by Austin Boyce

The SoundView team has been preparing for your upcoming meetings, and as the newest member of the Advisory team, I continue to delve into the realm of Estate Planning. In a deep dive into the interwebs, I learned that over 50% of respondents to a survey from Caring.com did not have any estate planning documents! While many of you already have an estate plan in place (we all know SoundView clients are the best clients), it can be even trickier to understand when an update might be needed.

Estate plans are extremely important. They ensure your assets are distributed as you wish and are used to name people to carry out various estate settlement roles, including guardians for your minor children or pets. When someone dies without estate planning documents, states have intestacy laws that identify heirs and the order of succession, and courts are involved in deciding guardianship. As you can imagine, it is very possible for an individual’s final wishes not to always align with the state law.

There are several reasons to update your estate plan, including changes in assets, marriage or divorce, tax law updates, and the birth or adoption of a child, among others. While some of these reasons require a reactive response (we won’t know a new tax law is in place until it is enacted), at SoundView, we prefer to take a proactive approach to anticipate issues whenever possible.

This fall, we’ll review your estate documents so they match your current wishes, and, if needed, connect you with a trusted attorney and help implement the changes.