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Dave and the MPS Success Team
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
BEWARE OF BIFF AND BAMBI
Joan and Bob recently met with a MPS attorney to determine what they need to consider in creating an estate plan. Bob and Joan were in their mid 60s and had been married for 39 years. They had three children and managed to accumulate about a half a million dollars in assets over their life time. They are living comfortably on their Social Security and pension, and only access the income off of their assets when they want to splurge.
In order to help Joan and Bob determine the best plan, the MPS attorney took them through a series of 15 questions, and also reviewed their current estate plan to identify which of the 15 estate planning issues their current plan accomplished. As the MPS attorney identified multiple issues not currently provided for in their plan, he/she dug deeper to determine if the individual issues were significant to Bob and Joan. The MPS attorney asked whether they were concerned about their spouse remarrying after their death. Both responded with a laugh, and said not the least bit concerned and were confident that even if they did remarry, they would never hurt the children. Bob and Joan were confident they wanted to ensure that what they had worked for their entire life ultimately got to their children.
The MPS attorney explained that while they currently did not have these concerns, in his experience, the emotional trauma one goes through with the loss of a loved one, often triggers reactions one cannot anticipate. He encouraged them to consider implementing protecting against remarriage into their plan so a new spouse could not usurp the benefits of their lifetime of efforts from the children. The MPS attorney jokingly referred to this risk as Biff and Bambi. He further explained, he wanted to help them ensure the money did not end up with Biff, the pool boy, or Bambi, the bar maid. Again, they laughed and assured him this was not a concern of theirs, and indicated that it was not a priority and they did not include it in their planning.
About nine months later, Joan was diagnosed with a serious cancer, and died three months after diagnosis. Bob came into the office distraught, and the MPS attorney assisted him with conveying all of Joan’s assets to his name. About six months later, Bob returned giddy and happy with a young blonde woman, 20 years his junior. He instructed the MPS attorney he wanted to change his estate plan to ensure if anything had happened to him, his new friend “would be provided for”.
The MPS attorney reminded Bob of the goals and objectives he had set with his original wife, and Bob replied not to be concerned as he was very confident about what he was doing. The MPS attorney in good conscious told Bob he could not assist him in this matter, and required he seek other counsel. Bob was disappointed, but immediately got up and left, and sought other counsel to accomplish his objectives.
Each one of us knows a story of someone close to us, or a family friend, who lost their spouse while they were in their early retirement years. We’ve also heard the story of when new found love creeps in and changes the perspective of the surviving spouse. This is a tragedy that does not have to happen. With proper planning, the surviving spouse can get all the benefits of the estate without the risk of losing it to Biff or Bambi, with very little additional effort.
If your clients are concerned about Biff or Bambi, join MPS on December 14th for a ONE hour webinar and learn how to confidently deliver what clients and referral sources don’t blink at writing checks for. Find out what clients are looking for in their estate plan, NOW, what they are willing to pay and how to attract these clients.
This webinar will be hosted by Dave Zumpano, Founder of MPS and practicing attorney, Just Like You! Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/968634353
In order to help Joan and Bob determine the best plan, the MPS attorney took them through a series of 15 questions, and also reviewed their current estate plan to identify which of the 15 estate planning issues their current plan accomplished. As the MPS attorney identified multiple issues not currently provided for in their plan, he/she dug deeper to determine if the individual issues were significant to Bob and Joan. The MPS attorney asked whether they were concerned about their spouse remarrying after their death. Both responded with a laugh, and said not the least bit concerned and were confident that even if they did remarry, they would never hurt the children. Bob and Joan were confident they wanted to ensure that what they had worked for their entire life ultimately got to their children.
The MPS attorney explained that while they currently did not have these concerns, in his experience, the emotional trauma one goes through with the loss of a loved one, often triggers reactions one cannot anticipate. He encouraged them to consider implementing protecting against remarriage into their plan so a new spouse could not usurp the benefits of their lifetime of efforts from the children. The MPS attorney jokingly referred to this risk as Biff and Bambi. He further explained, he wanted to help them ensure the money did not end up with Biff, the pool boy, or Bambi, the bar maid. Again, they laughed and assured him this was not a concern of theirs, and indicated that it was not a priority and they did not include it in their planning.
About nine months later, Joan was diagnosed with a serious cancer, and died three months after diagnosis. Bob came into the office distraught, and the MPS attorney assisted him with conveying all of Joan’s assets to his name. About six months later, Bob returned giddy and happy with a young blonde woman, 20 years his junior. He instructed the MPS attorney he wanted to change his estate plan to ensure if anything had happened to him, his new friend “would be provided for”.
The MPS attorney reminded Bob of the goals and objectives he had set with his original wife, and Bob replied not to be concerned as he was very confident about what he was doing. The MPS attorney in good conscious told Bob he could not assist him in this matter, and required he seek other counsel. Bob was disappointed, but immediately got up and left, and sought other counsel to accomplish his objectives.
Each one of us knows a story of someone close to us, or a family friend, who lost their spouse while they were in their early retirement years. We’ve also heard the story of when new found love creeps in and changes the perspective of the surviving spouse. This is a tragedy that does not have to happen. With proper planning, the surviving spouse can get all the benefits of the estate without the risk of losing it to Biff or Bambi, with very little additional effort.
If your clients are concerned about Biff or Bambi, join MPS on December 14th for a ONE hour webinar and learn how to confidently deliver what clients and referral sources don’t blink at writing checks for. Find out what clients are looking for in their estate plan, NOW, what they are willing to pay and how to attract these clients.
This webinar will be hosted by Dave Zumpano, Founder of MPS and practicing attorney, Just Like You! Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/968634353
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