At the Heart of Estate Planning: Where can you do the greatest good if tragedy strikes

 

At the Heart of Estate Planning: Where can you do the greatest good if tragedy strikes

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

February 5, 2021

Lawyers ask a lot of questions when counseling clients.  In my estate planning practice a typical sequence of questions when developing an estate plan sounds like this:

Me:  When you die, where do you want your probate assets to go?

Client:   To my spouse.

Me:  And what if your spouse has predeceased you?

Client:  Oh, well to my children equally.

Me:  And if a child had predeceased you, would his/her share go to any child(ren) he or she may have had.

Client.  Umm, well....yes, yes that makes sense.

Me:  Okay, this is the last one, but if the unthinkable happened and you had no surviving children or grandchildren, what would happen then?

Client:  Wow, I never thought of that before.

One of my favorite things about working with clients is when they surprise me and give me tools to use with other clients in the future.  Years ago I walked through the questions above with a client.  The clients was a medical professional with a spouse and four adult children.  The client, unfazed by my questions due to their scientific career and daily work with dying clients said, "well, if I am on a plane that is going down with my spouse and children I want something good to come from that tragedy".  The client then listed 4 nonprofits that would inherit in the unlikely, and unthinkable scenario.  The client felt the 4 organizations captured their families values and would have the most positive impact in the world.

Ever since, when a client gets to the "wow, I never thought about that" question I encourage them to think about where their money would do the greatest good and support their values.  Most need a few days to consider options, but using the structure of "where the money will do the greatest good" makes the thought process a bit more tolerable. 

Thank you for reading.  A blog post is meant to spark thought and discussion, but it is not legal advice.  Please consult with an attorney in your state of residence for legal advice specific to your situation.