New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog
Experienced estate planning attorneys can provide a wealth of information to individuals looking to make the most out of their estate plan. However, as with any other area of law requiring specialized knowledge, good estate planning attorneys are not afraid to tell their clients where to look for additional information pertinent to their individual circumstances. Sometimes that means working with an experienced wealth planner while working with an estate planning attorney to make the most out of your assets. A wealth advisor can play an integral role in your estate planning approach, and a recent article from Forbes highlights the important role they can play.
Role of a Wealth Advisor
A good wealth advisor will work with your estate planning attorney to help find the estate planning mechanisms that will best enable you to preserve your wealth and make it available to your heirs. When they work closely with your estate planning attorney, much of the burden of communicating important information is removed from clients. Instead, they can help you assess the estate planning mechanisms you have in place and look for ways that your wealth could best benefit from modifying or even expanding your estate planning portfolio based on your individual needs. This is especially helpful for families with diverse financial needs or large financial portfolios, but can also be a tool for anyone that wants to make the most out of their estate.
Benefits of Wealth Advisors
Wealth advisors will inevitably cost you additional money, but the benefits of the money you spend on a wealth advisor and an experienced estate planning advisor can help you feel more secure in the effectiveness of your estate plan. It can also help you preserve assets in different ways to enable you to maintain the integrity of your estate. The article points out several things wealth advisors can do for their clients, including:
- Calculate estimated estate costs: Wealth advisors can help you create a financial planning portfolio that will work with your estate plan and takes into consideration the vastly different outcomes between you passing on in one year as opposed to twenty years down the line. This is an important consideration for anyone exploring estate planning, but is of special importance for those engaging in estate planning that may live for a significant number of years after their estate plan is in place.
- Handle retitling of assets: Your estate planning attorney can help you understand the nuances of different estate planning mechanisms, such as the differences between various types of trusts. When you explore different estate planning options, you will need to then follow up with the leg work necessary to make those mechanisms work for you. One of the most basic things a mechanism like a trust will often require is retitling assets in the name of the trust. A wealth advisor can help you navigate this process.
- Review beneficiary designations with you: An important part of responsible estate planning is making sure your beneficiary forms are up-to-date. A wealth advisor can work with you to make sure that you have covered all of your bases when it comes to beneficiaries and other designations you need to consider.
The article itself explains many other roles a wealth advisor can fill, but experienced estate planning attorneys that provide comprehensive services – like those at Ettinger – already review your estate plan with you on a regular basis as part of their services. However, there are many other roles a wealth advisor can play, and your estate planning attorney can help you understand what those entail.