3 Ways to Protect Your Family

 3 Ways to Protect your Family!

1. Have Clear Objectives

2.  Deal with Real Experts and Specialists

3. Make Measured and Reasoned Decisions

Have Clear Objectives

Be crystal clear about what you are setting out to accomplish. Since this blog is about estate planning my comments focus on that topic. Many who visit someone like, an estate planning attorney have no clear objectives. They say, " I want a will", "I don't like probate", or "I want to make it easy for my kids".

None of these are clear goals. They are important emotional reasons for planning but not precise objectives. Here is how to turn each of those into a claar objective:

1. I want clear, written instructions in legal form detailing how my assets will administered and distributed and here is who I want to protect and from what risks.

2. I want everything during my life  and at my death to occur without any court involvement with the greatest degree of privacy the law permits.

3. I want each legal document and arrangement established so my goals can be carried out without resorting to asking a judge or court to get involved.

These three goals are clear and precise. They repesent each of the emotional motivations listed first and include specific guidance about what the client is seeking. See if you can write out your goals in the same way.

Deal with Real Experts and Specialists

In the age of the internet and tech anyone can say that they do certain things. Anyone can go on facebook and offer you a will or other document. How can you ensure you are dealing with a real expert? Here are some good guidelines to protect your family:

1. Ask the person offering services what else they do. Your goal is to only work with a specialist who only does estate planning. Remember these guidelines will apply to any other need you may have. If the person does other things, they are not an expert.

2. Ask to see degrees and certifications in the particular specialty area. Also ask how much of their time is spent in the specialty. Ask if they practice estate planning and estate law 24-7. If not avoid them.

3. Ask to see awards from third party sources granted to the person claiming to be the expert you need. For example you want an AV rated attorney specializing in estate planning.

4. While reviews are great do not rely on recommendations on facebook or other social media. If you post a question on social media remember that a real specialist lawyer will NOT respond by calling or messaging you as that may violate the rules against solicitation.

5. Get a referral from another expert you trust. For example, a referral from your acconntant or financial advisor is worth much more than something on facebook.

Make Measured and Reasoned Decisions

This is a difficult skill to practice. Many people react emotionally or impulsively. When choosing any expert, take your time, do your research and give the decision some thought and analysis. Even in emergencies it is always better to make careful decisions. This is critical to protect your family and property.

Let's review the three ways to protect your family:

1. Have clear goals and objectives.

2. Deal only with real experts and specialists.

3. Make measured and reasoned decisions.

Good luck!