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Final meetings with my clients end with me offering them water from the fridge in the waiting room and a Frango Mint (or two) that I keep in the waiting area.  Final meetings also end with a discussion of various housekeeping items, such as safekeeping of a will and the ever important question -- when should I update my will and estate planning documents? Most clients assume I will answer with a specific number of years; seven to ten years is the most anticipated answer.  But what I actually say is the most dreaded answer I lawyer can offer, it depends. When to update a will is fact dependent more than time dependent.  Take my life for example: In 2006 I got married, and my name went from a long name to a very long name and my middle name fell away; In 2008 our son was born; In 2009 my father died; In 2010 our daughter was born; and  In 2014 my mother died. All of those events mark a time when estate plans should have been reviewed and updated to ref...

Engine of a Space Shuttle.  Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, 2015 "Which is faster, a will or trust?  I just want my family taken care of as soon as possible."  After ten years of serving clients in the estate planning capacity, this is one query that tops of the list of client questions. My answer is often not expected. "Honestly, whether you use a will or a trust, it doesn't matter. What matters is how organized you are with your final affairs, and more importantly, how organized the person is who you appoint to handle things when you died.  If the person you appoint is crippled with grief, overwhelmed in their own personal life, or simply is an indecisive procrastinator -- then your estate will creep along at a snails pace, trust, will, whatever device you use just doesn't matter." Personally, I think trusts are a bit oversold.  Here in Wisconsin we have a low probate fee, 0.2 percent of the inventory value.  Other states can be as high as 8.0, 10...

Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, 2015 "Show of hands, who here does not have a will?"   A standard question I pose to audiences when asked to speak on the basics of estate planning.  Usually one-third to half of the audience raises his or her hand indicating that no, they do not have a will. A recent reported stated that while 69 percent of Americans have given serious consideration to setting up a will, only 34 percent actually have a valid will .  And of those that know it is important, but have not acted, 95 percent say it is because they lack the financial know-how, and not that that topic of death is too taboo. Even as an estate planner the 34 percent shocked me, I would have guessed about 48 to 49 percent of Americans have not created a will.  But I would disagree with the wording in the report that only 34 percent of Americans have a will.  Here is why: "Guess what, those of you with your hands up -- you do have a will.  One the State Legislatu...