A Note to Spouses

In my years of estate planning, I frequently discover that couples fail to share their overall financial status with each other, or think seriously about the logistics concerning what happens when one of the couple dies. No one likes to contemplate or discuss the inevitable, but taking stock of assets and implementing contingency plans now can avert months or even years of complex and exhausting legal and financial challenges.

In short, It isn’t so much that the couple needs a negotiator, but rather a communicator.

That is where my expertise is invaluable. Based upon my years of witnessing these discussions, I can offer the couple various solutions, simplify their objectives, and assist them in coming to their own conclusions and ultimately implementing their plans.

Contrast this with the situations where one of the couple is recently disabled or incapacitated, or dies, and I am contacted to help get a result based upon what the couple or deceased “would have wanted” but never implemented. This route is always more expensive and time-consuming. I am grateful to be able to help, but in the back of my mind think, “this could have been accomplished in a much simpler way with known outcomes.”

Finally, I have been a court-appointed Attorney Ad Litem, in effect the “eyes and ears “of the Court to help identify all the heirs when a person dies without a will or the will is lost. I enjoy the trust the Court has placed in me and other attorneys receiving this appointment. But it is a constant reminder that everyone—rich, modest means, or poor—must have a will, power of attorney, and living will.

So please make that first call. It will not cost anything, but reward you both with peace of mind.