Financial Advisers and Attorneys Work Together in Post-Mortem Planning

Good post-mortem planning can make up for bad pre-death planning and can improve decent pre-death planning. The most important post-death action is to assess an estate thoroughly after death before taking any action. One of the most common mistakes includes moving assets too quickly after death – transfer on death designations are one of the most damaging moves that post-mortem planners can make.

Post-mortem planning can be broken up into estate tax issues and income tax issues. These issues can best be tackled by collaborative efforts between financial advisers and attorneys. Financial planners can help with asset allocation and tax issues, while attorneys can interpret the estate planning documents more accurately and be sure that action is taken in accordance with the decedent’s wishes. Financial planners are interested in caring for the whole family while lawyers represent the client’s interests more accurately, so it is important that the two work together instead of separately.

See Shelley A. Lee, The Life to Plan for After a Death, Journal of Financial Planning.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this article to my attention.