Often, when I am introduced to an estate owner, the standard reaction would be: “my estate planning is in order, my broker/accountant did it”. But once we have finished with a comprehensive estate planning for the same person, he is rather relieved, since it often happens that important aspects of his estate planning have not been addressed previously, because the adviser did not have the necessary knowledge or experience in that field. We must distinguish what it is that an attorney, accountant and financial adviser does in the field of estate planning. Each of these professional persons has knowledge of that part of estate planning that he was trained for and in which he, hopefully, is an expert, but he usually is a layman in the other peoples’ field of expertise. It would have been ideal to get these three people to work together in planning an estate, but it would not only be unaffordable, but in practice almost impossible to get them to work together. A Professional Estate Planner combines everything that the above professionals do with respect to estate planning as a unique field of expertise: • The attorney’s knowledge with respect to wills, trusts, matrimonial law, family law, the law of things, the law of contracts and much more. • The accountant’s knowledge of taxes and financial matters. • The financial adviser’s knowledge of assurance, investments and personal financial planning. The legal aspects of estate planning usually are the more complex part thereof, therefore a Professional Estate Planner would, almost by default, be a legal practitioner with a thorough knowledge of financial matters and assurance. But more important than knowledge is the experience to understand all these aspects, and to apply it within the context of the owner’s unique estate. The Professional Estate Planner is equipped to analyse his clients total estate by taking into account, inter alia, the following: • The Influence of the marital regime and the compilation of the family. • The assets and liabilities, including those in trust, as well as business interests. • The pension-, insurance- and investment portfolio, including the influence of ownership and beneficiaries on the estate and estate duty. • The will and a person’s wishes (which are not necessarily the same), as well as the difference between being legally correct and executable. • The trust (if any), including the correctness of the trust deed and the correct administration of the trust, something that is seriously lacking in South Africa. • The influence of all of the above on taxes like donations tyax, capital gains tax and estate duty. • The cash flow in the estate, as well as the requirement for cash in trusts and businesses, usually due to loan accounts and sureties. The Professional Estate Planner advises his client about all the problems in his estate plan, proposes workable solutions and does what is necessary to rectify any problems. When the process is finalised, the estate owner has the peace of mind that these assets are structured correctly, his will is executable according to his wishes, this trust is legally sound and his financial portfolio is in line with this needs. The Professional Estate Planner will also involve the other professional persons when needed and according to the estate owner’s needs.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 23:00:08 +0000