Silver linings are difficult, but not impossible to spot at the moment. One bright spot: the free time we’re faced with provides a perfect opportunity to take care of your long-delayed estate plan. Why not get it off your plate and off your mind?
Estate planning attorney Dan Ruttenberg offers the following estate planning tips:
- Review and update all of your beneficiary designations — Forgetting to update beneficiary designations is the most common mistake. It’s especially important in this day and age, when blended families are common. Designations will overrule whatever instructions you have included in your will, so even a well-thought-out estate plan can be destroyed by an incorrect beneficiary designation. In short, you don’t want your insurance money or retirement benefits going outright to children at 18 or a past spouse.
- Establish a trust — A living trust will help you avoid the time-consuming and costly process of probate, while also giving you the best access to the assets in the event of a disability.
- Clearly Direct Where and How Your Assets Go — Unfortunately, many families have been torn apart by money after mom and dad have passed. Don’t give your children room to argue about who gets what. Make it clear and legally binding.
- Select Appropriate Fiduciaries – Among the most important decisions you can make are who will serve as a trustee, guardian, executor, attorney-in-fact, or any other trusted position needed under your circumstances. Are they trusted and respected by the successor beneficiaries? You must carefully consider who will run the show if you can’t.
- Talk with an estate planning attorney — Each family is different and has its own set of complications, but an experienced estate planning attorney can help guide you through completing a plan and achieving your goals.
About the Author
Daniel H. Ruttenberg
Daniel H. Ruttenberg, JD, CPA, LLM is a principal with the firm. Mr. Ruttenberg received his Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Accounting and Finance from the University of Maryland. He earned his Juris Doctor with Honors from George Mason University School of Law and his Master of Laws in Taxation with Distinction from Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Ruttenberg also served as the Director of the Fairfax Bar Association (FBA) for seven years. During this period, he was also elected president – the youngest in FBA history and served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Fairfax Law Foundation.
