Chronicles of an Executor: Article #12
Maintaining your Legacy
Source: Apartment News Magazine
By Timothy Gorman
Real Estate Broker/CPA/Entrepreneur
This marks the 12th article in my series. I started with “Suspending in Free Fall,” likening this undertaking to a skydiving adventure—a daunting experience that demands preparation, resilience, and adaptability.
During our initial 120-day holding period (when beneficiaries could contest the will and trust), I embarked on this journey. What began as a personal exercise to sort through my own obligations and complex feelings turned into something more. I am pleased to hear how some of my learnings and insights have helped others.
Article three, “The Dangers of Neglecting the Interpersonal,” dove into the trickier aspects of estate planning: the interpersonal side. Turns out, the “math” was the easy part, at least in my family.
With good experts, you can craft a plan that meets your goals and specific needs. You just have to give it time and attention and pick the right experts to help (this is key, your Aunt Edna’s attorney might have worked great for her, but you might have different needs that require a different type of attorney).
Even then, the best-laid plans can come crashing down if you don’t communicate effectively and address family dynamics head-on.
Further articles explored topics like selecting the right successor or executor, engaging the right professionals, taxes, trusts, and distributions—the meat and potatoes of estate and legacy planning.
Wrapping up the series, I took an introspective look at some of our mistakes and how we could have avoided them. The positive side of my experience was getting to know and understand some of the tools available to transfer wealth and build a successful legacy.
There’s a world of knowledge out there for those willing to put in the work. Yes, it does take effort and work to plan a legacy.
At a recent meeting where I was speaking on estate planning, one participant was agitated that they couldn’t get all their questions answered and build their estate plan in one session lasting only an hour.
The reality for most of us, is that a one-hour solution will not work. You spend a lifetime building, acquiring, and maintaining your wealth and wisdom. Transferring those to future generations takes time, patience, and a willingness to learn new things.
For those willing to embark on this journey, I’ve been working on a few projects to help.
The first is a ten-week course with the AAOC learning team. Set up like their popular Certified Rental Housing Provider course (which I’ve taken and highly recommend), this new series offers an in-depth look at estate and legacy planning.
Industry-leading professionals in tax, legal, and insurance have agreed to lend their time and talents to the program. Innovative tools have been created to help participants build the foundations of their own plan before they head to an attorney. A move that not only saves time but money!
Another project I recently completed is authoring a book titled “Tangled Legacy: Turning Estate Planning Mistakes into Successes.”
Over the past year plus, I’ve lived, researched, and interviewed many sources. There is a wealth of information out there, but I felt like something was missing. Most of these books are written by attorneys and focus primarily on the how (trusts, taxes, wills, etc.) and not the why (just because you can do something, should you actually do it? Perhaps there’s a better way?).
In “Tangled Legacy,” you’ll discover:
- The unexpected realities of estate administration that go beyond the legal and financial aspects.
- Personal anecdotes that bring to life the emotional toll, family dynamics, and unanticipated conflicts that can arise.
- Practical insights and lessons learned from real-life mistakes and successes in estate planning.
- Candid conversations about navigating the complexities of taxes, trusts, and asset distribution.
- A genuine account of what it means to leave a legacy and wrap up a life in a way that truly honors your values and intentions.
This article isn’t meant to promote book sales or class attendance, although candidly, that wouldn’t hurt. The purpose is to drive home the point that legacy and estate planning take work.
Simple solutions get simple results. Whether you use these tools or one of the many others that exist, you need to start the journey, build a plan, communicate the plan, and update it as life dictates.
The reality is, you’re never finished until, well, you’re finished!