"I Want to Leave My Assets to My Kids"

Planners Title (planner's focus):
Efficient transfer of wealth to the next generation.

Personal Title (client focus):
I don't want the government to get all my money.

Case background:
The client is a typical senior citizen who has faced many threats against her assets through nursing home and taxes. She is a typical widow who has several hundred thousand dollars in assets and free and clear title to her home. She is mainly interested in being able to pass these assets on to her family and not to a nursing home or the government.

What happened in the meeting:
I advised the client that I would like one of her children to attend the meeting with her. I often do this as it seems to enhance my effectiveness in transferring information to the client. Of course, I always clear this with the client before inviting other family members. Our first item on our agenda that day involved a Bernie Book. We needed to review her expenses to be sure she had sufficient income to meet her living expenses. As it turned out, we soon saw that my client would not need to touch any of her existing capital, as her pension and Social Security income were sufficient to support her for the rest of her life.

How did it turn out?:
The client was extremely happy to find she would be able to live the rest of her life simply from her income. She was also very happy to begin planning as to how she would transfer her wealth to the next generation.

Notes to myself on the meeting:
I will prepare for the next meeting by scheduling to meet with an elder care attorney that I work with locally. I will also prepare some possible hypothetical investment arrangements which she can use to transfer her wealth to her family.