The Need

Whether your client is building or has already built their wealth, they need legacy or estate planning. Estate taxes are calculated using your client’s net-worth valued generally on the day they pass. The 2020 estate tax credit equivalent is $11,580,000. The amount eliminates the tax on many estates, but you may have clients with wealth far greater than the exemption.

The estate tax code will sunset or revert to the lower exemption rate on January 1st of 2026 unless new legislation is introduced and enacted. There are currently several proposals that, if passed, would significantly increase transfer taxation.

Clients certainly need legacy planning advice, and you should be the person that sets their estate planning in motion.

The Process

Estate planning is a team effort and often involves the client’s wealth advisor, attorney, and CPA.  Estate taxation laws are complex and require vast knowledge to implement the best planning techniques to serve your client’s interest. Because of the complexity of estate planning techniques, your client must understand recommendations.There is no perfect order to the process. It can be a bit fluid and specialized to fit you or your client’s preferences. During the process, we may be communicating with your client’s accountant and attorney. However, It usually starts with a phone call. You call us and discuss your client. We provide some preliminary advice. Then, you talk to your client and schedule a call, video, or real-life meeting to gather more information and formulate plans.

We quickly formulate a preliminary plan and schedule a follow-up meeting with you and your client to discuss the plan, make adjustments, and discuss implementation.

At this point, we get a go-ahead about 85% of the time because we did it the right way. The recommendations are in your client’s best interests, and they know it.