Celebrating the Good from 2020

I think we can all agree that, in a lot of ways, 2020 was an objectively and universally terrible year. We faced fear and isolation. Many of us got sick ourselves, or watched our loved ones fall ill, or lost people who mattered to us. We felt the load of unforeseen stress, anxiety, and responsibilities. We all had to adjust to a completely new way of life.

I often succumb to seeing 2020 as synonymous with “bad.” But despite all of the hardships and hard times, good things did happen! People got married and had babies, found new careers or grew their businesses, moved cities and bought homes.

I love what I do. I love helping people protect something that is important to them. I am constantly aware of the selflessness and kindness it takes for my clients to spend their time, energy, and money on something that will most often benefit others rather than themselves. Unfortunately, some of the main motivators for people to come to me for my help are loss and fear. A bad experience when a parent died. Fear of getting sick themselves. So, let’s flip the script for a second and talk about why estate planning can help address and protect the happy times as well.

While we celebrate these big wins over the past year, we can also think about steps we can take to protect these life changes.

You had a baby. Congrats! You may have had an even more exhausting year than the rest of us. One of the things we do with estate planning is to name guardians for minor children, which is often the #1 thing parents want to talk about during our estate planning meetings. But we go beyond just guardianship and talk about how you can protect assets for your kids over the course of their lives and how we can make sure your values and preferences are honored with your kids no matter what.

You got married. That is awesome! I’m sure it wasn’t the wedding you had in mind, but you still get to marry the person you love, and that is a bright spot in a dark year. Let’s talk about how you can join your lives together, help support and protect each other long into the future, and honor any separate property you may have brought into the marriage.

You made money. Sweet! Unfortunately, one of the fun side effects of increasing your wealth is that there are more risks to that money, in the sense of estate tax exposure, probate complications, effects on your eventual beneficiaries, etc. An estate plan can help mitigate those risks and protect that wealth for all those people you’re working so hard for.

You bought a house: That is so exciting! It’s been a crazy year to be a homebuyer, but you were one of the lucky ones who got one of the few houses available. I don’t want to get too deep into the probate weeds, but owning real estate can increase the complication and cost of the probate system, making a living trust an even more attractive option.

If any of these life changes describes you, I’m happy to walk you through why now may be a good time for some estate planning. If you want to schedule a time to chat, you can reserve a time directly at this link: Schedule Consultation.