Estate Plan Organization: How Your Wealth Advisor and Attorney Can Work Together

Estate planning is a critical part of a comprehensive wealth management plan. An estate plan helps ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes after you pass while helping to avoid excess costs, taxes, or complications for your heirs. Designing and implementing a suitable plan can be complex, requiring the expertise of not only an estate planning attorney but also a wealth advisor. The collaboration between a lawyer and a wealth advisor can help provide clients with a coordinated and aligned plan that covers both financial and legal implications. Whether you’ve established an estate plan or are updating an existing one, we’ll walk you through what to expect, the necessary documents, and how your wealth advisor and attorney can work together to provide a plan that benefits you and your heirs.

What Is the Role of an Attorney in Estate Planning?

When engaging professionals to design, implement, and review your estate plan, it’s critical to define each person’s role to ensure a smooth and productive process. An attorney will help draft a strategy and implement an estate plan, addressing tax liabilities, probate risks, and other legal considerations. Partnering with a lawyer is essential to help ensure you’re compliant with current laws, making the plan legally binding, and structured to protect your assets and your heirs’ interests.

What Is the Role of a Wealth Advisor in Estate Planning?

In estate planning, a wealth advisor can help ensure your plan aligns with your overall financial picture. Wealth advisors have a deep understanding of your financial situation, making their perspective essential in identifying gaps and ensuring the plan reflects your preferences and objectives.

How Can a Wealth Advisor Help Me Prepare for an Estate Planning Meeting?

Before meeting with an estate planning attorney, a wealth advisor can help you gather the necessary documents and prepare for what to expect. Here are a few key ways a wealth advisor can assist:

• Gathering Required Documents: Your wealth advisor has a detailed financial plan, including your brokerage accounts, bank statements, investments, retirement assets, and more. With your permission, they can provide all necessary financial documents to your attorney so that a professional can better understand your estate needs and draft a suitable plan.
• Updating Beneficiary and Power of Attorney Designations: Considering who will inherit your assets or be responsible for managing your affairs in the event of your incapacity is a critical part of estate planning. A wealth advisor can help you review and update your beneficiaries across your accounts, as well as help determine suitable power of attorney options. This information is vital to assist an attorney draft documents like your will, powers of attorney, and trusts.
• Preparing for Key Questions: A wealth advisor can walk you through common questions an attorney will ask during your meeting so you have time to think through important decisions beforehand, such as:
  • Who are your heirs, and what portion of your estate will they inherit?
  • What childcare details, such as minor guardianship and funding college, need to be included in your plan?
  • How will your assets be distributed — will they pass through a trust or use another way?

How Can an Estate Planning Attorney and Wealth Advisor Work Together?

Productive collaboration between your estate planning attorney and wealth advisor is key to creating a comprehensive, effective plan. Here is how they can work together to achieve optimal estate planning outcomes.

• • Early Planning: Engaging both professionals early in the planning process helps avoid inconsistencies and ensures the strategies recommended by each professional can be implemented.
  • Streamlined Coordination: Working together helps centralize communications and documents so both professionals have the information they need to perform their duties and avoid delays or conflicts for a more seamless client experience.
  • Client Education: Each professional’s specialty provides understanding and context to the client and each other. For example, an attorney can guide clients on changing laws and probate. At the same time, a wealth advisor can help clients understand their plan’s financial implications, such as tax considerations or managing a trust.
  • Administrative Support: Administrative tasks, such as funding a trust, retitling assets, or updating beneficiary information, may be overlooked by clients but are critical in estate planning. A wealth advisor can help an attorney confirm the client has completed these tasks so the plan functions as intended and avoids unnecessary delays, costs, or challenges for your heirs. 
  • Ongoing Monitoring and Updating: While an attorney and wealth advisor don’t need to be involved in every estate planning meeting, it is important to regularly review and update your plan as your priorities and life change. For example, plans may change if you no longer have minor children at home, plan to fund college, or remarry. An attorney and wealth advisor can work together to ensure changes reflect your goals, align with current laws, and are legally binding. 
  • Next Generation Planning: The process typically includes relationship building not only with clients but with their heirs. In collaboration, an attorney and wealth advisor can oversee a smooth transfer of wealth and provide ongoing guidance to heirs and their families for managing inheritances or navigating their future needs.

Estate Planning and How Monarch Can Help

A well-crafted estate plan helps protect your assets and your heirs from unnecessary legal or financial challenges. At Monarch, we have worked closely with our clients’ attorneys to draft plans that consider challenges unique to high-net-worth individuals and families, business owners, philanthropy-minded and tax-concerned individuals, and more. No matter your goals, we can partner with your lawyer to ensure every detail is covered and your heirs are cared for. If you have any questions or are ready to get started, we are here to help. Contact our team.