Why a Four Corners Estate Plan Meets Your Needs as Well as Those of your Family
It’s unfortunate that the language of estate planning is so weighed down by death. There’s the death tax, death planning, deceased parties…and if our own human mortality wasn’t heavy enough, how about some probate and incapacitation to cast a pall over your last will and testament? Estate Planning 101: Death and Disempowerment. And we wonder why people procrastinate.
It’s time to reframe the conversation with life and empowerment at the center of a precipice estate plan configuration. We call it the Four Corners and it’s a map for families who want to stay on offense, not defense. The Four Corners, which is a strategy we embrace here at our law firm, helps families explore how a Florida estate plan can cultivate, create, and inspire.
Some families simply navigate the complexities of wealth better than others. What they do with their money now, and how they plan for it passing to their heirs, is guided by principles that transcend conventional thinking. In our individual practices we have encountered and advised families who possess an innate understanding that wealth – often great wealth – is merely the raw material for an enduring and thriving legacy. These families understand that, just as they define their wealth, they can also define their legacy.
Are they more financially savvy than others? Sometimes, but even that knowledge is often an organic product of the choices they’ve made. They’ve learned how to be smart, in other words. Is their emotional intelligence higher than the norm? After all, wealth creates at least as much stress as it alleviates, right? It’s true that these families can have high degrees of emotional intelligence, but the very question places too much emphasis on emotional responses. These families have discovered a way to keep their emotions focused on an enriching legacy, not merely riches.
It can be an eye-opening experience when the full range of estate planning possibilities is revealed. Some clients even question our scruples with furrowed brows and an “is that really legal?” look, as if we were recommending an exotic offshore tax haven. There’s nothing exotic about the strategies in this book, but they have come from another world, specifically the rarified world of the super affluent.
We know you may have questions about the Four Corners of Estate Planning and are here to guide you. If you are looking to learn more specific insight directly on this topic, we encourage you to purchase your copy of The Four Corners: Where Your Estate Plan Becomes a Living Legacy written by Attorney Brad Galbraith, Mike Kilbourn, and Robert O’Dell.
If you are ready to move forward with this new information you have learned and want to speak with an estate planning attorney about this or other planning options and how they might work for you and your family, please contact our office to schedule a time to discuss this. Bear in mind, when choosing an attorney, it is important to find a legal professional who specializes in your specific legal needs. As a law firm that serves our clients in two states, we understand the unique challenges that state laws can pose. We are here to help you now, and in the future in the states of Florida and Indiana.