One often overlooked tool of estate planning is to hold a family meeting. There are several good reasons for doing this, and a few reasons why many people don't hold a family meeting.
A family meeting first and foremost should be an opportunity to make wishes and desires known and acknowledged and documented so they are carried out. This last item, documentation, may require the services of a qualified attorney. Simply writing down that mom and dad want the house to go to a certain person might not be enough. Everyone might agree that is what mom and dad wanted, but unless there is a will or other legally effective device, it might not happen.
Another reason for a family meeting is to ease anxieties about what will happen. It's a time to discuss last wishes such as funeral arrangements, burial/cremation, etc. While this is hard to do, afterward everyone feels a sense of relief.
At a family meeting, tax advantageous strategies for passing wealth can be discussed, such as family trusts, limited liability companies, life insurance policies to provide cash flow to continue a business and the like.
A very important function, and one often overlooked, is to preserve family harmony. At a family meeting, everyone's viewpoints can be aired. While it is the prerogative of those whose estates are in issue to decide where and to whom they leave things, by getting everyone together to discuss things, when the will is finally read there should be no big surprises.
Don't overlook a family meeting as part of your estate plan.
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