Peak Performance: Tips You Can Use
Volume 5,  Issue 11 
November 2013
  
  Contact Us:

  303-980-4000

 

  Like us on Facebook   Find us on Google+   Visit our blog   View our videos on YouTube

 
Features & Events 

Visit our NEW blog:

 

Lorraine's Corner

 

 

 

 

Quick Links

Newsletter Archive

 

More On Us

 

 Dealing with Life's Certainties - Part 2 - Death

Even if you're stout-hearted and made it through last month's newsletter on taxes, this month's title should really make you cringe!  Unfortunately, death is the one reality that none of us will escape. Furthermore, you won't be around to pick up the pieces if you overlook some of the important steps - somebody else will have to deal with the fallout.

 

We all make significant efforts to deny our own mortality, sometimes to the point of leaving our practices and our heirs with no guidance, creating a puzzle with missing pieces they must solve in order for them to carry on.  Unknowingly, we foster a lot of the angst that families endure when a loved one dies.  Keep in mind that whatever we do in the way of death planning is not for ourselves, but to ease the transfer of what we value most. 

 

Of course, having a current and well-written will is paramount.  We're assuming you have gotten that far in the planning process, even though we know some of you have not. For example, a surprising number of parents don't draw up wills because they can't agree on who should raise their children if both die prematurely. They are truly burying their heads in the sand if they believe a court can make better decisions about their children than they can. Your state has laws on the books to deal with people who die without a will, and those rules are not likely to generate the outcome you want. 

 

In addition to a will, there are other issues to address that can save time, money and uncertainty if you only let your wishes be known in advance.  Consider these scenarios:

 

  • If you own a veterinary practice, what's your exit strategy and your plan for continuity of operations?  If you have co-owners, you likely have a buy/sell agreement that spells out who can/must buy your ownership interest.  Is the agreement current and relevant?  If you're a sole practitioner, who will open the doors and see your patients the day after you die?  Unless your spouse is also a veterinarian with time to spare, someone needs to take the practice reins, starting immediately.  Do you have a reciprocal agreement with another sole practitioner so each will cover for the other temporarily until the practice can be sold?   

  • Great Aunt Edith left you her favorite chest of drawers that she got as a wedding present in the 1930's.  You intend for it to stay in the family.  However, your children never met Edith and don't remember the dresser from when they were growing up.  (Of course not-you had it safely stored where little hands couldn't abuse it.)  What's more, your children's taste in furniture is very contemporary and the dresser is very ornate.  Who should have it?    

  • Without you to guide them, your children believe you would want a burial plot and a large funeral.  In fact, you believe that cremation is a nice, tidy resolution, and a simple memorial service would be an appropriate send-off.  Or perhaps you already bought that perfect burial spot in a quaint cemetery you found years ago, but didn't mention it to the kids to avoid upsetting them at the time.  Besides, if they dig deep enough in your paperwork, they'll find mention of the plot anyway, right?  (Will that be before or after they've buried you in the local cemetery?)     

  • You have two children, but six grandchildren.  Your son has two kids and your daughter has four.  Do you want to divide your inheritance so that your son and your daughter get half each, or do you want your daughter to get a larger share so that each of your grandchildren will be more likely to receive an equal share in the future?  (Or will there be anything left for your grandkids after your kids have the money for a while?)  You should explain your reasoning now while you can.    

  • Both your children would like to have the dining room set where they enjoyed so many fun holiday meals as children.  Do you want them to draw straws after you die, or have each take turns picking one item until everything has been distributed?  Who pays the shipping if one or both of your children lives in a different state?  The child or your estate?  

The list could go on and on.  But the theme to avoid these pitfalls is to communicate your wishes in advance.  Don't leave your heirs wondering what you would have wanted.  Discuss your wishes in advance so your heirs won't have the added burden of making critical decisions while grieving at your passing. You also don't want to be rolling over in your grave when your kids leave a valuable painting at the curb on trash day, totally unaware of its value, simply because neither one likes or understands the art. 

 

If you inherit a trunk full of mementos, you better hope that each was labeled by the deceased, telling you where it came from, approximately when it was received, any history behind it, and who he or she thought should end up with it, if they had an opinion.  Don't put a note on something that says "Mother made this" with no other explanation, because your children might recognize the handwriting, but would your grandchildren know which mother is being referenced?  And if you prepare these notes on a computer, they have no handwriting as a clue.

 

The good news is that this list of your property and each item's disposition, along with notes on the individual items, can be maintained separately from your will.  That means you can take your own inventory of your property, make suggestions on each one's ultimate disposition and do so at your leisure.  Just do it.  Sign and date it, and put the list where you keep a copy of your will. Remember that your spouse or heirs may not be able to access your safe deposit box right away, so keep a copy at home.  Let your heirs know if you have a prepaid burial plan or plot, as well as your wishes for the funeral or memorial service itself.  Your heirs will thank you for helping them through a difficult period by communicating your wishes up front and in writing.

 

We don't want to cast a pall over your Thanksgiving holiday, but if your family will be together then, that might be an appropriate time to bring up the subject.  (After a traditional turkey dinner, you have a captive audience - everyone is too full to move!)  It doesn't have to be a morbid, all-encompassing discussion.  Perhaps an old family serving piece used on holidays would make a good conversation starter. 

 

If you're part of the oldest generation at the table, think about it.  What steps have you taken and what would you like your heirs to know?  And if you're a likely recipient of a relative's treasure, what would you like to know while you can still ask questions?