Estate Planning is about providing peace of mind that on death or disability, there won't be too much of a financial or emotional burden on your family. An estate plan may include the following elements:

• Will
• Power of Attorney
• Trusts
• Charitable Giving
• Estate Freeze
• Buy-Sell Agreement
• Living Will
• Funeral Plan

Notice that with the exception of a Buy-Sell Agreement (when funded with life insurance) your financial advisor does not have a financial interest in any of the above elements. For this reason they may be perfectly suited to providing a neutral perspective on the matter and can work with other financial professionals who perform the key tasks.

Other elements may directly involve your financial advisor such as:

Insurance
In-Trust Accounts
Tax efficient transfer of investment accounts

You will note that I have used the term "financial advisor" in the above statements; that is because I view a financial advisor as transaction oriented and a financial planner as a process oriented advocate. I have acted as both to clients as determined by them in our initial discovery meeting. As a Fee for Service financial planner I would not recommend specific product and in turn sell that product and subsequently earn a commission.

 

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