The Benefits of a VEPS
Millions of Estate Plans are a disaster waiting to happen.
They're out of date and may contain issues that will cause future chaos for your loved ones. It's not a secret that clients' lives change — anything from relationships to health and wealth is conditional. Unfortunately, these changes often leave plans unfunded and ineffectual.
Don't let out-of-date plans cost your client's estate tens of thousands of dollars (in addition to a monumental amount of work, unnecessary strain on relationships, and a tarnished legacy). If you're not reviewing your client's Estate Plan, no one is. Yes, we know reviewing Estate Plans can be a time-consuming hassle, but that’s where we come in!
Our team has been offering Estate Plan Summaries for years, doing the hard work of taking an existing Estate Plan apart and pulling out all the relevant information professionals should help their clients re-consider. Take a look at our new Visual Estate Plan Summary! No more boring Word documents here — this is a white-labeled, one-page visual of what their current Estate Plan states. Suggest they give copies to those fulfilling the roles within their Estate Plan for lead generation. There is also a second page that offers up notes and questions to raise with your client to confirm things are up to date. This can include questions about beneficiaries, trustees, executors, guardians, trust funding, and a number of other things.
What Your Clients Receive
Page One - Plan Visual
Page Two - Plan Summary
The following page will have a list of follow up questions to confirm the decisions are still what the client wants. For the above plan, here is a sampling of those questions:
Type of Trust – AB Trust. Is an AB Trust necessary given the current estate and income tax laws? Consider a Disclaimer Trust (optional split of assets at the first death). Advantage of AB Trust include the deceased spouse's assets being frozen from beneficiary changes. The Surviving Spouse can still have access as needed.
Disadvantages of AB Trust include:
No step up in basis in B Trust assets at 2nd death;
Have to file a second tax return after first spouse dies (accountant fees and must keep two sets of books);
Attorney fees for administration at first death;
Lose capital gain exclusion on sale of principal residence if in B Trust;
Trustees – Are they the same as before? Consider having the same people as Trustee, Executor, and Financial POA so the same people are pulling on the same rope in the same direction.
Beneficiaries – Still $1M to American Red Cross? Still equal shares to the kids after that? Are there other charitable desires now?
Method of Distribution – Still the same? Do the kids need the same restrictions? There are payments for health care, education, maintenance and support at all ages.
Advance Health Care Directive agents – Are the agents the same as before?
The trust's conduit language is missing. If the trust is named as a beneficiary of qualified funds, this could accelerate the tax implications.
Beneficiary Designations – Are they in line with the estate plan? If charitable desires exist, are we leaving the right assets (qualified funds) to charities?
Are assets titled properly in the trust?
VEPS Pricing
Our Visual Estate Plan Summary is available for all Revocable Trust-Based and Will-Based Estate Plans that we prepare at Encore for $50. Alternatively, if you upload an existing Estate Plan (not created by Encore), you will receive a Visual Estate Plan Summary in 10 business days for $150.
Recap
The Estate Plan Summary is an efficient way to uncover substantial issues they are likely unaware of. We typically find that 30% of the reviewed Estate Plans need to be updated. Deliver value to your clients and prospects in an easy-to-understand, one-page Visual Estate Plan Summary. We recommend this be the cover page on the Estate Plan they provided. Protip: Print this on your letterhead.