Estate Planning

Estate planning is more than advanced financial planning; it’s guaranteeing that your legacy lives on and creates generational wealth. A well-rounded estate plan requires careful planning and attention to detail – whilst planning for all possible future outcomes. It’s a crucial step in securing your loved one’s financial wellbeing and ensuring that your requests are executed after you’re gone.

Here’s how to start succession planning:

1. Set clear objectives: It’s important to start early and start by clearly defining your goals. Do you want to provide for your family, including extended family (in laws etc.)? Do you want to provide for your future generations (grandchildren/great grandchildren)? Do you want to support philanthropic causes or establish specific funds? Outlining the objectives will help to guide your decisions along the way in succession planning.
2. Create a comprehensive will: Your will outlines how your assets will be distributed after your death. So how do you create a will? It’s important to work closely with legal professionals to ensure that your will is complete and legally valid. It should be revised and updated regularly to reflect changes in your circumstances as required. Keep an inventory of assets including real estate, investments, bank accounts, valuable collections, and other personal property. This will provide a clear picture of what to address in the will.
3. Establish Trusts: Trusts allow more control in the distribution of assets and offer benefits such as protection of assets for purposes such as education funds or philanthropic causes. Trusts allow assets to pass directly to beneficiaries. You can consider establishing trusts for the long term – to sometimes include multiple generations (grandchildren & greatgrandchildren etc). These trusts hold assets in perpetuity and control the distribution to beneficiaries whilst also accommodating for future generations. Protective trusts also protect your loved ones from legal disputes after your passing.
4. Designate beneficiaries: Ensure to designate beneficiaries on accounts such as life insurance, trusts and investment accounts. These designations can overrule your will, so they must be carefully designated to go in line with your will to avoid complications.
5. Appoint fiduciaries: It is vital to appoint trustees who understand your goals and will manage your assets in alignment with your wishes. By appointing the right fiduciary, you will ensure your generational wealth plan is successful.
6. Work with professional experts: Creating a succession plan with the goal of building generational wealth requires expertise. Consult with estate planning attorneys and financial advisors who can provide various strategies to ensure a successful plan. The professional experts will help to ensure that your estate plan and will are in line together and both legally valid.
7. Succession planning for family businesses: If you have an operating family business, you can use your estate plan to ensure that the family business does not end with you. Determine who will take over the business, and address points such as share distribution and the plan for business continuation. In doing so, you ensure the prolonged existence of the family business and the growth of generational wealth.
8. Communicate clearly with loved ones: having open and transparent communication with loved ones about your estate plan is important. By creating a clear and open discussion, you ensure that everyone understands their roles and the overall purpose behind the estate succession plan.
9. Revise the plan regularly: It is vital to regularly revise and modify the estate plan to ensure that it is up to date and aligned with current circumstances. This includes the addition or subtraction of new assets, new family members, deaths, financial developments, or any legal changes during your lifetime. These factors – if not revised and updated, can affect the effectiveness of your succession plan in the long term.
10. Pass down wisdom and values: Estate planning can consist of more than just financial planning for the future. It is about preserving a legacy for generations; this includes values and wisdom. Use the estate plan to document important information such as family history, family tree, traditions and other insights that has guided your success during your lifetime. This can be in the form of a Letter of Instruction within the estate plan, which is an informal letter that can offer guidance to your loved ones – and may act as a form of support to them.

Structured estate planning allows you to leave behind a strong legacy and a strong impact on your family’s financial wellbeing for generations. Focusing on strategies such as open communication and establishing trusts to secure and control the distribution of assets, you can build a legacy that benefits the lives of your family generations to come.