By Curt Ferguson and Michael Dolan

Have you ever heard someone say this? “Got my estate plan done. Glad that’s over with.” It comes across with a sense of grumpy relief — maybe like, “I think I’m getting used to having false teeth.”

Is estate planning a once-in-a-lifetime event to check off your “bucket list”? If this is how you think of it, beware. That mindset will prevent your estate plan from working effectively. First, it will prevent you from starting. And second, it will prevent you from finishing. 

Procrastination
When estate planning is viewed as a major, one-time event, you delay starting until you have your ducks in a row. You wait until you have all the children you expect to have, until it is clear who is going to be the successor in your farm operation, and until you know who all your in-laws are.

We could go on and on, listing excuses for procrastinating. Because if this is a one-time event, you don’t dare start until you know all the basic facts.

Lawyers encourage you to think this way — and to procrastinate — when they charge hourly fees. In addition to waiting for the basic facts to be finalized, you also engage in self-study to figure out your precise objectives before you meet with the attorney: how to divide the estate, minimize taxes, protect assets and so forth. Since the attorney charges hourly, you want to hire the attorney only to put your decisions in legal forms — to “draw up the documents.”

If you get away with procrastination, you may get it done before you are disabled or die. If you don’t, you leave your loved ones with a terrible situation.  

Got ’er done?
Once you sign estate planning documents, what’s wrong with being glad you got this “once-in-a-lifetime” event finished? “Got it done” is another dangerous mindset.

Your circumstances in life will change: your health, your farm operation, your assets, your goals. Also, the law is constantly evolving. Your attorney could only write the plan based on the law as it was. Chances are the law will be different at the time you die. Your opportunity to provide every advantage for your heirs —  income tax savings, reduced capital gain taxes, lawsuit protection, divorce protection, to name a few — is a moving target. If any of those are among your goals, will your plan deliver the latest and best possible advantages to your heirs?  

Maybe your plan doesn’t even aim at those advantages. If not, was that by choice? Were you intentionally planning solely for estate taxes? Maybe you didn’t realize all you could accomplish. Or maybe your attorney didn’t explain anything but estate taxes.

Whatever your goals may be, without consistent updating, your plan is only as good as it was when you “got it done.”

Solution
If your attorney charges you hourly fees for every question, every phone call and every update, you are bound to think that “getting an estate plan” is a big deal. You will do your best to avoid your attorney.

Instead, hire an attorney who assumes routine updating is a part of life. For a flat fee, he or she will help design your plan with that in mind and on that foundation, provide a package of updating services secured by a small annual retainer, and make personal changes (at your request) and legal updates (at the attorney’s recommendation) as needed. New baby? Update. New assets? Update. Tax reform? Update. Secure peace of mind for you, and a plan that will be ready whenever needed.

Ferguson owns The Estate Planning Center in Salem, Ill. Learn more at thefarmersestateplanningattorneys.com. Dolan is the principal of Dolan & Associates P.C. in Brighton, Colo. See estateplansthatwork.com.