The Five Levels of Estate Planning

Post By: Dana Sunderlin

As an estate planning attorney, I'm often confronted with the challenge of explaining to wealthy clients the various estate planning strategies available to them. Many people are prone to inaction when it comes to estate planning because the number of planning alternatives their advisers present to them is so overwhelming.

In explaining these alternatives, I believe firmly that it's not what you say but how you say it. If clients have a general understanding of their estate planning options, they're much more likely to implement a comprehensive and sophisticated estate plan.

"Five Levels of Estate Planning" is a brochure I developed to explain estate planning to wealthy clients in a way they can easily follow. Which of the five levels they'll need to complete will depend upon their particular objectives, facts and circumstances.

Each level begins with the situation that defines that particular level. Then I enumerate the objectives to be accomplished at that level. Next, I list the tools and techniques to accomplish those objectives. Finally, I describe the disadvantages, if any, to those tools and techniques.

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