As COVID-19 forces everyone to conduct most of their day-to-day life remotely to keep safe, estate planning is no different. As estate planning can be a difficult project to take on, going remote can be an intimidating and almost daunting task for those used to handling their papers in person.
But according to Mark Coffey, partner, senior financial adviser and director of planning at Summit Financial Strategies in Columbus, and Steve Gariepy, partner and chair of the estate planning group at Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP in Cleveland, it’s not that difficult to get a virtual handle on your plans.
“In my experience, I’ve found doing estate plans remotely works quite well for several reasons,” Gariepy said. “For clients, it can be more convenient than traveling and it makes scheduling meetings so much easier. You can fit a 45-minute Zoom call into just about any day. Some clients found it awkward doing it remotely the first time, but I have found many quite readily become at ease and enjoy it because of the convenience. So don’t feel awkward about it. Feel encouraged as this might become the new normal for estate planning in many ways.”
Before attending a remote meeting, Coffey had advice on how to make it run smoothly.
Start with creating a comprehensive list of who owns what. After that, create a list of all of your beneficiary accounts, listing the primary and contingent beneficiaries. This includes retirement accounts, payable upon death accounts, annuities and life insurance. To further prepare, write out who gets what at your death. Then, schedule the meeting.
“If you have a computer, they should be able to meet using a web meeting application or simply have a phone conversation about the materials you send them in advance of the call,” Coffey said.
There are also some issues unique to remote estate management that clients should be aware of before their meetings, Coffey noted.
“Some clients do not have a web camera or microphone on their computer, and therefore conclude they cannot meet remotely,” he said. “However, many planners are using a meeting app that allows them to share their computer screen and speak by telephone. For the client that does not have a computer or prefers the telephone, materials can be sent via the mail or email.”
Clients should pay extra attention to their health care documents, especially now during the pandemic as things can change quickly and without notice.
“People need to take their health care directives a bit more seriously,” Gariepy noted. “In the past, wills or trusts got the most attention, and health care documents are something on the side that you don’t think you’ll need for a long time. But when people discuss who they are naming, they may take that a bit more seriously and consider who they are naming. Other than that, the basic strategies and requirements still work and are relevant.”
Though with remote management it might be a bit harder to get signatures and documents notarized, it should still be done. Gariepy said Hahn Loeser doesn’t allow face-to-face meetings right now, so getting creative remotely is something they’ve gotten accustomed to – whether that is through FaceTime, Zoom or meeting at a distance in a client’s driveway, for example.
“Even if an in-person meeting is approved, it isn’t business as usual,” he noted. “So this encourages meetings to be done remotely and signing be done remotely when possible. And the same thought is common with clients too, they prefer remote meetings now.”
At Summit Financial Strategies, Coffey said meeting in-person was a big part of client relationships pre-pandemic. Now, a majority of clients have been adapted to meeting remotely. Though it has always been an option, many clients preferred the in-person approach and never felt a need to learn about the remote options.
“Now it seems that web meetings are the rule rather than the exception and I suspect that might be the case after we return to the office,” he said. “The alternative to using web meeting applications is for us to either mail or email meeting materials and by clearly marking the page numbers, we find that we can have a productive meeting over the telephone with each of us holding a paper copy of our meeting materials.”
The most important thing to do when starting or managing a current estate plan remotely? Adjusting your expectations, Gariepy said.
“It’s very different the first time,” he said. “So, prepare a lot of your documents beforehand so you have everything ready before your first call.”
This article originally appeared on Cleveland Jewish News.
