The question of “what will I do with my material belongings when I die” is an uncomfortable one, but it’s a conversation that everyone needs to have.
While there aren’t necessarily any wrong answers to be had in answering the question, there are some wrong ways to go about it. And making a mistake when planning your estate can have long-lasting consequences, according to Geoff Kunkler, attorney at Carlile Patchen & Murphy in Dublin and Columbus.
“The biggest mistake I see people making is first, just putting it off or not doing it at all,” he explained, adding he talks to people all the time who give a variation of “I know I need to do this but,” and that excuse is generally due to people not thinking they have “enough” to plan for or that they can’t afford an attorney.
“It’s not just the monetary value of an estate,” Kunkler pointed out. “There is the sentimental value as well. You might have some special artwork or a family heirloom that you want to be sure gets to a specific person. A will can help with this.”
As for the costs associated with estate planning, Kunkler noted “most people find out that it’s actually pretty reasonable.”
Another mistake, Kunkler corrected, is the effect of the Internet.
“It’s becoming somewhat common for people to try a DIY approach,” he stated. “They get papers online or do something at a site like LegalZoom or there are alot of financial talking heads who sell ‘estate plans.’ But if you don’t get professional advice you might not have everything you need.”
To Seth D. Preisler, attorney at Chodosh & Chodosh in Bexley, “The advice on social media is usually overly simple, generic and incomplete. I have many tools to accomplish a client’s goals, and an individualized approach is necessary in choosing the right one.”
As for Mitchell J. Adel, managing partner at Cooper, Adel, Vu & Associates in Hilliard, “a lot of the software that’s available is very generic, and that’s for a good reason,” he said. “But that means it doesn’t have the muscle a legal document should have.”
An example of that, Kunkler said, can be explored with a father who had his own will and after he passed the children came in to see it enacted. Unfortunately, it didn’t meet the requirements of Ohio law and so it had to be thrown out and they had to start as if there was no will at all.
“I have a lot of clients who need help cleaning up messes caused by deceased relatives who did some estate planning without the assistance of a professional,” Preisler said. “They either left something out or did it incorrectly.”
Adel noted there is a certain “formality” to a will and an estate plan that’s missing when someone just writes out what they want to see happen and stuffs the note into their desk drawer.
“In a very emotional time the people who have been left behind may end up having to fight for the deceased’s wishes on their own or bring in an attorney because they didn’t leave behind the proper legal documents,” he stated.
In many ways, an estate plan needs to be a fluid document that changes with the life of the person it belongs to.
Kunkler suggested, “break your estate plan out occasionally so you can remember what’s in it,” adding, at his firm, they suggest a more formal review every three years.
Noell Wolfgram Evans is a freelance journalist.
0 Comments