Careful consideration should be taken each step of the way when creating an estate plan. This is where the extensive training and experience of estate planning professionals comes into play to help people deal with the unique situations in their lives and reach their specific goals.
So let’s just assume for a second that you went through all the details of your life, discussed them with an estate planning attorney and have drafted an airtight plan to address all of your needs. Then you go to the bank and the pretty young teller suggests that you add a POD (payable on death) designation to one of your accounts to avoid probate. She says it convincingly and tells you that it will save some money on probate fees. Do you listen and make the change?
While it may sound good, let me frame this question a little differently.
You just finished developing a complete estate plan with an experienced attorney who discussed all aspects of your life with you and weeks carefully drafting the documents to address all of your concerns. The pretty young teller who just found out your name from your deposit slip tells you that she can help you to revise your estate plan without any other information about your life. Do you let her make some changes?
You may have considered it in the first scenario because she was trying to help but of course you wouldn’t let a teller with no knowledge about your life revise your estate plan. Unfortunately, advice is often taken from bank tellers, stock brokers, and other employees of financial institutions without thought of unintended consequences.
I recently had a client call me to ask about this after receiving several phone calls from, well, let’s just call them Carguard, about updating his investment account. The employee stated that they were simply ensuring that their customers accounts were kept up to date and out of probate so he should add a beneficiary. Feeling pressured and as though he may be doing something wrong he called me to ask about naming a designee and I reassured him that due to his planning goals he was much better served by allowing his estate plan to dispose of his assets.
Everyone should have an estate plan and make decisions in advance to help facilitate the transfer of their assets no matter how large or small they may be. There are a great many considerations that go into planning for an estate and if you have a plan in place, simply let an institution who asks you to make some changes know that you have a carefully drafted plan in place to handle the disposition of your assets. And if you are still unsure, just double check with your estate planning professional before making changes, even if it seems insignificant. I can promise you that your heirs will thank you!
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