Don West Jr.'s - Legacy & Estate Planning Blog: February 2010

For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others.

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Legacy & Estate Planning Terms

What is Estate Planning? Estate Planning is the process of ensuring that the assets you've accumulated during your lifetime go to the people or institutions you wish, in the most efficient, tax-favored, and equitable way possible.

What is Legacy Planning? Legacy Planning is a compliment to the estate planning process and focuses on the intangible assets a person or family posses. A critical element in the generation of a legacy is the ability to maintain a tangible presence beyond the actual span of one's lifetime. While physical assets may be deemed a component of a person's ultimate legacy, the focus on family or institutional history, values and the stories that define us dictates that every individual, family and entity can be enriched through implementing a strategic legacy plan.

What does the designation CLTP stand for? C.L.T.P. is a designation of Chartered Legacy & Trusts Planner.

What does the designation CTEP stand for? C.T.E.P. is a designation of Chartered Trust & Estate Planner.

For most people, legacy & estate planning is a relatively simple process in which you work with a lawyer to produce a number of documents:

Will: A will is a legal document in which you set out the rights and responsibilities of others for your property and minor children and/or disabled dependents in the event of your death.

Planning Directives: A will covers only a certain set your assets. Planning directives are documents that support a will by covering financial and legal issues that wills do not, and that provide directions about what should happen to your estate if a catastrophic accident or illness renders you incapable of expressing your wishes.

Assignment of Guardians: If you have children who are minors (under 18), you should assign guardians to take care of them should you be unable to do so.

Life Insurance and Long-Term Care: If you have families or dependents-and even if you don't-you should plan ahead in case of disability, incapacity, long-term care needs, or sudden death.

Trusts: If your estate is considerable, you should speak with a lawyer about whether you should establish a trust to shield and protect some of your assets. Also, if you are interested in avoiding a court administered Probate proceeding a trust may be an option for how you transfer your assets.

Gifts: Legacy & Estate Planning can help you decide if you'd like to make gifts of your assets to charities, churches or institutions.

Business Succession Planning: Legacy & Estate Planning can extend into the business arena by ensuring that any business you own changes hands smoothly after you pass away.

Personal Legacy Statement: A Personal Legacy Statement allows you to articulate what is closest to your heart. It creates a record of the messages and information too valuable to be lost and captures your reflections for the benefit of others as a timeless gift to future generations.

Institutional Legacy Statement: An Institutional Legacy Statement allows founders or key contributors to record the history of the organization providing documentation of the founders intentions and designs for the entity or enterprise as it continues forward.

Legacy. The word itself carries connotations of solemnity and weighty resolutions. But across the nation the subtext of legacy planning is changing; new approaches bring together financial professionals, tax consultants, attorneys and family members in an effort to shape the direction of communities – and the world – for years to come.

You can ensure that your wealth continues to do good work long into the future by establishing financial structures that create a legacy of financial unity and success. To do that, you’ll need to come up with a legacy plan.

Family Mission Statement: When we consider the term mission statement, most of us think of such statements created for business enterprises. For a small company, this mission statement is a written explanation of the values and beliefs that have led the business to its current success; it’s a plan for organizing the financial and human assets of the business to ensure its future success. The family mission statement works in much the same way. It is a statement of family identity: who you are, what you believe in and what you will do in the future.

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This Blog's presentation & original material are Copyright © 2007-2010 by Donald L. West, Jr., with "all rights reserved".

The Purpose of My Photography

All proceeds from my photography goes to support philanthropic causes and endeavors. Our current organization of support is the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. We are preparing to stage an exhibit featuring a select number of these shots.

Background:
I worked at the Burger King located at 10000 South Memorial Parkway, in Huntsville, Alabama,for all fours years of high school. When I graduated, the owners, WesFam Corp., gave me, along with all the other graduating seniors, a 35mm camera as a graduation present. Since 1992, when I first received that camera I have had a passion for photography. Now I virtually exhibit some of my favorite shots from the last 17 years in a "Photo of the Day" Collection here at Legacy-Lawyer.com.

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