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L. Paul Hood Jr., Director of Giving at the University of Toledo Foundation, Toledo, OH; and, one of the Deans of the estate planning community, recently wrote an article in the NAEPC Journal of Estate and Tax Planning. I recommend the article to estate planners and clients, alike. Below, is a short summary of his thirty-two tenets for good estate planning:
· Listen to the clients needs,
· Give clients control,
· Mirror the client’s goals,
· Consider psychological Implications,
· Get feedback from beneficiaries,
· Beware of the “Hidden Enemies”,
· Be flexible,
· Refrain from absolutisms,
· Don’t assume order of death,
· Provide checks and balances,
· Anticipate post-death problems,
· Prepare for post-death contingencies,
· Coordinate efforts among advisors,
· Beware of misrepresentation of facts,
· Apply risk management principals,
· Analyze cash flow, asset values and income,
· Don’t force inter vivos gifts,
· Don’t assume its too late,
· Don’t ignore boilerplate,
· Don’t force equal treatment,
· Build on bridges of trust,
· Carefully select fiduciaries,
· Avoid restrictive trusts,
· Consider special situations,
· Provide sufficient liquidity,
· Don’t focus on tax considerations,
· Don’t always defer paying estate taxes,
· Give high basis assets,
· Don’t ignore income taxes,
· Require charitable intent,
· Get complete appraisals, and
· Consider the total situation.
Any one of these tenets is worth a full article, if not book. If nothing else these tenets serve as both a reminder to the client of the importance of an estate plan and to the attorneys who draft them.