The Chronicles of Estate Planning

Estate Planning – Bleh, what an uncomfortable arrangement of words to describe something that is highly avoided by the greater population.

I have tried to develop creative ways of naming the process of planning your estate so that it is appealing, lucrative, safe….maybe even exciting. So far, I have come up with;

Estate Preparation

-Nope…too stuffy

Devising an Estate

-Nope…not even sure why that was an option

Organize your stuff

-Nope….way too vague

After a lot of frustration and perhaps a few glasses of wine, I started to wonder where this concept of “estate planning” even came from and how it became what it is today. 

A large estate planning component stems from creating a person’s Last Will & Testament, which is the legal document that distributes your assets upon death.  From my research, it looks as though Wills date back to ancient Greece and Rome, where men could outline their wishes about their possessions and property.  To create a Will in Greece back then, the man had to be a citizen, at least 20 years old, could not be slaves or foreigners (if they were, then their belongings became the property of Athens), and he had to name a male heir to his stuff! If the person only had daughters, he would have to identify a man in his Will to inherit- and that man would have to marry one of his daughters.  Let me be the first to say, thank goodness times have changed!

In Rome, they built their estate system by adopting Greece’s policies but with some enhancements.  Relatives could waive their rights to the estate; disinheriting family was not allowed (unless there was severe misconduct); Wills would be a public record; the heirs had to create an inventory and pay debts from that inventory.  Eventually, these concepts moved to England and paved the way for the legal process that we know today around the globe. 

How does the document of a Last Will & Testament integrate with the concept of Estate Planning?

According to the Notre Dame Law Review -History of Estate Planning by William D Rollison, Estate Planning “involves the use and arrangement of property for and among the members of the owner’s family group according to a design that will afford the greatest benefit to the objects of the owner’s bounty commensurate with estate conservation.”

My interpretation of the above paragraph is that the Will is used to arrange your property for your family’s maximum benefit.

Mic Drop.

Family dynamics are where the actual planning starts (both back then and now); how would someone maximize their family’s benefit in their Last Will & Testament back in the 1700s? Planning would likely include concentration on items such as; determining the right person to administer the estate, figuring out which men were to inherit (if they did not have sons), and, I suppose, picking which man was to marry their daughter……

When the concept of planning was just in its infancy days, there likely was not much focus on tax strategies, directly named beneficiaries on assets, and potential estate litigation.  As society, processes, and estate assets evolved, different approaches naturally had to come into place.  As I mentioned earlier, one of the steps was to create an inventory of the estate, and eventually, there would be tax payable on that inventory.  Taxes would introduce additional considerations for people, who would turn to lawyers and accountants for guidance, which eventually became known as “Estate Planning.”

Nowadays, it is no longer enough to “just” have a Will; it is wise to understand the investments held and the different designation options depending on the type of accounts set up.  There are insurance options to protect loved ones and provide sufficient assets.  The world has become a bigger place, with family members living all over the globe; this brings rise to non-resident issues for any Executors chosen.  There are considerations to be made for pets; health care wishes to be discussed with loved ones and blended families to remember in our Wills.

I’ve come to look at Estate Planning as a symphony, all these different pieces that unify into a massive orchestra with beautiful sound. You would utilize lawyers, accountants, financial planners, insurance providers, health care team, death doulas, funeral planners, and of course, Estate Consultants to shape your plan.  In the centre though, the person who is directing everyone into this harmonious plan is YOU.  You are the Conductor.

I guess this leaves me with a new perspective on how to describe estate planning.  In the end, when I look at symphonies, art, or architecture, I see that everything comes down to design.  Working on an estate plan is no different, it will all come down to how you want to design it…..that leads me to what I think I will call this whole process:

Estate Design.

-I like it.