I’ve seen many clients make great choices for lawyers and financial advisors to administer their estate and their finances.  But in some of those cases, their lawyers and financial advisors might not outlive them.

It’s a planning risk to be taken seriously.

In some cases, many clients rely heavily on attorneys, accountants and financial advisors for their financial life.  These people may know everything about their situation.  There’s an entire story with context.  Notably, there’s often a methodology, a way of thinking, and a way of handling particular items.

But if the advisor passes before the client, who will step in to fill the void?

Here are 3 simple ways to address this situation:

1. Have the team meet each other. Make sure that your advisory team has met each other—the lawyer, the accountant, the financial advisor.  Make sure that each member of the team knows their role, what each is working on and create redundancies where possible.
2. Who are the successors? Ask your advisors who their successors are.  If they have a successor, make sure that you’ve met those successors.  If there is no successor, ask what the plan of succession will be.  If there’s not a plan, consider looking for alternatives yourself.
3. Have heirs meet the team. Make sure that your spouse and heirs have met the advisory team.  Their familiarity with this team will help them make decisions as the need arises.  Preparation helps them address the potential loss of an advisory team member.

Bill High

Bill is CEO & Founder of Vyne Legacy. He works with families to equip them with tools to build multigenerational legacies, and he teaches givers and financial advisers on transformational biblical generosity. He is the co-author with David Green of Giving It All Away and Getting It All Back Again: The Way of Living Generously.

Published February 23, 2017

Topics: Estate Planning

AdvisorsEstate PlanningHeirs