Reviewing a Client's Estate Plan: Asset Disposition Under Wills and Trusts, Naming Fiduciaries, and Proper Asset Titling and Dispositions for CPAs and Other Advisers

Description

An estate plan can be generally boiled down into two components: asset disposition and naming fiduciaries.

As to the first component, estate planning lawyers assist clients with designing and drafting an estate plan that disposes of assets in accordance with the client's wishes upon death. After the plan is executed, the lawyer will finalize the engagement by advising on asset titling and beneficiary designations in order to implement the estate plan. The client's team of other advisers, such as the CPA, wealth manager, and life insurance professional, should assist with periodic reviews of the client's balance sheet and estate plan to ensure assets will pass in an efficient manner and in accordance with the client's wishes. To this end, each asset should be identified and examined to determine that it is properly titled and in sync with the estate plan. Gathering all the necessary documents can be a monumental task. Estate planning documents (wills and trust agreements), beneficiary designation forms, signature cards and account statements, deeds, and closely held entities are some of the documents that advisers must review. Assets should be separated into categories, including probate and non-probate, real and personal property, tangible and intangible, and U.S.-situs and international.

As to the second component, naming fiduciaries can be one of the most difficult decisions for clients. Fiduciaries are individuals or banks (known as "corporate trustees") tasked with the important duties of managing a person's affairs typically during a period of one's incapacity or administering trusts and estates for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Advisers can aid clients in reviewing these designations to confirm the named designations are still valid choices and have not otherwise gone "stale."

Wealth transfer professionals need to understand how to review a client's estate plan for oversights that could prove costly or delay the administration of an estate. Listen as our panel of estate planning experts explains how to review the key aspects of an estate plan.