January - come and gone

When you made your list of New Year's Resolutions, did you write down "Review Will and insurance policies"?

Many breadwinners choose January as a good time to do this. Others pick the month of their birthday; still others pick the month of their "insurance birthday". If you deal with a life insurance company that bases age on the "nearest (actually, "nearer") birthday, then you'll make your review on the other end of the calendar. For example, if your birthday is in August, you'll review your insurance in February so that, if you buy additional life insurance, you can purchase it at the lower age, when rates are lower.

Yesterday's guardianship program at MCC (see http://www.specialkids-specialparents.info/) got me thinking about the importance of an annual review. I had already done mine, but I wondered about those in the room, including one woman who was very interested in Special Needs Trust planning, but who said that her husband and parents weren't.

Every year, and in-between if a major life event occurs, it's smart to get out your Will and all your insurance policies. Often, it will be worthwhile to have someone look over your shoulder while you are trying to make sense of these documents.

One of the things I enjoy doing is serving as a person's limited "personal coach." One woman yesterday asked me what that meant. To me it means, "helping you get what you want." My own coaching services are different from those who market themselves as Personal Coach or Life Coach.

I don't wish to form a lifetime working relationship over a project. One of my talents (admittedly, not always appreciated by some people) is finding what's broken, what doesn't work, what needs to be fixed. And it's better to find it while it can be fixed. It's too late after someone becomes mentally disabled or dies.

Several years ago I offered help to an elderly couple, and they didn't accept it. They said, "Everything is fine. Our lawyer has taken care of everything." After they died, the heirs learned that the Bank Trustee appointed in their Will had not had a Trust Department for 15 years! So you tell me; had their lawyer taken care of everything?

I'm not a lawyer; I couldn't have fixed that. But I certainly could have picked up their telephone and put them in contact with their lawyer, so they could have said, "Fix this now."

The legal bill to clear their estate was about $60,000. It could have been $10,000, had they spent a couple of hours reviewing their affairs and documents.

I'm not a lawyer, but I read legal documents well. Need some help? Ask me. First we'll talk about what you want to happen. Then I'll look at your documents and your insurance policies. Then I'll tell you what will happen. If that's not what you want to happen, then I'll help you deal with your lawyer and your insurance agent. I don't sell law and I don't sell insurance, so you don't have to worry about my trying to sell you some program or product.