Preservation | Family Wealth Protection & Planning

If you are like most people, you have a clear idea about who should receive your assets upon your death. However, selecting who will be responsible for ensuring your estate plan is faithfully carried out may be more challenging. When your estate plan includes a trust that directs the distribution of your assets, the person (or entity) you choose for this important job is called a trustee. Your trustee will have the obligation to act in the best interests of your beneficiaries and to manage and protect the trust assets on their behalf.

Listen, I get this. Time permitting, I like to do things myself, and in the information age, you can learn how to do almost anything on the internet. But should you try to draft your own estate plan or use a website to do it for you? I asked myself that question and gave it a whirl. Based on my experience, here are four key reasons I don’t recommend it.

After months of emotional and financial turmoil, a finalized divorce can be a welcome end to a stressful time. Now what? Before you move on with your life, make sure you truly sever all financial ties to your former spouse by updating, or even creating, your estate plan. Failure to do so can lead to unintended beneficiaries such as your former spouse claiming your assets at your death, resulting in costly litigation that can drag on for years after you die.