It is the initial consultation: A daughter and a son come in. Dad passed away nine years ago, and their mom just recently passed.

They brought in the binder with the estate planning documents. There was a will for mom and dad. (Dad’s original will had not been filed at the courthouse). The revocable trust was 20 years old. They brought in the deed for the house, showing that mom and dad owned the real estate as joint tenants.

They also brought in what financial statements they could find. None of the current financial assets had been owned by the mom or dad when the trust was drafted. None of the assets were titled in the trust.

And, as you might’ve suspected by now, there were no beneficiary designations, except for one small individual retirement account which named the oldest son as the beneficiary.

This is a familiar story in our firm. But this is not the way things should be.

Why Your Client’s Estate Plans May Fail

In our firm, we explain that if we are going to do the estate planning work for the client, then, after the estate planning documents are signed (for which there is a separate fee agreement), we will transition into the “Implementation and Funding Phase” (for which there is also a separate hourly fee agreement).

I explain to our clients that we can devise the quintessential estate plan, and we can draft state-of-the-art estate planning documents. However, unless the asset transfers and beneficiary designations are properly attended to, the plan will not work.

We Guide Our Client Through Implementation

I know from experience that giving the clients instructions and a set of forms to fill out to give to their financial institutions and financial advisor does not work. The clients don’t understand the forms, they get busy with other aspects of their lives, the bank or financial advisor fills out the form incorrectly, etc. After the client has passed away, it is too late.

Therefore, we use what we call our Asset Spreadsheet (saved on WisBar.org).

After the estate planning documents are signed, witnessed and notarized, we then meet with our clients to start the Implementation and Funding process, a process which starts with retitling real estate, if necessary, and then obtaining copies of financial statements which show us what type of asset it is (cash and cash equivalent, retirement asset, nonqualified asset, annuity, life insurance, etc.), what the value of the asset is, how the asset is owned (husband, wife, joint, marital property), and what the beneficiary designation, states, if anything.

At that first implementation and funding meeting, we review each asset and determine whether ownership change or retitling is appropriate. We also evaluate each asset that contains a beneficiary designation to determine any necessary changes.

Responsibilities for implementing any necessary changes are assigned and a return appointment is scheduled in order to set a deadline for obtaining appropriate forms, getting the forms filled out and signed, submitting the forms to the bank or financial institution, and receiving written confirmation from the bank or financial institution that the desired change has been accomplished.

We Are Relentless … and Picky

Often it takes more than one follow-up meeting to get confirmation from all of the financial institutions. Recently, it took many months and four sets of forms before a large national financial institution got the beneficiary changes correct on a $1.7 million IRA.

We are picky and relentless, because if the plan fails, it will come back on us, not on the bank, not on the financial advisor, not on the CPA – it will come back on the attorney.

Clients appreciate our thoroughness, and they come back to ask us about the titling of other assets, if they are making changes.

This article was originally published on the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Elder Law and Special Needs Blog. Visit the State Bar sections or the Elder Law and Special Needs Section webpages to learn more about the benefits of section membership.