We use a recent Forbes article on estate planning as a logical launch pad for discussion in our blog post today. That piece focuses on the idea that estate administration inordinately focuses on after-death strategies and outcomes, and not enough on here-and-now realities.
Put another way, as paraphrased from the author’s bottom line: Planning often focuses too much on death and not enough on life.
Is that true?
Indeed, most estate planning instruments and related documentation spotlight things like heirs’ inheritances down the road, lawful tax avoidance upon a planner’s death, asset preservation for future generations and so forth.
Those are definitely death-linked concerns, but we submit at the Law Offices of Connie Yi, PC, that they should be centrally addressed in virtually all instances. Doing so is flatly important.
Such a “planning for your death” focus is far from our sole focus as experienced attorneys helping diverse and valued clients in the estate administration realm, though. We are definitely not strategists who narrowly emphasize only points that might be relevant following a planner’s demise. Experienced estate planning attorneys know well how vitally important it is for most families to plan for the “now” by strategizing in ways that promote their core values and help promote meaning in life as it is presently unfolding.
The above-cited Forbes author references the term “legacy planning,” introducing it essentially as a new and fundamentally different alternative to estate planning that is more about the present than the future.
In truth, legacy planning is something that most knowledgeable and empathetic estate administration attorneys focus closely upon in their client advocacy.
We certainly do so at our firm, knowing that effective and seamless planning embraces both the present and what lies ahead for successive generations. As we note on our website, it is about “preserving your legacy and protecting loved ones in the future.”