Estate Planning
Making sure what you have built lands where you intend it to.
Estate planning is not just about a document sitting in a drawer. It is about making sure that everything you have worked for — your accounts, your property, your legacy — actually goes where you want it to go, to the people you care about, in the way you intended.
We are not attorneys, and we do not draft wills or trusts. What we do is work alongside your estate attorney and your CPA to make sure the financial pieces line up with the legal ones. Plans fall apart in the gap between a well-written document and an outdated beneficiary form. Our job is to close that gap.
Reviewing the details that get overlooked
Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance policies often override what a will says, yet they are easy to forget once they are set. We review these regularly, along with how your accounts are titled, to confirm they still reflect your current wishes. A lot can change over the years: marriages, new children or grandchildren, a move, a shift in what matters most to you. We want your paperwork to keep pace with your life.
Coordinating with your attorney and CPA
When you already have an estate attorney, we work with them, not around them, to understand the structure of your plan and make sure your accounts support it. If you do not yet have one, we can help you think through what questions to ask when you find one. Either way, our role is to translate the legal plan into financial action: retitling an account, updating a beneficiary, or adjusting how assets are held so the plan actually functions the way it was designed to.
Talking it through as a family
A plan works best when the people it affects understand it. We can help you think through how and when to talk with a spouse, children, or the next generation about your intentions, so there are fewer surprises and more clarity when it matters most.
"Financial planning is only as good as the lessons learned by the generations to come."
This information is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Benjamin A. Simerly, CFP®, offers advisory services through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser. Lakehouse Family Wealth is not affiliated with Cambridge.