The LEGACY List
As a legacy advocate, I help clients find peace when they are in the season of legacy planning. By organizing financial and legal affairs, you find peace of mind. By writing legacy love letters, you find peace of heart. I created “The LEGACY List” to help you stay on track with your legacy goals. I have run a successful law center for over two decades helping clients with estate planning, probate, and trust administration. Clients contact my company, The Estate Planning Law Center, when they are in the season of legacy planning and they are seeking legal counsel and guidance. In addition to legal services for estate planning, my book, “Legacy Love Letters: How To Leave A Gift of Love, Faith, Hope, And Gratitude,” helps readers write a heartfelt final goodbye which is found and read after the passing of a loved one.
Each letter in the word LEGACY represents a specific theme to help you complete your planning so that you leave more than possessions and leave a legacy: L-Letters; E-Estate Planning; G-Gathering Place; A-Action Items; C-Contact List; and Y-Your Wishes.
L - Letters.
Letters are an important part of legacy planning. Your written instructions and your final farewell make it easier for your loved ones. Letters have the supernatural power to transcend time. The recipient can see your face, hear your voice, and feel your love even after you are gone.
Instruction Letters. I encourage you to make decisions and to write letters to communicate instructions about your minor children or pets or businesses. A guardian letter of instruction provides necessary instructions to the potential guardian of your minor children. You can share your wishes for your child’s future or leave a special message for when they reach a certain age or milestone. Your letter of instruction can share instructions for the care of your beloved pets. Business owners are motivated to provide instruction letters for the succession of their business.
Legacy Love Letters. After over 20 years assisting clients with probate and trust administration, I discovered the most important part of an estate plan is a legacy love letter. A will and trust can only provide an inheritance of earthly treasures, houses, money and personal belongings to loved ones. While working with grieving family members, I learned firsthand their memories of their lost loved ones and the legacy gift of love, faith, hope, and gratitude were much more important than all the stuff left behind. A Legacy Love Letter is a heartfelt final goodbye which is found and read after the passing of a loved one. It is more than an ordinary love letter because it has an everlasting impact. Your loved ones will receive from you a final goodbye and a final “I love you” to cherish. Once these important letters are written, you will find peace of heart.
E - Estate Planning.
The best approach is to plan your estate as of right now. Instead of postponing this important task for a later date, ask yourself, “What if I died today?” This question will help you focus on your current circumstances and objectives. Do not wait until you think everything in your life is established. Just remember you can review and update your plan later, especially if your marital status changes; you buy or sell a residence; you lose a spouse or a child. Estate planning requires you to make decisions about who will act on your behalf, if you become incapacitated or upon your death. You also choose your beneficiaries, the people or charities who will inherit from you. Your estate plan must be in writing. In California, the documents you need include the Trust; a Last Will & Testament – Pourover Will; a Healthcare Directive, and a Power of Attorney. If you become incapacitated without legal documents in place, a conservator will be court appointed to make financial and health decisions for you. If you die without a will, then California law writes one for you, it is called intestate succession. Following your death, a probate matter will be opened at your local courthouse, and an administrator will be court appointed to gather your assets, pay your debts and make a distribution to your legal heirs. When you have an estate plan in place you can avoid these costly court procedures. If you have a Trust, your real property and financial accounts need to be registered in the name of your Trust to avoid the probate court process. Your attorney can assist you with this process; it is called funding the trust. I recommend a Trust for people living in California whose estate assets exceed $100,000 or if they own real estate. DMV will allow you to register your vehicle in the name of the trust, but most people do not since it is an asset that can be transferred without a court order. I encourage you to review your estate plan every five years or upon a change in circumstances. Once these important decisions are made and put in writing, your legal affairs will be in order, and you will find peace of mind.
G- Gathering Place.
You will want to create a gathering place for the location of your estate planning documents and important papers and information. You will need to collect all information pertaining to insurance and financial accounts. You will also want to have copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates as well as real property deeds and car titles; and adoption papers and divorce decrees. Your gathering place may be a file folder or box, a binder, a safe deposit box, or even a desk drawer. I recommend that you communicate with your loved ones to make sure they know where to find your estate planning documents and important papers and information. You can also share an electronic or hard copy of your estate plan with your nominees or your beneficiaries. You will want to add instruction letters and legacy love letters. There are additional benefits to hiring professionals, for example, my company, The Estate Planning Law Center, retains a copy of all signed legal documents and also provides complimentary legal services for existing clients including review of their estate plan every five years; complimentary updates to their Itemized Schedule of Trust Assets; complimentary notary services and a complimentary updated Certification of Trust when a co-Trustee has died.
A- Action Items.
Name a Beneficiary. You must take action to name a beneficiary for annuities, retirement accounts and life insurance. These are examples of Pay-on-Death accounts because you have named a beneficiary or beneficiaries to be paid upon your death. Upon your death, the financial institution does not ask for your will and/or trust, they will proceed to pay the beneficiaries you named. All Pay-on-Death accounts avoid probate but only if you have a beneficiary listed. You will want to review and update your beneficiaries if your marital status changes.
Create Lists Of Assets & Liabilities. You must take action to create an assets and liabilities list. Your Executor and/or Trustee must inventory your estate which means that they need to identify what assets you own upon your death. Your Executor and/or Trustee must also pay your creditors. This is why creating a list of current liabilities will assist them in fulfilling their role. This list should include lease contracts for vehicles or rental property; loan payments for residences and vehicles; ongoing monthly home and health expenses as well as student loan and credit card debt. Complete the list as of right now and then schedule a time to review annually. Most people update their lists at the end of the year or as they prepare for taxes.
C- Contact List.
You must take action to create a Contact List which should include both contact information for your legal heirs and named beneficiaries. Upon your death, your Executor/ Trustee will be required to notify your legal heirs and beneficiaries. A current list of their names; addresses; e-mails and phone numbers will assist your Executor/ Trustee with this important task. Legal notice is required even if there is a legal heir that you are estranged from and/or you have intentionally omitted.
Your Contact List should include contact information for your legal and financial team. When clients invest in legal counsel, there is less risk of court administration or litigation upon their incapacity or passing because they have received necessary legal counsel. Upon your death, your Executor/ Trustee will want to contact your estate attorney and your financial and tax advisors immediately. The Executor/Trustee will meet with the estate attorney immediately because there are critical dates and financial and legal steps they need to take including sharing copies of the legal documents with both legal heirs and named beneficiaries, obtaining a new tax ID for the estate or trust and accessing the financial accounts so that bills can be paid including funeral and last illness expenses.
Y -Your Wishes.
Your Wishes Regarding Cremation/Burial. You will want to communicate your wishes for cremation/burial. The agent under your Healthcare Directive has the power to order internment, cremation, and memorial services but they prefer to know what you have decided.
Your Wishes Regarding Organ Donation. Your wishes for organ donation are communicated in your Advance Healthcare Directive which allows you to express an intention to donate your bodily organs and tissues following your death. If you have a donor sticker on your driver’s license you will want to make sure that your agent under your Healthcare Directive knows whether you have made a decision to donate all of your organs OR any needed organs. You will also want to direct whether the organs you donate are for “Transplant only” or whether the organs you donate can also be utilized for “Research and Education.”
Your Wishes Regarding Specific Gifts. A specific gift list is a list which identifies the gift item and the gift recipient. The legal requirements for creating a specific gift list are as follows: (1) the list must be in writing; (2) signed by you; and (3) dated. You can type this specific gift list, but it must also be (1) printed, (2) signed by you; and (3) dated. Digital photos of the specific gifts are now being used in lieu of lengthy descriptions. Taking photos is particularly helpful for firearms, jewelry, and art. A specific gift list directs the Executor and/or Trustee to deliver the gifts if the personal property items are still part of your estate upon your death. If the item cannot be found because you sold it; lost it; or you gifted it prior to your death, then the gift shall “lapse” which means that the gift goes away. If an item is on the specific gift list, it does not need to be appraised and divided equally among the beneficiaries.
