Shopping for an estate plan based on getting the lowest cost plan possible is often the fastest path to leaving your family with an empty set of documents (maybe in a beautiful binder, but not worth the paper they are written on) that won’t work for your family when they need it.

Unfortunately, we see the negative effects of cheap estate planning when family members come to us during a time of grief with that fancy binder that sat on the shelf for years sending out signals of false security, full of out-of-date estate planning documents, and find themselves stuck in what could have been an avoidable court process,  or even conflict when that’s exactly what their loved one thought they had paid someone to handle for them.

Here Are 5 Reasons Why Shopping For The Cheapest Estate Plan Is Likely To Leave You With A Plan That Won’t Work For Your Family… And Could Leave Them With A Big Mess Instead.

You can shop around and find a lawyer to create planning documents for you or create your own DIY plan using online documents. Then, you’ll put those documents into a drawer, mentally check estate planning off your to-do list, and forget about them.

The problem is, estate planning is more than just a one-and-done type of deal.

It will be worthless if your plan is not regularly updated when your assets, family situation, and laws change. Failing to update your plan can create problems that can leave your family worse off than if you’ve never created a plan.

The following story illustrates the consequences of not updating your plan, which happened to the founder and CEO of New Law Business Model, Ali Katz. Indeed, this experience was one of the leading catalysts for her to create the new, family-centered model of estate planning we use with all of our clients.

Even if you are just starting, beginning with the end in mind will set your business up for a lifetime of success and leave your heirs, clients or customers, and team with a valuable asset when you are gone. 

Perhaps surprisingly, properly planning for what would happen to your business upon your death or incapacity is one of the most important things you can do for your company’s growth and success, now and in the future.

By structuring your business affairs with the end in mind, you will naturally make better choices for everything from entity type to hiring and training to pricing and delivery of your services and products. 

Using a few basic estate planning strategies to make sure your business survives your incapacity or death can also set your business up for success from the start. Although you should consult with us, as your Personal Family Lawyer® with family business planning focus, to take you through our unique planning process and determine the specific planning vehicles that are right for your particular business and family situation, the following estate planning tools are essential for nearly all business owners.

Indeed, serving as a Trustee entails a broad array of duties, and you are both ethically and legally required to execute those duties or face potential liability.

Before you say yes, be sure you understand what it means to be a Trustee.

In the end, your responsibility as a Trustee will vary greatly depending on the size of the estate, the type of assets covered by the Trust, the type of Trust, how many beneficiaries there are, and the document’s terms. In light of this, you should carefully review the specifics of the Trust you would be managing before deciding to serve. And remember, you don’t have to take the job. Yet, depending on who nominated you, declining to serve may not be an easy or practical option. On the other hand, you might enjoy the opportunity to serve so long as you understand what’s expected.

To that end, this article offers a brief overview of what serving as a Trustee typically entails. If you are asked to serve as Trustee, feel free to contact us to support you in evaluating whether you can effectively carry out all the duties or if you should politely decline.

Unfortunately, most business owners aren’t fully aware of all the potential risks that can affect their company or the options they have available to protect their personal assets from the risks of doing business. This is where asset protection planning comes in.

Asset protection planning is designed to reduce or eliminate the risks of being in business by shielding your business and personal assets from lawsuits, creditors, and other potential threats to the fullest extent legally possible.

And it’s absolutely crucial to have your asset protection strategies in place from the moment you open your doors, because once a claim or lawsuit is filed, it’s too late. In fact, if you take certain actions to protect your assets after a claim or lawsuit has been filed, you could be charged with fraud. With this in mind, the time to take action is now, while there is nothing to worry about and the full range of options to protect your assets are still available to you.

While the specific protections you require will largely depend on the specifics of your business and your personal assets, the following four vehicles form the foundation of most business owners’ asset-protection planning.