Mourning

When I was a child my parents told me to always read a document before I signed it. Recently I have had a few clients come into my office with estate plan documents drafted by other attorneys. When I reviewed the documents it was apparent to me that my clients had not read their Trust or Will before they signed the estate plan.  The clients were very surprised by the terms that I told them were in their Trust or in their Will.

One woman did not realize that she had signed a Will that left her entire estate to only one daughter.  Her other six children were not left anything under her Will.  One woman was surprised when I told her that her financial advisor was named as a successor Trustee of her Trust.  She told me that while she felt that her financial advisor managed her funds well, it had never been her intention to give her financial advisor full control of her assets.  Another woman was surprised that while her Will made several specific bequests to friends, relatives and charities that totaled in excess of one hundred thousand dollars, the Will did not contain a residuary clause. Her Will did not contain any instructions about how to handle the remainder of her estate, likely to have a value of hundreds of thousands dollars, after the specific gifts were distributed. Those remaining assets were going to cause her Executor to have a great deal of work locating distant relatives or perhaps the residuary assets would be paid over to the State of New York.

The “estate plans” in these three examples are failures. They do not protect assets or the clients’ families.  Had the clients reviewed the entire documents with their attorney these errors could have been found.  Had the clients read the documents the errors could have been found.  Luckily the errors were found before these new clients passed away.

I recognize that reading Wills or Trusts can seem tedious to many. My clients are not attorneys. They do not know the technical language used. Nonetheless, it is vital to understand what is in your Will or Trust.  It may be impossible for your family to correct mistakes after you have passed away.  In order to know what is in your estate plan it is a good idea to have your attorney explain every section to you.  While I ask my clients to read the entire Will or Trust I recognize that many won’t.  At the very least you should read with your own two eyes the sections that name Executors, Trustees and Guardians as well as all sections that specify how your estate is being distributed, both specific gifts and the residuary.

There were goals that you wanted complete when you decided to create your Will or your Trust. The first usual goal was to leave your assets to family, friends and/or charities. The second usual goal was to have confidence that you had looked after your family and friends and made life easier and better for them.  You cannot truly accomplish these goal until you have read your estate planning documents. It is only then that you will know that the instructions given are the instructions you intended to give.

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