How Your Estate Plan Can Care for Those You Love

Dear Friends,

In the depths of winter, I consider February the month of love because of St. Valentine. In my practice, I reflect on ways in which our clients have displayed caring through their own estate planning. Believe it or not, there are many ways in which to give back to loved ones or those in need that strategically align with your estate plan.  The mere act of creating an estate plan is an act of love to ensure your estate is easier to administer for those you love.

At Eckert Byrne, we are part of a community of clients and professionals who are generous in how they give to family, friends, and charities. I encourage those who are able to spread their love and compassion by sharing with a charity or group in need this month. In addition to helping those less fortunate, you also get a charitable income tax deduction!

Personally, I have been impressed with the work of Save the Children and have found it quite rewarding to work with them in the past. Save the Children was founded more than 100 years ago by a woman named Eglantyne Jebb. Since then, they have improved over 1 billion young lives by providing children with a healthy start to life, the opportunity to learn, and basic protection from harm. Their work in the Boston area, through Save the Children’s Boston Leadership Council, has helped raise awareness for the vulnerable and marginalized children in the United States and abroad. I am planning a trip to the Mexican border this May to see Save the Children in action at the border crisis.

The beginning of the year is a great time to review your estate plan. Have you had any life changes recently that would affect your planning? New grandkids to include as beneficiaries? Has there been a marriage in the family recently? Or perhaps a loved one’s financial situation has changed and you would like to take care of them the best you can. Either way, it’s prudent to at least take out your estate plan binder once a year and look over your flowchart to see if everything remains accurate and up to date.

You can join our Annual Client Maintenance Program to receive our annual letter and receive a discount on any additional work.

If you would like to schedule a legal check-up to review your existing estate plan, please feel free to contact us and we’ll reserve a time to meet. For scheduling this meeting, please email Noah ([email protected]) to get on our calendar. We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Anna