COURSE DESCRIPTION
Transferring wealth often unearths long-deferred issues that may complicate or even subvert the best laid trust and estate plans. Heirs may have expectations about their inheritance that are unrealistic. Certain children may expect to take control of a family business. There are often interpersonal resentments or animosities among children of different marriages. Sometimes, too, there are children from a relationship that was previously unknown. These and many other issues need to be explored before plans are formulated and documents drafted. But raising these issues is a very delicate conversation which sometimes takes lawyers to the edge of their comfort zone. This program will provide you a practical guide to raising these issues and counseling clients about the legal issues involved.
- Communicating wealth transfer plans before the death of a client
- When to have those conversations – timing is everything
- How to broach uncomfortable topics and pose unpopular choices
- Anticipating visceral reactions and strategies to avoid estrangement and dispute
- How trustee choices may impact beneficiary reactions
Speaker:
Daniel L. Daniels is a partner in the Greenwich, Connecticut office of Wiggin and Dana, LLP, where his practice focuses on representing business owners, corporate executives and other wealthy individuals and their families. A Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, he is listed in “The Best Lawyers in America,” and has been named by “Worth” magazine as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in the United States representing affluent individuals. Mr. Daniels is co-author of a monthly column in “Trusts and Estates” magazine. Mr. Daniels received his A.B., summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College and received his J.D., with honors, from Harvard Law School.