A Wiser Retirement®

314. The Simple Estate Planning Error That Could Hurt Your Family

Wiser Wealth Management Episode 314

In this episode of the A Wiser Retirement® Podcast, Shawna Theriault, CFP®, CPA, CDFA®, and Estate Planning Attorney Arun Gupta discuss a real-life story that shows how one overlooked detail can lead to heartbreaking consequences for a family.

Related Podcast Episodes: 

Ep 295: What Happens If You Die Without a Will? The Legal Nightmare

Ep 279: What Should Parents of Children with Disabilities Know About Estate Planning?

Ep 233: How Second Marriages and Blended Families Impact Estate Planning

Related Financial Education Videos:

Prevent Family Conflict with Legacy Planning 

Does inheritance count as income? 

Other Links:

AG Law

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This podcast was produced by Wiser Wealth Management. Thanks for listening!

SPEAKER_04:

Taking care of his estate plan just wasn't something that was at the forefront of his mind because he thought, listen, uh my kids are taken care of. Yeah. And then he passed away.

SPEAKER_02:

And uh it created a giant mess because are you curious about what estate planning error could hurt your family? I'm Shauna Therriel, and today I'm joined by estate planning attorney Arun Gupta. Each week we bring you practical advice on retirement, investing, and planning for your financial future. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening. Let's get started. Good morning.

SPEAKER_04:

Good morning, Shauna. How are you?

SPEAKER_02:

Good. I'm glad we're doing this again.

SPEAKER_04:

Me too.

SPEAKER_02:

It's fun. Me too. I was thinking, I was asking you before. Um, is there any fun? Because you know, estate planning's fun. Um I'm sure you think it's fun.

SPEAKER_04:

You know, uh, it's it's exciting for me.

SPEAKER_02:

It is, exactly. I love estate planning. You know, you and I have worked together for a long time, but is there any fun estate planning updates at all?

SPEAKER_04:

Um, I don't again, I don't know how exciting this is, but for some people, I'm sure it is exciting. Um uh the estate tax exemption um is it was scheduled to be uh repealed to the pre-Trump 2016 levels, um, but that is officially um not going to be repealed anymore. And the it is it is the increase is now permanent. Um as permanent as permanent is as permanent as permanent, yes, exactly. You know, the a new Congress, a new president, who knows what's gonna happen. Um yes, uh so the the exemption has been has is increased now. Uh it's gonna increase for inflation, you know, each year until you know they change it again. Until they change it again. That's right. So it's 15 million next year. Yes, it's 15 at one.

SPEAKER_02:

So it's still so high.

SPEAKER_04:

It was it was uh 13.99 in in 2025. It'll be 15 next year. Okay. And, you know, and and so on.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. So that's really the only update. So, you know, nothing. I'm I'm sure you'll keep us updated if there's other estate planning things out there. But um, thank you for that. Today we're gonna go through, we've already talked about trust and done a couple of things. We'll continue to do different estate planning shows together because we just love it. Um, but today we're gonna talk about just a client, like we're gonna do a case study, really. And this is a real client situation that we have um where a simple estate planning error costs money to the family, more or less the children. Um, and so, and it was something that was very simple that could have been avoided. And so just to bring awareness to individuals, um, and we looked at the stats before, um, before that maybe simple mistakes in in an estate, they didn't give exact numbers. It's like, it's like how many uh, you know, we're looking at how many unintended beneficiaries do things go to, and we're gonna talk a little bit about that. But it was uh, it was quite large. It seemed like it was a large amount. They didn't give exact numbers, I guess, because there's so many, you know, different ways it could go. But um, you know, this is this is simple errors or things to look at that you could avoid hurting your family.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes. And they're they're you know, they're simple things in the sense that, you know, it can take two minutes to update literally two minutes. Some things can be a little bit more complicated, but but generally speaking, a lot of the the the big impactful mistakes that happened, uh, it hits a little harder because they were so easy to to address when when the time was right.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Um and so let's talk a little bit about Travis and his situation.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes, yes. So uh we will we will uh the the names have been updated, but the uh for confidentiality, but we uh uh this is a real life example. Um uh Travis and Taylor, a married couple.

SPEAKER_02:

Um that has nothing to do with Travis and Taylor at all in the news right now, right?

SPEAKER_04:

Um I think they were married for about 20 years. Um, you know, they built a life together, they had three children. Um, and you know, as it happens with many marriages, it ended in divorce, and it was a very nasty divorce. Um and Travis uh d you know, wanted to make sure that his uh, you know, ex-spouse had nothing to do with his life anymore. Now, obviously that's harder to do when you have kids, um but he wanted to make sure that, you know, his kids were taken care of. And, you know, after after they got divorced, he updated his documents, he updated his will. Um, he made sure that um, you know, uh upon his death, uh, under his will, everything was gonna go in trusts to his children. And it was in trusts and and not outright also because he wanted to make sure that those those assets were were protected.

SPEAKER_02:

And that's subject to their divorce in the future if they have one, right? Exactly. Just given what he had gone through.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes, yes. Um, and you know, life goes on. Um uh uh Travis uh met someone new. Uh we'll call her Sabrina. Um, and uh, you know, they lived a somewhat lavish lifestyle. Um uh Sabrina needed Travis for support. He felt guilty that and he had no interest in getting married again, um, but he felt guilty that you know his girlfriend wasn't gonna be provided for. Um and he got sick. And knowing that um, you know, something could happen to him, he wanted to make sure that she'd be taken care of. So he updated his life insurance policy and he put her as the beneficiary.

SPEAKER_02:

And uh so now you have a situation where the girlfriend, long-term girlfriend, that they're obviously close, uh is gonna is supposed to get the life insurance, and then the kids are gonna get the asset, the rest of the assets in trust.

SPEAKER_04:

That's right.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, that's right through the will.

SPEAKER_04:

That's right, correct, correct. Um, and you know, fortunately, uh he recovered. And uh, you know, he thought that death may be imminent um wasn't the time. Uh he recovered. And then life goes on. Uh it got caught up in new things, and you know, uh taking care of his estate plan just wasn't something that was at the forefront of his mind because he thought, listen, uh my kids are taken care of. Uh and you know, with his life insurance policy, he just never got around allocating that. He just never did. And then he passed away. And uh it created a giant mess because about 90% of his uh wealth was in retirement accounts. And retirement accounts pass via beneficiary designations. Uh they're not going to pass through the terms of a will unless you specifically put uh my estate on your beneficiary designation, or you just don't have one and then it defaults to the estate. In that situation, those assets would have gone through a will, but uh he never ended up changing his retirement account designations. He didn't have Sabrina on that. He had Taylor on his retirement account, his ex-wife, his ex-wife. Yes. And uh, you know, that's where uh most of the money ended up going. And he did have a life insurance policy, but he wasn't even with Sabrina when he died. Sabrina got the proceeds of the life insurance policy. He had maybe he didn't own any real estate when when he died. He lived in a condo um that he he was he was renting. Um his kids they received the proceeds from his his checking and savings accounts, and he didn't keep much in that. A lot of people don't do. Yeah, they don't do that. That's just not how they operate. Um and his kids, everything was supposed to be, you know, left in in in trust for them, protected, uh taken care of, and they they barely had ten thousand dollars split amongst the three of them.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, and that is a a massive, massive uh unintended consequence, right? Now uh generally speaking, if you when you when you have a will in the state of Georgia, and if you get divorced and you never get around to updating your will, that spouse is treated as if they were deceased. So they're basically you know skipped over.

SPEAKER_02:

So in other words, if it says I'm a married person and this is my spouse, it's going to treat them as if you weren't married. Yes, right.

SPEAKER_04:

That's correct. But that's only going to apply to assets that are distributed through your will.

SPEAKER_02:

See, and that's such a good point. And and most people don't realize that. Even when I we meet with clients and we're explaining how things go, you know, if if you have beneficiary designations on any account, whether it's a retirement account, life insurance, a brokerage account, even if you do like a payable on death at your bank, that's not going to your will.

SPEAKER_04:

No, it's not unless it's through the estate. Correct. They're there, and especially when it comes to these custodians that, that, that, that, that set up these accounts, they don't wanna, they don't wanna stick their nose in it. There are protections in place for them to where they don't have to update things. They don't have to um they don't have to treat a spouse as if they were deceased. That beneficiary designation, nine times out of ten, is that's where it's gonna go. Now, a certain custodian may have, you know, protections in place within their, you know, within their own, you know, governing documents, but that's not that common. Most of the time, these custodians, they want to do the least amount of work and the least amount of liability. You know, that's that's how they want to handle it.

SPEAKER_02:

But even still, they're not gonna proactively reach out to you and say, do you want to change your beneficiaries when a life event happens, unless you open like a new account and then it's on the application where it's like, you know, add a beneficiary. And I have seen through employers where you do your annual, you know, renewal of your benefits, where it's like check your beneficiaries and you check off that they're still good.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, I've seen that before, you know, where I'm I think those are great when those when those you know policies are in place because you know, people have a million things to do, and sometimes just a an automated reminder that you get through your HR to check something can make all the difference, right? But even with that, it's very easy to overlook. Because again, um, you know, it it it's on everyone's to-do list, and the deadline is until you die, in a way, and that's not you know how you really want to view things, but technically that that's the truth. Um, but when you when you don't update it and the and the unthinkable happens, it can really, you know, create create a mess.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, and uh again, you know, there could be future litigation involved, and people can try and you know undo things, but regardless, it's time to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02:

There's no estate to sue in that though, right? Because you're you're talking about its beneficiary designation. So it's not like you can hold up, and I don't know, I'm speaking out of tour, you're the attorney, but it's like, how can you sue an estate when the estate was checking accounts? Right? Like that's it.

SPEAKER_04:

It's gonna no matter what, it's gonna make life hard. Even if you try and unwind things and you know, say someone was unduly influenced or what have you, time, stress, money guaranteed, it it it will it will suck all of those up, you know. Um, and again, unintended consequence, right? If Travis had uh updated his retirement accounts, right, um you know, this this this would have been different. Now a lot of times, you know, through you know, formal divorce proceedings, uh retirement accounts will be will be split through through formal processes, right? But that's not that's not always the case. And not only that, but the action rests on the person, right? You can get all the advice in the world, but if you're not signing that sheet of paper and submitting it, right? It's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, and and again, it it's not a very complicated situation in terms of what he wanted.

SPEAKER_02:

A beneficiary change. It's a beneficiary change form.

SPEAKER_04:

It's not high-level estate taxes or anything like that. It's basically, I want my money to go to my kids. And I thought that I had that through my will, but I didn't realize that that it doesn't, it doesn't all just go through your will.

SPEAKER_02:

And how could they? I mean, you know, it's like uh they don't do this on a day-to-day basis. We, you know, how do you know that it doesn't pass through the will just because it has a beneficiary? We know because that's been ingrained enough, obviously. And, you know, if you're talking with your estate planning attorney, they should, you know, they they will tell you, hopefully, to change this. And they could have in that situation, or maybe he just did not or forgot or thought he had. I've talked to so many people that have said, Oh, I know my beneficiaries are good. And I'm like, Can you just promise me you're gonna put your eyes on them? Because I have so many people say that, and then they look and go, Oh, yep, it's not on there.

SPEAKER_04:

All the time. All the time.

SPEAKER_02:

I had that happen to a client recently where they had been married for 50 plus years, and she was the beneficiary on everything. They had a revocable living trust, you know, titled everything was titled there, and she was the beneficiary on anything that wasn't in the revocable living trust, like a retirement account. And there was one account that was worth like$25,000, which is which is not insignificant, but it's so small compared to like everything else. And this poor woman spent days, I mean, days. She had to prove she was his spouse. She had to, I mean, you wouldn't believe the hoops that she had to jump through just to get access to these funds because there was no benefit beneficiary. Maybe it had tra to your point, maybe it had transferred from custodian to custodian, custodian to custodian. And at some point, you know, it fell off.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, I don't, we don't know why.

SPEAKER_04:

And I I'm with you when it comes to this. You know, it almost sounds like we're we're we're scolding people for not doing that. I feel that sometimes, but I'm I I I hate it because this stuff it's not easy. People have a million things going on, and honestly, it doesn't all make sense, you know. Right. Um, the they're these are all complicated systems to navigate when you are busy doing so many other things. It it is confusing. Um but you know, at the same time, uh it takes it takes a little bit of focus, uh, a little bit of time to just to just check on it, right? Um, and it's not like you have to do this, you know, every single year, even though you you you probably can every few years, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Um definitely when you have a life change.

SPEAKER_04:

When there's a big life event, that's always the signal. Hey, I got a divorce, death, marriage, um, you win the lottery, et cetera. Just these big things that really impact the you know financial outlook of your family, health, all of these things are our signals to to you know get this reviewed. And it is overwhelming. And, you know, when I when I talk to my clients, I I I try and stress, listen, if you if you talk to me, you give me an hour, you've really done the work. Whatever's overwhelmed you, you've blurted it all out, and then it's the job of your, you know, your attorney. Uh, and then you talk to your financial advisors and they'll and your accountants, they're here to help you and and and and take care of the you know the the the nitty-gritty details of it, but you you you just gotta tell them, right? Um, that's the hard part. But that is the work, is just you know, just getting that initial meeting, just talking about these things with professionals.

SPEAKER_00:

Before we go back to the episode, did you just finalize a divorce or know someone who has? Download our post-divorce financial planning checklist, a free guide from Wiser Wealth Management. It covers everything from updating accounts to building your new financial future. Visit wiserinvestor.com forward slash guides to get your free copy. All right, let's get back to the episode.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and you can you can certainly do this on your own, um, just making sure that you know what to update, though.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, you know, there's definitely people are capable of uh and a lot of these, you know, a beneficiary designation is not complicated. Any most everybody can can take care of that, right? It's not a super complicated trust or anything like that. It is it is something that that that people can take care of. But, you know, the the overwhelming aspect of it or just thinking that it all goes through your will, it it it's real, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

Just know that there's multiple facets to it, that things may go through the will, but they may not. And, you know, you just have to understand how it flows. And if you don't, then ask a professional or ask someone um that you trust that know that knows the information fully so that way you understand the movements of it. Sure.

SPEAKER_04:

And you know, even though, you know, in the example that we talked about, that you know, there there are unintended consequences, at least his kids were fine, uh generally speaking in life, right? But that's not always the case, you know. There's there, you know, I've got plenty of clients that, you know, everything looks perfect on paper, but you know, there uh there could be a child that's going through something really difficult. Um, and you know the the unintended small mistake ends up, you know, really costing costing them.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

And no one would want that, right? Um, and it and it's tough, but it but it happens. It happens a lot.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Well, and and in the in that case, you know, the mom's gonna leave the kids or already gave some of them, because it just happened to be their mom, but sometimes it's not, you know, the ex-pouse um is their mom too. And so in that case, it could work out, but um, it doesn't always work out like that.

SPEAKER_04:

No, and when when when money's on the line and feelings and uh hate uh are all involved, it it can really, you know, throw throw a wrench in some things. Um, you know, a lot of times that my my clients are highly emotional. Uh maybe it's it's siblings who have who have who have who've lost a parent and they are getting super angry and upset about something when it's has nothing to do with what they're actually talking about. It's because of an argument 30 years ago that they never got over. Right. And they use this as fuel. These things, they count, they matter. Um, and it and it really does have an effect on on a lot of other people.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, it always breaks my heart. I've I've been in situations, and you and I have been in situations together where, you know, you're sitting across from a family, and you know, the mom or dad or both are like, oh, well, my children would never fight and never, you know, fight over this money. We have a really close relationship and you know, you know, they they would all work together, and then something happens and we bring the children to the table, and it's different than the parents probably expected a little bit when there's, you know, maybe a little more rivalry, or the parents are gone and you know, they weren't really aware of, or or just like you said, you know, emotions changed for whatever reason, or they thought they were entitled to something because they got a gift here and they, you know, like they helped you so much here for your whole life, and now, you know, just and fights can happen and they don't necessarily agree on them.

SPEAKER_04:

And all of the things that you're talking about right now can all they can all be addressed through your estate planning documents.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, if it's all in writing and it's black and white, then that's that's what governs, you know. That's it.

SPEAKER_04:

You know, and and it takes a lot of the the fuel out when there's really nothing they can do about it and it's it's it's it's laid out there the way you wanted it to be. Right. Um, because at the end of the day, you you are in control of this, you know. Um, so these are you know very, very important things that um it's it's it's it's easy to overlook and it's understandable when it happens, but you know, that doesn't change how unfortunate the results can be.

SPEAKER_02:

And I I wanted to mention you and I were talking earlier about that one client um regarding the home titling. I feel like that happens quite often. Yes. I I just want to talk about that because I think this applies to so many people.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes, yes. And I think I think I may mention this on a previous podcast with you too, but this happens um, this happens quite a bit. You uh you've got a you and your spouse own a home. Uh you've lived in it for 40 years, you you owned it uh jointly. The you know, the tax bill has both your names on it. Um all of your accounts are are also titled jointly. Um you think, okay, there's not going to be probate necessary at the death of, you know, with the death of the first spouse. And this just happened with me. Uh uh a client, uh her her husband passed away. Um, and everything was titled jointly. Um, most things defaulted to her uh and she wanted to downsize after her husband passed away and she um uh uh purchased the new house, thinking that the sale of the the old home, you know, is gonna, you know, give her the you know down payment for the new home. And then they ran into a snafu because the deed on the on the home that they purchased in like 1987, it didn't have the survivorship language that is commonly used when most married couples purchase homes. It usually has joint tenants with right of survivorship. That's what most of them passes to the survivor of one death. That's correct. At the death of the the first spouse, uh it will default to the surviving spouse. But if it doesn't have that survivorship language, it's treated as tenants in common, which means when the first spouse dies, their 50% is distributed via their own estate planning documents, not defaulting to um to the spouse, meaning it has to go through probate. And the probate process it can take a long time for no other reason that the courts got a lot going on, right? You know, um when you have a house sales and you've got and it creates a a lot of it created a lot of and it still is creating lots of financial stress, right?

SPEAKER_03:

Right.

SPEAKER_04:

Um when you think that things are just operating quickly, it's gonna happen, and then all of a sudden you got this giant bill to pay and you don't have the funds, you don't have the funds to to do it, you know?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Um so just because it's titled jointly, it may not be exactly that's correct.

SPEAKER_04:

Just because it's joint doesn't mean it's with survivorship provisions, right? Um and not every state's like this, but Georgia, um, you know, you'll have to have language in there that that that makes it clear that there's that that survivorship provision. So does do you know what the default I don't mean to put you on this, but do you know what the default is in Georgia now versus then or has it always been so yeah, unless there's that like if that language isn't there, if it just says two people and there's nothing else, the default is tenants in common. It's not uh survivorship.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Um certain other states will have, you know, if you if you put married couple or if you put something like that, the default would would be, but um not not here.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. So how could a client or someone check that?

SPEAKER_04:

So check your deed. And if you can't check your deed, um there, I mean, you can be a pretty creative internet sleuth, and I can almost promise you, if you really dig in, you'll you'll probably be able to find it. But if you want someone else to do it, you can there's certainly people that you can pay that will that will uh look that up for you and just confirm what it says. And it's a very, very simple change. Let's say that you know it did not have those survivorship provisions in there. You just do a new deed that says that has that survivorship provision.

SPEAKER_02:

As long as you're both still alive. Yes, yes, yes, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_04:

Exactly. And then you record the deed and uh that's it. You know, it can it can be done very quickly.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Um uh and you know I I've had this happen with several clients. They can't find their deed and they're very they get really overwhelmed and they get scared, and I try and tell them, listen, that deed's probably recorded in a in a in within the county. You don't actually more most of the time you don't actually need that original deed. It'll be okay. There are records that that that reflect it. Yeah. Um, and if you just if you if you just want to, you know, find your deed, you can I think that's a good thing to have. I think you should you should have at least in your email, you want to just pull it up in a pinch, I think it, I think it's it's a good idea to have. And it's all scanned in, you know, the Georgia has all of these, well, everything post like 1987. I was gonna say if it's old, maybe not, right? It's rarely uh nowadays it's it's it's rare where where I can't find a deed online. Most of the time I can pretty much find everything online.

SPEAKER_02:

And so if you just bought a house recently in the next last few years, is that part of your closing documents too? Uh yeah, it should be. I mean you should be right. You get a copy of what you're doing.

SPEAKER_04:

When you're signing that giant stack of paper, one of those things is a deed.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

And then and then your your real estate attorney will they'll they'll record.

SPEAKER_02:

Or make sure you want it to be joint tense by survivorship. Of course. That's what I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_04:

You don't have to do it this way. Just make sure you you know what it is and what you want. You know, maybe it's a second marriage and you don't want it to default to the uh the surviving spouse. You know, maybe you do want it to go, you know, equally to your spouse and your kids or whatever whatever your your your plan is, right? Absolutely. Um, um, it you know, it really just all depends.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So really in in summary, we are, you know, making sure that we look at first of all, we know what we want in our estate plan to flow.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02:

And then, and and I always like to say, you know, start with the end in mind. How do you want it to go? And then go backwards from there. Cause it's like, okay, how do you want it to go? Well, then what assets go there? And then how should we title them or how should our documents read to be able to make it go there? Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04:

You know, yes, exactly. I think that's uh knowing what you have, how it's titled, are there designations on those? Those, those, those are are are um, you know, very important things to do.

SPEAKER_02:

And then what do the documents say to do with them and what documents tie to that asset too? Yes, right.

SPEAKER_04:

Does it pass through your will or does it pass via transfer on death? Does it pass via, you know, an inherited IRA through a retirement account, uh, your your life insurance, anything with a death benefit, you know, um, you want to make sure that you know what it says.

SPEAKER_02:

No, that's that's such good information. We we appreciate you going over that with us in this case study. And um, you know, we came in at the end, unfortunately. And so there wasn't, you know, once something is when you come in at the end, you can't make changes.

SPEAKER_04:

It breaks my heart sometimes when I when I when I see this. Um, and again, the there are people in place that will help guide you through these situations and try and try and make things as as good as you can, right? Right. Um, and hopefully, you know, in the future, you know, hey, don't do this, you know. Oh, so many times I have clients telling me I went through this with my parents, or I don't want to do this because I because that happened with them, right?

SPEAKER_02:

I feel like I feel I feel like more and more and more people are dealing it with their parents and they're going, okay, what do I need to do now to make sure I don't do this to my kids? You know, not that their parents purposely did it. But it's like, I feel like, you know, the clients that we're seeing so many, it's like, okay, I don't want to do it this way. I don't want to go through what I went through, like my parents, you know, even though they, you know, they tried to leave it good. It's not like they were trying to, you know, but it's like, how can I avoid this? And so it's almost by going through it themselves, unfortunately, with family members, then they can kind of see how it is. Um, I think that almost gives them a preview, which is is somewhat helpful.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes. Oh, no, of course. And it on the opposite side of that, I will have clients that really appreciate what their parents did by having everything so clean and organized and nice. And, you know, I'll tell them, listen, this wasn't just a little thing that, you know, your mom and dad did. They thought long and hard about this and they made this as seamless and easy on you so you didn't have to worry and stress. You know, and and um, you know, every time parents are emotional or they're stressing out about these things, they're doing it for their kids. And and, you know, it their hard work and and those tears, they they are appreciated. Sometimes it takes a while for it to be appreciated, but but it is.

SPEAKER_02:

Sure, especially when you're grieving the loss of people, and then it's like you're going through and and doing the paperwork and all of that. It's just the you know, if it can be in order as you intended, it just makes it easier for the family too.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

So I think most people want to do that. It's really, you know, where we see a lot of these get caught is where maybe, you know, something happened that wasn't planned, which is how life happens, right? It's like an accident or like, you know, something happened, you know, that it wasn't imminent, your death wasn't imminent. And so that's why it's important to make sure that everything's updated, ongoing.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Because a lot of time, you know, something may happen and you just want to be prepared if the unthinkable happens. Exactly. You know, yes. Well, this is great. I appreciate you always coming and helping and working with our clients. Um, we have a couple other episodes referenced in the show notes. Episode 295, What Happens If You Die Without a Will, The Legal Nightmare. Uh, episode 279, What Parents What Should Parents of Children with Disabilities Know About Estate Planning? Episode 233, How Second Marriages and Blended Families Impact Estate Planning. We also have some educational videos in there preventing family. conflict with legacy planning and does inheritance count as income, which are helpful. And then of course we have Arun Gupta's um link there if you want to reach out to him to talk about your estate planning needs. You can always, you know, reach out to one of us two here to talk and do a consultation if you just want to do a review. But thanks for listening to today's episode. If you're interested in learning more about wiser wealth management or like I said want to schedule a consultation, please go to wiserinvestor.com or click on the link in the episode notes. We will see you next week.

SPEAKER_04:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks for listening to a Wiser Retirement podcast. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Make sure to subscribe wherever you're listening. That way you don't miss any new episodes. We'd also appreciate if you could leave a rating and review. If you have any questions about anything that was discussed today, head to wiserinvestor.com and reach out. This podcast is strictly for informational purposes only and is not to be considered as investment advice or solicitation to buy or sell any financial products, securities, digital assets, or any other investment vehicles or a basis to make any financial decisions. Wiser Wealth Management Incorporated is a registered investor advisor with the SEC. The host and or guest may personally own securities, digital assets, or other investment vehicles mentioned on this podcast. Neither the host nor guests of the show are compensated for their participation and no referral fees are paid to or received by any host or guest for clients, listeners or similar interests. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor, tax professional, insurance professional, andor legal professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.