Going home to see family during the holidays gives you a great opportunity to talk with them about Estate Planning. I always tell my clients that communication about estate planning is half the battle, but sadly, it is the most overlooked part of the process. I thought I would put together a quick video series before the holidays that gives you some tips on how to approach these conversations as well as how to organize your thoughts around figuring out what information is important to learn, discuss, and share. This will be a three-part series. The first part was about Healthcare, and you can read it here. Today, we are tackling Part 2, Assets. (Part 3 next week will be about Kids.)

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The first thing to figure out is what you want to ask about your family members’ estate plans. Most of my clients are around my age and are thinking about having these conversations with their aging parents, but this advice can apply to any family members. You should even ask siblings if they have an estate plan. With assets, you want to know what type of estate plan they have created, a will-based plan that will go through a court process called probate, or a trust-based plan, that will avoid the probate process if done properly. You want to know where you can find the estate plan when the time comes that it is needed. You also want to know who is named as the Trustee, Personal Representative (also called Executor), and Agent holding Durable Power of Attorney are, and who their estate planning attorney is. Additionally, you want to discuss what assets exist, whether they are titles properly, and what the plan for distribution is after their death.

Next, you want to communicate with family members about what your estate plan is. Ideally, you have already created your estate plan, so you can tell your family that you have a will-based plan or a trust-based plan, who your estate planning attorney is, who you have named in fiduciary roles, and what your plan is for distributing your assets after your death.

Last, I have a few tips for you to get the conversation going:

1. Prepare your family in advance. Tell your family ahead of time that you plan on having these discussions while you are visiting. It can help to ease the discussion if people are not caught off guard when discussing such personal and uncomfortable subjects.

2. Have a reason for asking. One of the best icebreakers to these discussions is being able to say that you recently completed your estate planning, and now are interested in talking about the decisions you made, as well as the decisions your family has made.

3. Tell a story. Stories can be so powerful in conveying the importance of estate planning. Some people have their own stories of going through a deceased family member’s probate proceedings and having it take forever, or fighting with siblings after a parent’s death, or losing a lot of money to probate and estate taxes. If you have a story, tell it! (And if you need story, let me know. I’ve got plenty!)

I hope this was helpful for you. In the final post/video next week, we will talk about Kids.

If you want to get started on your estate plan, read about our estate planning services and schedule an appointment.

To your family's health + happiness.

~Candice N. Aiston

P.S. Want to get started slowly but surely, naming guardians for your kids? Check out our Guardian Plan kit.

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Candice N. Aiston is an Legal Planning Attorney for Estates + Businesses in the Portland, Oregon area. She helps people to prepare for a lifetime of security, prosperity, and guidance. If you would like to receive her free reports, please visit http://aistonlaw.com/ to sign up. Follow her Facebook page for daily planning tips: https://www.facebook.com/aistonlaw/.