Today was a big day for my family as my son took his first steps into elementary school. Sure it was just kindergarten… but you would have thought by the reactions of my wife, myself, and about 40 other parents, that we were sending our kids off to college or boot camp! We watched as kids piled into their new classroom with backpacks busting with pencils, rulers, glue sticks, craft paper, lunchboxes, band-aids, paper towels, crayons and more! The kids looked prepared for anything and ready to take on new challenges. And, we parents were just as excited, wondering if we had done enough to get them ready for a new life stage where we would no longer be the sole influence in their rearing.
While I realize this was all probably more traumatic for me than my son, I spent a good portion of my ride into work today thinking about Jacob’s backpack, its contents, and how the most exciting thing my wife and I did all weekend was make sure that everything on the “supply list” made its way into the bag. We had to rush to find things on the school supply list, but in the end I know that we have given him all the tools he needs to be a successful kindergartner!
While much of the weekend was spent finding the best deal on glue sticks (Target) and the best deal on a bouncy ball (Walmart), a portion of my weekend was spent working on office matters that found their way home with me.
Last Thursday, I met with the “Smith” family and they were dealing with a crisis much larger than the first day kindergarten. Their crisis consisted of a combination of lung cancer, heart trouble, and a 35% chance of Mrs. Smith not making it out of a serious surgery that was taking place within the week. From what I could tell, the Smiths seemed to be a great Ohio family… they were hard workers and through that hard work they had accumulated significant wealth that included property in two states and over $1.3 million dollars in liquid assets. They came to our office to figure out what would happen if Mrs. Smith did not make it through the surgery.
Due to the fact that they had always had good health, the Smiths had put off doing any type of planning for life’s final stages, and had no plan in place for minimizing taxes, probate avoidance, or the distribution of their assets. They were in a state of high anxiety and stress over the heal situation, but the fact that they had no estate plan was sending the Smiths into a total panic.
The Smith’s lacked even the basic documents—there were no financial powers of attorney, no Last Will and Testament, and no healthcare directives. They knew nothing about the benefits of creating and funding a living trust. They were admittedly unprepared, but by having the hardest working trust and estate planning department in Ohio (in our humble opinion), we were able to get a great plan in line for them in a very short time. Mrs. Smith was extremely relieved that we could help reduce some of her anxiety before her surgery. Being “prepared” and knowing that the right tools were in place to take care of her ill husband and disabled son, meant that more of her energy could be focused on her own health concerns.
My wife and I had a deadline to have our son’s school supplies that we knew about all summer … and yet we procrastinated. The Smith’s had their entire lives to think about making an estate plan to avoided probate, and minimize taxes for their heirs and set up an orderly distribution of their assets … and they procrastinated. Rushing to accomplish things is never the best scenario, but fortunately it worked out for both of our families – this time.
Even though we were able to accomplish the Smith’s goals at the last moment, we encourage you to plan early – don’t wait for a crisis! Not having their plan in place could have cost the family even more hours of stress, days of frustration with the court system, and thousands of dollars.
I challenge the readers of this blog to keep from procrastinating, get educated, and get prepared by having AT LEAST the minimum estate plan in order before the unthinkable happens.
While it is never too early to be prepared, putting things off can have very unintended results that can cause serious anxiety, family feuds, and significant monetary losses. Seek out advice today and make sure your goals and your plan are in sync so you can rest assured that you are prepared!
