When clients come in to have a will and/or trust written, I provide them with a questionnaire to complete. The following assets
need to be identified by the client to allow me to appropriately
tailor their estate plan.
The following are assets that are commonly owned by a client.
Real Property
This includes any piece of land the client owns. This might
include single-family homes, vacation homes, condos, town homes, farmland,
commercial lots, raw land and multi-unit buildings.
Personal Property
This includes assets such as jewelry, watches, furniture and
other items of value.
I do not ask clients to document an old monopoly board
game or their prized yarn collection.
Bank Account
This is rather self-explanatory.
I recommend Star One Credit Union for banking in case anybody is curious.
Stocks
This would refer to individually owned stocks, e.g. Apple or
Exxon Mobil.
Mutual Funds
This is rather self-explanatory. If a person is investing in
the stock market, they should know the difference between a mutual fund and
individual stocks. Or at least I hope so.
Bonds
Bonds are not the trendy type of investment but occasionally
a person will own a bond. It is commonly assumed that U.S. treasury bonds are the safest investment because they are backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government. Whenever credit is extended, which is what you are doing when you buy a bond, the central question is the credit-worthiness of the borrower. I know of few borrowers who can match the financial strength of the U.S. government. Actually I know of no borrowers, other than Monty Burns or Scrooge McDuck, who can match the U.S.' credit.
Life Insurance
The two common types are whole and term. Most people usually
have a term policy, which means that if the insured dies within the term’s
period, the insurer pays the policy’s beneficiary the proceeds.
Annuity
For reference, an annuity is a right to receive fixed
payments periodically for a specified duration. Black's
Law Dictionary (9th ed 2009).
Retirement Account
This would include 401(k)s and Roth IRAs
Automobile
Yes I want to know about your 2001 Pontiac Aztek or your
1970 AMC Gremlin
Business Interests
This would include any interest the client may have in a
corporation, limited liability company (LLC), general partnership, limited
partnership, limited liability partnership (LLP) or sole proprietorship.
Once the client has supplied me with this information, I can
start the drafting process…………….
