Signature Moves – From an Estate Plan on Paper to Your Wishes in Practice

The moments that shape our lives often shape the kind of financial guidance we need beside us. And while clients may be facing those moments for the first time, our experienced advisors have helped many others through similar situations before – developing their own distinct way of guiding people through uncertainty, important decisions, and what comes next.

Signature Moves highlights those approaches, so people can more easily recognize the advisor they’ll want beside them when life happens.

Meet Shannon Stevens, JD, Managing Director at Hightower Signature Wealth in Downers Grove, IL.

Signature Move

Helping clients understand how their estate plan will work in practice so they can make informed decisions while they still have the ability to shape the outcome.

Who This is For

You have an estate plan. You’ve signed the documents, named the people who will step in and made decisions about where your assets should go. But if someone asked you exactly what would happen if that plan had to take effect tomorrow, you may not be entirely sure.

• You’ve created a will or trust but may not fully understand how your assets would pass or what the people you’ve named would be responsible for
• Your life or family circumstances have changed since your plan was created, and you want to know whether it still reflects your wishes
• You have decisions involving family members that may be difficult to address, and you want to think through them while you still have the ability to explain the reasoning behind your choices

You’re looking for an advisor who can make the technical details easier to understand, ask the questions that may otherwise go unaddressed and help you take an active role in shaping how your plan will ultimately work.

Where You Are Today

You’ve done the work to put an estate plan in place. But having the documents doesn’t always mean you understand how everything will work when the time comes.

What You’re Going Through

Estate planning can create a sense that everything has been taken care of. But assumptions, outdated decisions or overlooked details can lead to very different results when the plan is eventually put into action.

• Your estate documents, beneficiary designations, account ownership and other financial pieces may not work together exactly as you expect
• You may have named a family member as trustee or executor without fully considering what the role will require or whether they’re prepared to take it on
• Your family circumstances may call for more nuanced decisions, especially when different beneficiaries have different needs or situations

The difficult parts of estate planning don’t disappear because they’re uncomfortable to discuss. Addressing them today gives you more opportunity to explain your wishes, consider your options and make changes while those choices are still yours to make.

Shannon’s 3-Step Approach

1. Understand how your plan works today – walk through the plan as it currently exists. If something happened tomorrow, who would step in? Where would your assets go? How would they be distributed? What would each person actually have to do?

2. Identify what needs attention – find the places where documents, asset titling, beneficiary designations, family circumstances or intentions may not align with your intended outcome

3. Address it while you can – work through the necessary planning changes and difficult conversations with the appropriate advisors and family members while you still have the ability to explain, decide and act.

Signature Perspective

“Having an estate plan is one thing. Understanding how it will actually work is another. Having the difficult conversations today gives you more opportunity to make thoughtful decisions while those choices are still yours to make.”

What You’ll Experience

• Clear explanations that make complex estate planning concepts easier to understand and help you take a more active role in your own plan
• A thorough review that looks beyond the documents to understand how your assets, beneficiary designations, family circumstances and wishes work together
• Thoughtful coordination with your attorney, accountant and other advisors to address gaps and help keep the different pieces of your plan aligned

Where You’ll Be Tomorrow

You move from having a plan on paper to understanding how it will work in practice and knowing you’ve addressed what could stand in the way of your wishes.

Connect With Shannon

If you’re looking for a better understanding of your estate and how it affects your family, talk with Shannon.

View Shannon’s Bio

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