

    It may be second nature to help your loved one with appointments, especially if hearing and memory troubles make it difficult for your loved one to follow along. But as much as possible, allow your loved one to meet with their lawyer independently. A private meeting between your loved one and their lawyer will provide them with the opportunity to express their wishes without external influence. 

    Even if you have your loved one’s best intentions at heart and they would prefer to have you present during the meetings, encouraging your loved one to have private conversations with their lawyer when possible helps avoid questions about whether or not you influenced their estate planning decisions.

    If it isn’t feasible for your loved one to have an entire meeting with their lawyer alone, make sure they at least have opportunities to talk to their attorney in private by leaving the room while your attorney confirms their wishes.

    Be sure to document every time your loved one meets alone with their lawyer and ask their lawyer to document it as well. 

    Make Sure Their Estate Plan Is Executed Carefully

    Unfortunately, errors that occur at the time an estate plan is signed are common. Every state has different laws for how estate planning documents are executed, how they can be signed, and what witnesses or notaries are required to make the document binding. 

    If your loved one’s plan isn’t executed properly, it can result in your family needing to involve a judge to determine whether the estate plan is still valid. This also creates an opportunity for family members to question whether your loved one had the mental capacity to create the plan at all.

    It’s also essential to document your loved one’s capacity at the time the estate plan documents are signed. Make sure that their lawyer reviews the documents carefully with your loved one before they sign them, that the documents reflect your loved one’s wishes, and that your loved one is creating the plan of their own free will.

    If you have any concerns about other family members questioning your loved one’s estate planning decisions or mental state at the time, ask your loved one and their attorney if they could record the signing meeting to dispel any claims that your loved one was coerced into planning or didn’t know what they were signing. 

    Conclusion

    If your loved one received a dementia diagnosis and hasn’t addressed their legal matters, don’t despair – but act fast. Even in the advanced stages of dementia, individuals may have moments when they can participate in decision-making and estate planning. But, due to the progressive nature of dementia, time is of the essence for your loved one to create an estate plan, and the sooner they plan, the easier it will be for them to get the help they need as their condition progresses.

    In cases where your loved one’s capacity is severely diminished and estate planning hasn’t been completed, your family will need to pursue a court guardianship. This legal arrangement involves a court appointing a legal guardian who assumes responsibility for making decisions on behalf of the person with dementia. This process can be stressful, and it’s possible the court will appoint someone your loved one never would have wanted to manage their assets or healthcare decisions. 

    To make sure your loved one’s wishes are documented before it’s too late, I invite you to book a Life & Legacy Planning Session with my office today. Our team is dedicated to providing compassionate guidance and legal expertise to ensure the well-being and wishes of your loved one are preserved. 

    This article is a service of Jeannette Marsala, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t 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 Life & Legacy Planning Session, during which you’ll 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 Life and Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

  • Own a Business? Do This By December 31st to Get a Year-Long Extension To The Corporate Transparency Act Reporting Deadline

    Own a Business? Do This By December 31st to Get a Year-Long Extension To The Corporate Transparency Act Reporting Deadline

    Business ownership is a fulfilling and exciting endeavor, but it also comes with rules, responsibilities, and reporting requirements that can be hard to track. If you own a small business or have a trust that owns a business interest, you’ll need to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) come January.

    Beginning January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) will require small companies to disclose the names of any owners who hold a 25% or more ownership interest in the company, as well as any individuals who exercise significant control over the company’s activities. This new rule also applies to trusts that own or control a company.

    If you or your family own a business or have a trust that owns a business, you’ll be required to file a report under the CTA. If you plan to create a new company next year, your reporting deadline could be as soon as 30 days after the date of its creation. 

    There’s a way to get more time to file the required report, but you need to act before the end of the year. 

    In this blog, I’ll share how to get a year-long reporting extension for your business that can give you more time to gather the required information needed to file the CTA report. But before I tell you how to gain the extension, it’s important to understand what the CTA is and how it will affect your business.

    What The Corporate Transparency Act Means For Your Business

    The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was enacted in 2020 to enhance corporate transparency and prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. By requiring businesses to report information about their owners and controllers, the Act seeks to make it easier to identify “shell” corporations – companies that don’t actually perform an active business or trade and which are often used to move money around illegally. 

    To comply with the Act, certain businesses including some corporations and LLCs will need to disclose the names of anyone who owns 25% or more of the company and any members of the company who have “substantial control” over the company’s activities to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). This includes anyone who owns or controls a company through their trust.

    In order to comply, a business must file an annual report with the following information on each owner or controller of the business:

    • Business name and current business address
    • State in which the business was formed and its Entity Identification Number (EIN)
    • Owner/controller’s name, birth date, and address
    •  Photocopy of a government-issued photo ID (such as a driver’s license or passport) of every direct or indirect owner or controller of the company

    If a company doesn’t file an annual report, it may be penalized with a $500 fine for every day the report is late and its owners could even face imprisonment for up to two years.

    What Businesses Need to Report Under The CTA?

    The new CTA rule applies to any company that is created by filing a formation document with the Secretary of State or a similar office, such as corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs). 

    Since money laundering and terrorist financing are usually conducted using small businesses, the Act largely aims to collect information on these companies, so entrepreneurs and small business owners should take extra care to meet the filing requirements.

    Publicly traded companies, non-profits, and regulated companies like financial firms, accounting agencies, and banks are exempt from the rule. Large companies are also exempt if they have 20 or more full-time employees in the U.S. and generate $5 million in sales. An LLC or corporation that isn’t actively performing a business or service is also exempt due to its inactivity.

    When Do Businesses Need to File Their Report and How Can You Extend Your Deadline?

    Here’s the thing about filing your annual report for the Corporate Transparency Act: If your company was created after January 1, 2024, you’ll need to file your report within 30 days of the company’s creation. But if your company’s formation occurred on or before December 31, 2023, you have until January 1, 2025, to file its CTA report.

    So if you already have a business entity created, you have until January 1, 2025, to submit your report. This means if you’re thinking of creating a new company or changing the entity structure of an existing company, doing so before January 1, 2024 will give you a year-long grace period to file the report. Otherwise, once January 1 rolls around, it’ll be too late to take advantage of this extension.

    Why does this extension matter?

    The extension provides a valuable window of time for business owners to understand the reporting requirements thoroughly, gather the necessary information, and engage with legal professionals to ensure they’re in compliance with the Act without the pressure of a 30-day deadline.

    The Act’s reporting rules seem straightforward, but the penalties for non-compliance can be substantial. Creating your new business entity by year-end provides a cushion against potential penalties and risks associated with overlooking or misunderstanding reporting requirements. It’s a proactive step that gives your business the advantage of time.

    Helping You Make Strategic Moves for The Wellbeing of Your Family

    If you own a family business or you’re thinking of creating a new business entity soon, I encourage you to do it NOW before the end of the year so you can take advantage of the year-long window to file your Corporate Transparency Act report for existing businesses. 

    Don’t wait until the end of December to get started, as we anticipate there will be a rush of new business entity filings at the end of December as business owners and their professionals rush to file their creation documents before the new year. If you need assistance filing your report or aren’t sure whether the CTA rule applies to your company, we can help.

    Our goal is to guide your family through every stage of life and every change in the law through an ongoing relationship with you. Our approach to serving clients doesn’t end when the paperwork is filed. We keep in touch with you and keep you abreast of any changes in the law so you can have peace of mind knowing that your family and assets are well cared for now and in the future.

    Schedule a complimentary call with me to learn more.

    This article is a service of Jeannette Marsala, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t 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 Life & Legacy Planning Session, during which you’ll 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 Life and Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

  • What You Must Know About Your Right to Your Spouse’s Retirement Benefits

    What You Must Know About Your Right to Your Spouse’s Retirement Benefits

    If you’re part of a blended family (meaning you’re married with children from a prior marriage in the mix), you’re no stranger to the extra considerations and planning it takes to keep your family’s life running smoothly – from which parent your children will be with for the holidays to figuring out the schedule for a much-needed family vacation. You’ve also probably given some thought to what you want to happen to your assets and your family if something happens to you. 

    But what you might not have realized is this: If you don’t create a plan for your assets before you die, the law has its own plan for you that might not reflect your wishes for your assets, especially your retirement assets. If you’re in a blended family, this can have a significant financial impact on the ones you love and even create expensive, long-term conflict.

    This week, I explain how the law affects retirement distributions for married couples, and why you need to be extra careful with your retirement planning if you’re in a blended family to ensure your retirement account assets go to the right people in the right amounts after you’re gone.

    Be Aware of How ERISA Affects 401K Distributions

    If you’ve remarried, you and your new spouse have probably talked about updating the beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts to reflect your blended family arrangement. If you haven’t talked about it, you need to talk about it ASAP. Sometimes, people who are remarried decide to leave their retirement funds to their children from a prior marriage and leave other assets like their house and savings accounts to their current spouse. You may do this to avoid future conflict between your spouse and your children over your assets.

    But even if you want to leave your retirement for just your children, if you’re married and your retirement account is a work-sponsored account, your children won’t inherit the entire account even if you name them as the sole beneficiaries. 

    That’s because the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) governs most employer-sponsored pensions and retirement accounts. Under ERISA, if you’re married at the time of your death, your spouse is automatically entitled to receive 50 percent of the value of your employer-sponsored plan – even if your beneficiary designations say otherwise.

    The only time that your surviving spouse wouldn’t inherit half of your ERISA-governed retirement account is if your spouse signs an official spousal waiver saying they’re affirmatively waiving their right to inherit 50 percent of the account, or if the account beneficiary is a trust of which your spouse is a primary beneficiary. 

    IRAs Have Different Rules Than 401Ks

    If you want your children to inherit more than 50 percent of your work-sponsored retirement benefits, and completing a spousal waiver isn’t an option, consider rolling the account into a personal IRA instead.

    In contrast to 401(k)s and similar employer-sponsored plans, IRAs are controlled by state law instead of ERISA. That means that your spouse isn’t automatically entitled to any part of your IRA. 

    When you roll a 401(k) into an IRA, you gain the flexibility to name anyone you choose as the designated beneficiary, with or without your spouse’s consent. 

    On the other hand, if you want to ensure your spouse receives half of your retirement savings, make sure to include them as a 50 percent beneficiary or better yet, have your individual retirement account payout to a trust instead. With a trust, you can:

    • Document exactly how much of your retirement you want each of your loved ones to receive.
    • Control when they receive the funds outright.
    • Easily update and change the terms of your trust without having to remember to update your financial accounts.

    Beneficiary Designations Always Trump Your Will

    Whether you have an employer-sponsored 401K or an IRA you manage yourself, there is one critical rule that everyone needs to know: beneficiary designations trump your will.

    A will is an important estate planning tool, but most people don’t know that beneficiary designations override whatever your will says about a particular asset. 

    For example, if your will states that you want your retirement account to be passed on to your brother, but the beneficiary designation on the account says you want it to go to your sister, your sister will inherit the account, even though your will says otherwise.

    Similarly, let’s imagine that you get divorced and as part of your divorce decree your ex-spouse agrees that they won’t have any right to your retirement fund. However, after the divorce, you forget to take their name off the beneficiary designation for the account. If you die before updating the beneficiary designation, your former spouse will inherit your retirement account. 

    If you forget to update your ERISA-controlled account and have remarried, your current spouse would receive half of the account and your former spouse would receive the other half. That’s why it’s so important to work with an estate planning attorney who can make sure your accounts are set up with the proper beneficiary designations and ensure that your assets are passed on according to your wishes.

    Work With An Attorney Who Makes Sure All Your Assets Will Be Passed On How You Want Them To

    Understanding how the law affects different types of assets is essential to creating an estate plan. But there’s more to it than just having a lawyer – you need an attorney who takes the time to really understand your family and your assets so they can design a custom plan that achieves your goals for your assets and your legacy. 

    That’s why we help our clients create an inventory of all of their assets to ensure that every asset they hold is accounted for and passed on to their loved ones exactly as they want it to.

    To learn more about how we serve our clients differently than most lawyers, schedule a complimentary call with us. We’d be honored to share how our unique process can help your family.

    This article is a service of Jeannette Marsala, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t 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 Life & Legacy Planning Session, during which you’ll 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 Life and Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

  • How to Talk Money With Your Family Over The Holidays

    How to Talk Money With Your Family Over The Holidays

    The holidays are right around the corner, which means more time to gather with family and relatives than any other time of the year. If you’ve been meaning to talk to your family about money, inheritance, end-of-life decisions, estate planning, and creating a plan for your whole family’s wealth – now and in the future – having everyone in the same room is ideal. 

    But asking your relatives how they want their assets handled when they die or if they become incapacitated might not go over well while opening presents or carving a turkey. 

    To keep your family from feeling blindsided and to make the most of your conversation, consider the following three tips.

    01 | Share Your Intention Ahead of Time

    Many people feel uncomfortable talking about their finances. They may have grown up in a family where money talk was considered taboo or perhaps they simply don’t want the details of their finances to create family tension. Some people also feel like talking about estate planning and making a plan for their money is plain bad luck (but we’re happy to report that planning for your assets doesn’t increase your chance of dying, as you’ve already got a 100% chance of death, but it does increase your chances of leaving behind a happy, well-adjusted family). 

    To help your loved ones feel at ease, don’t bring money talk up for the first time while the family is gathered around the TV watching football. Instead, approach the topic weeks ahead of time if possible.

    If you have regular visits or phone calls with your loved ones, let them know you’ve been thinking about creating a plan for your own money and the care of the family in case something happens to you. Casually mentioning that it’s on your mind will help plant the seed for a future conversation with your loved ones and likely get them thinking about their own plan or lack of a plan. 

    As your family gathering approaches, bring up the subject again, this time with more intention and detail. Consider asking the host of your family gatherings, whether it’s your sibling, parent, or adult child when the best time would be to have an all-family conversation about money for 90 minutes. Schedule it and let everyone know that you’ve got something meaningful planned.

    If the host pushes back against the idea, respond with curiosity about their experience, what they feel apprehensive about, and if there’s a way that you could mitigate their apprehension perhaps by speaking with other family members in advance. 

    If you’ve already completed your own planning, use your experience as a springboard for the conversation. More on this below.

    02 | Set Aside a Time and Place to Talk

    Discussing money while opening Christmas gifts isn’t likely to have the results you want. Your best bet is to schedule a time to gather to talk without distractions or interruptions.

    Be upfront with your family about the meeting’s purpose so no one is taken by surprise and so they come prepared for the talk. Choose a setting that’s comfortable, quiet, and private. The more relaxed everyone is, the more likely they’ll be comfortable opening up.

    Begin by sharing the context of why it’s important to you that your family begin having conversations about money, life, and death. You may even want to share that the topic is uncomfortable for you, but that it’s important enough that you’re willing to be uncomfortable because you know these conversations can bring your family closer together, create more family resilience, and ensure you’re all financially well-cared for. 

    Finally, as part of setting context, set a start and stop time for the conversation. Remember, the goal is to simply get the conversation started, not work out all of the details or dollar amounts, so don’t expect this to be the one and only conversation you have – it’s a start.

    03 | Share Your Planning Experience  

    If you’ve already created your own plan, and it included an inventory of your assets, a look at what’s enough, and what would happen to it all when something happens to you (which is what we do during our first Planning Session with you), you can start by explaining how you felt during the process, how easy it was, and how you feel now knowing that your assets and loved ones will be cared for the way you want if something happens to you. 

    If you’ve worked with us, describe how the process unfolded and how we supported you to create a plan designed for your unique wishes and needs.

    Share any concerns or doubts you initially had about planning and how we worked with you to address them. If you have loved ones who’ve yet to do any planning and have doubts about its usefulness, empathize with them in a supportive and understanding way, and share your own journey learning the benefits of planning for your money and your wishes.

    If you haven’t created a plan yet, or have doubts about a plan you created with another attorney, be open about why you want to create a plan for your life and death, such as a desire to avoid family conflict, to ensure that a child, disabled relative, or senior parent is cared for in the future, or to build generational wealth and a legacy for your family. Focus on the benefits that planning will have for both your immediate family and your extended family as a whole.

    Bringing Families Together

    Talking to loved ones about money and estate planning can be difficult, but we can guide and support you in having these intimate discussions with your loved ones. When done right, planning can put your life and relationships into a much clearer focus and offer peace of mind knowing that your assets will be protected and that the people you love most will be provided for no matter what. 

    If you’ve already created a plan with us, be sure to share our library of blog resources with your loved ones. If you haven’t created your own estate plan, doing so before you talk with your family can help your loved ones be more open to the idea and can help them see the incredible benefit of planning from one of their own family members.

    Schedule a complimentary call with us to learn more.

    This article is a service of Jeannette Marsala, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t 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 Life & Legacy Planning Session, during which you’ll 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 Life and Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

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