Does this sound familiar?
A loved one passes away, and you feel a whirlwind of grief and confusion. While dealing with the emotional toll of loss, you also face the burden of managing the intricacies of the deceased’s affairs.
- Where is their will?
- Who was their lawyer, advisor, or accountant?
- What is the password to their computer?
- Where did they want to be buried?
- What did they intend to happen with the inheritance?
We all carry a paper trail that would be difficult for someone else to organize, but many individuals admit to delaying the important work of providing information and communicating their intentions to their heirs. The Williams Group (a legacy planning organization) studied 3,250 instances of generational wealth transfer over a 25-year span and found that 70% of those transitions failed due to an involuntary loss of control of assets. Only 3% of failures occurred due to poor legal or financial advice. The other 97% of failed wealth transfers followed a breakdown of family communication and trust, inadequately prepared heirs, or a lack of family mission.
What is a Family Love Letter?
The Family Love Letter is a planning tool that bridges the gaps in understanding from one generation to the next. Combining the aggregation of your paper trail with an invaluable dialogue about legacy, the Family Love Letter reduces confusion, stress, and conflict for your loved ones in a time of grief. Our program yields two valuable results:
- A physical neatly-bound notebook organizing your personal and financial paper trail.
- The peace of mind that your family is on the same page, everyone’s voice is heard, and each heir’s role is understood.
We all know family dialogue can be difficult, demanding, and contentious at times. Our Family Love Letter planning session can help navigate your family through the wealth transfer process and ensure that your house is in order well before it needs to be.
