Reference no: EM133207237

Answer and explanations

Question 1: Brief summary of the article

In the financial concerns of families, advisors play a crucial role. In recent years, the advisor's seat at the family's kitchen table has expanded beyond financial management to include activities such as asset transfer and estate planning, which are fundamental to family cohesion.

According to a TD Wealth poll of estate planning specialists, family strife is the greatest hazard to estate planning. What causes the danger? The leading source of family conflict, according to respondents, is beneficiary designations (30 percent), followed by a lack of communication (25 percent) and the characteristics of mixed families (21 percent ).

In Canada, we are increasingly observing the consequences of family dispute on estates. In order to effectively serve their customers and, by extension, their clients' families, advisors must pay close attention.

Question 2: Problems being discussed by the article

• Beneficiary designations (30%)
• Followed by the absence of communication (25%)
• The dynamics of blended families (21%).

Question 3: Determining course of action and better approach

• Action Plan:  I would advise them that it is crucial we hold family meetings to discuss some of the topics related to beneficiary designations.
• What to say: I would tell the clients to have meaningful dialogues about wealth transfer to avert family conflict.
• What to do if they say they would rather not talk about it:  I would remind them that managing investments and into tasks such as estate planning and wealth transfer, which are at the core of family unity, therefore communicating would strengthen that family unity.

Question 4:  Main strategies I would recommend to use in updating their will.

Recommend that a couple add a gift provision to their will to specify beneficiaries of life insurance policies, they would have to revise the will whenever they added or removed such policies and whenever they changed the beneficiaries of any policy This is a very important issue because people do not typically think about it until something bad happens (e.g., parents pass away, children get divorced) or when the advisor decides to educate them about the option

Conclusion:

Adding a gift clause to a couple's will to identify life insurance beneficiaries would require them to rewrite the will anytime they added or withdrew policies or changed beneficiaries. People don't think about this until something horrible happens (e.g., parents die, children get divorced) or when their adviser educates them about the choice.