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Financial Planning > Trusts and Estates

From Pets to Polyamory, 12 Unique Estate Planning Questions

Emily Holbrook By Emily Holbrook

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As we talk more about the Great Wealth Transfer, financial advisors and estate planners may think their past experience in drafting wills, trusts and estate plans has prepared them for the influx of client questions. But a lot has changed in just the past decade, and not just in the area of tax law.

The traditional nuclear family should no longer be the assumption when it comes to estate planning. Today’s advisor should be well-versed in how to prepare estate plans for modern families, which can come in many forms. From complex family structures to digital assets, this is not your father’s estate planning world.

Can a client leave assets to a pet? What is a personal revival trust and how is it related to cryonics? How will intellectual property be passed down to heirs? Estate planners and financial advisors today need to prepare for questions like these, in addition to traditional inheritance issues.

Are you advising your clients appropriately when it comes to estate planning for modern families and distinctive situations?

In the gallery are 12 unique estate planning questions that every advisor should be prepared to answer, taken from Tools & Techniques of Estate Planning for Modern Families, 3rd Edition.

(Graphics: Chris Nicholls/ALM)

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