Our Plan For You
Discovery: An Introduction to Uncovering Opportunities and Needs
Your Discovery meeting is where you and Tallgrass Estate Planning first get to know each other. During this meeting, we will talk about three important parts of your life and how they come together to create a unique picture of your needs. Those three parts of your life are your People, Assets, and Priorities.
People
As we discuss your People, we will identify the family members or others who rely on you financially. We will explore their relationship to you and their individual situations, including marital status, children, special needs, financial liabilities, and any behavioral or substance issues. These questions are not intrusive, and we make no judgments. Your honest responses enable us to best assist you in supporting them while protecting your assets.
Assets
Discussing your Assets - what you have, how you have it, and approximate values - lets us know whether we need to include planning for income and estate tax efficiency and what kinds of exposure your assets have to your own potential liabilities or the liabilities of your intended beneficiaries. It also helps us to determine how best to transfer different assets upon your passing to ensure your goals are accomplished.
Priorities
And perhaps most importantly, taking the time to identify and clarify your Priorities—your goals, values, and beliefs—is absolutely crucial in crafting a strategy that is genuinely custom-made for you and tailored to your unique circumstances and desires. This careful introspection not only helps in shaping your approach, but also ensures that you remain aligned with what truly matters to you in the long run.
Design: A Plan That Protects Your Future and Your Loved Ones
The Design meeting is a key step in developing your estate plan, where important decisions are made about the people who will carry out your wishes and the roles they will play. You'll explore how your plan will work during your life, in case of incapacity, and after your death. Together, we’ll review strategies for protecting loved ones, distributing assets, and addressing advanced planning needs like charitable giving or special needs care
Who
During your Design meeting, we will make the critical decisions necessary to draft the legal documents that contain your estate plan.
Depending on the type of estate planning strategy you have chosen, we will identify trustees, executors, financial agents, medical proxies, and guardians for minor children or incapacitated adults. But more than simply creating a list of names, we will discuss the kinds of authorities these people are granted, as well as how and when they will function.
How
We will discuss how your estate plan works while you are healthy, during incapacity, and after your death. We will cover strategies to protect your spouse, partner, or significant other, as well as when assets will be available to your children or beneficiaries.
Additionally, we will consider charitable giving, asset protection for long-term care, eligibility for government benefits like Medicaid or VA Aid & Attendance, special needs planning, and other advanced options. Our design conversation will be thorough, and we will ensure you are prepared by thoughtfully addressing these topics beforehand.
Next Steps
Following our productive design meeting, we will take the necessary steps to draft comprehensive documents for your review. We will ensure these documents reflect our discussions and outline the proposed project details clearly. After we finalize this drafting process, we will also schedule your Delivery meeting, which will take place a few weeks later, allowing ample time for you to review everything thoroughly and provide any feedback you may have.
Delivery: A Plan That Grows With You
At your Delivery meeting, we’ll finalize and execute your estate plan, including any necessary funding documents to ensure your assets are properly aligned with your trusts or business entities. But our work doesn’t stop there. We remain available to answer questions, assist with plan administration, and help coordinate family meetings to ensure your loved ones understand the plan and their roles. As laws or life circumstances change, we’ll be in touch to help you keep your plan current.
Transfer
At Delivery, we will execute your estate plan, along with any funding documentation necessary to transfer your assets to your trusts or business entities. This could include deeds for real estate, beneficiary forms for insurance policies and retirement plans, transfers of ownership for bank accounts and brokerage, or transfer shares or assignment of interests in businesses.
Questions
Following Delivery, our relationship isn't "over." Though we might have finalized your documentation, we remain available to answer your questions or assist you in administering your plan. Many clients find it useful to plan a family meeting to discuss the particulars of your estate plan so that everyone is prepared during a crisis and knows what to expect. We can tailor the next steps to you and your situation.
Updates
From time to time we will be in contact about updates in the law that may affect your plan, and we will reach out to ask whether your circumstances or relationships have changed in ways that require your plan to be amended or restated.
We want your estate plan to work. For that to happen, we need to remain in touch. It's our goal to be a resource to you and your family for a lifetime.
Get in touch with Tallgrass Estate Planning.
We are here to address your concerns, answer your questions, and help you create an effective plan that will bring you peace of mind.
