If you are an existing client and have not yet enrolled, please consider participating in our Client Care Program (CCP) ahead of looming estate tax law changes that may affect your plan.
Our Client Care Program (CCP) is an integral part of your estate plan. That is, proactive steps must be taken to continually administer, review and revise estate plans, from the moment they are signed, in order to ensure that they comply with inevitable changes in the law and major life events, such as marriage, the birth of a child, divorce, a new business venture or exit, a substantial salary increase or inheritance, a major illness, the purchase of property in another state, and the death of an individual named in your estate planning documents. The CCP – an exclusive and much-needed offering in our industry - is our way of facilitating this ongoing process with you each year, in order to avoid the unnecessary taxes, family disputes and diminished legacies that will inevitably result from an improperly administered or outdated estate plan.
Enhanced Estate Planning Services. As part of the CCP, we will provide you with enhanced estate planning services. Specifically, we will customize and update annually for you (1) a detailed, yet concise summary of the provisions of each of your estate planning documents; (2) a flowchart outlining the structure of your estate plan; and (3) an asset spreadsheet detailing the composition of your estate.
Annual Estate Plan Review. We will provide you with an annual review as part of the CCP to ensure that your plan always works, given periodic changes in the law and in life. We will make unlimited changes to your existing core estate planning documents (i.e., revocable trust, pour over Will, health care proxy, power of attorney and living will) as part of your investment in the CCP. We invite you to schedule an annual meeting with us and your advisors and fiduciaries to ensure that all trusts are being administered properly to secure the integrity of your estate tax and asset protection planning. Family members may attend such a meeting, as well, in order to integrate adult children or other family members into estate planning and, importantly, to prepare them to receive wealth.
Encrypted Online Document Vault. The CCP also includes access to your own encrypted online vault containing all of your vital estate planning documents, information regarding your final wishes and funeral arrangements, important accounts and passwords, financial statements and any other information or instructions that you or your family members may need to easily obtain, anytime, from anywhere in the world. You can upload documents and designate who will have access to the vault, including advisors and family members, and feel secure knowing that your private matters will be easily taken care of by the right people in an emergency or after you are gone.
Electronic Newsletter. We will keep you informed, generally and periodically, through our electronic newsletter and client emails unavailable to anyone else. Through these regular touch points, we will keep you updated about the latest changes in the law that might affect your plan. This is particularly important at this time, when there are looming estate tax law changes that can significantly impact your plan. You will be solely responsible for contacting and engaging us should these changes warrant any updates to your estate plan.
Turn-Key Trust Funding and Administration. The CCP is designed to offer turn-key trust administration to grantors and trustees with respect to often-burdensome trust administration and gifting matters, including trust funding; annual assessment of the gifting plan; and preparation of gift funding notices, premium notices and Crummey notices, as needed. Importantly, these services include assistance with the initial funding of revocable trusts, including preparation of letters to banks and brokerage firms, as well as assignment documents for any LLC interests.
LLC Maintenance. Finally, for clients who have created LLCs, it is critically important to monitor the ongoing operations of the LLC to make sure the integrity of the planned structure and function of the LLC is continually maintained, otherwise estate tax and asset protection objectives may be at risk. Participation in the Program will include the regular review of compliance to ensure consistency with LLC organizational documents, as well as preparation of annual minutes to ensure nontax business purposes are being addressed and involvement of family members and reasons for decisions are documented, among other important services.
Please contact us at info@laramsass.com if you are interested in participating in the Client Care Program.
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