Estate Planning

For many people, estate planning is a sensitive topic that they try to avoid. Truthfully, it isn’t easy to think about what will happen to your estate or assets when you pass away. This is why estate planning today requires more than just a will to protect your needs and wishes.

Estate planning today needs to take into account unnecessary tax obligations while ensuring your intentions are clear so that survivors or heirs are not left confused and upset. Without proper planning, important forms and documents can be missing, leaving a person’s wishes unknown.

From designated beneficiary forms to essential legal documents, The JL Smith Group provides coordination with the appropriate legal professionals to help develop and/or keep these items up-to-date and aligned with your financial plan.

As part of the organization process, JL Smith offers an exclusive personal Family Estate Organizer™ binder, which serves as a practical resource to organize your financial life for you and your loved ones. This organizer will contain all of your relevant legal and financial information including living wills, tax returns, beneficiary-designation forms, power of attorney, and even usernames and passwords all in one protected place.

To help you begin organizing your estate, consider the following questions before your first meeting with one of our trusted advisors:

• Do I have a will and has it been updated in the past 3-5 years?
• Is a living trust right for me?
• What are my health care directives?
• Have I named a power of attorney to handle finances and property?
• Have I made arrangements to plan for and cover funeral expenses?
• Have I updated all of my insurance policies in the past 5-10 years?

Once your estate is in place, the holistic advisors at JL Smith will regularly review your estate plan to ensure all of the information is updated and working in conjunction with the other aspects of your comprehensive financial plan.