Choose Your Own Estate Planning Adventure

Achievement-minded parents of the 21st century wish their children read more. A mere glimpse of their teenager engrossed in a paperback would probably leave a permanent grin on Mom and Dad. The fact that one smartphone has access to all of the world’s media and can feed every imaginative impulse is a force that can overshadow the simple act of picking up a book.

Things used to be different. In those ancient, pre-internet, pre-scrolling days, we had to physically source our own reading entertainment. For me, the path to serious reading did not start at the top. Sports books, Mad magazines, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and “Choose Your Own Adventure” stories were the on-ramps to a lifelong interest in reading.

The “Choose Your Own Adventure” books were my favorite. Each allowed you to chart a different course within the story, with several different outcomes – all mostly bad, save for one. Turn to page 43 and you escape the Redcoats. Turn to page 45 and the British capture you in the woods and your story ends on a prison ship. The perceived easier road or more monetarily rewarding path tended to lead to disaster, while the more laborious or boring set-up brought better results.

Estate planning works the same way – every decision has a consequence. 

An estate plan can go in several directions. The variables are: your priorities, your people, your assets, your ability to delegate to others, your ability to relinquish control, and your timelines. Choosing to create a stable platform allows you to work out your variables more efficiently.

Young couples and young families usually start out with a will or revocable trust with a pour over will that provides basic structure should an unexpected tragedy occur. An executor or trustee collects, manages, and distributes assets as directed in the documents. Guardianship and minor trust provisions protect minor children in these type of extreme circumstances.

Adding advance directives such as a power of attorney or health care proxy provides greater coverage should an emergency or illness limit capacity. Bills can be paid and medical care can be overseen. Wills and revocable trusts along with the advance directives can be either amended, updated, or replaced easily to reflect family changes.

Should you choose not to create these documents and a life-altering event happens, the consequences will be serious. Costly and drawn-out court proceedings will be necessary to bring order and the variables you would have set under your control will now be in the hands of a judge or a New York statute.

As a family matures, the choices for spouses veer between selecting an irrevocable trust or revocable trust. In these cases, you examine the important people in your life and decide if you trust them enough to put them in positions of authority over your assets. If you lack faith in your people and continue to maintain control, that choice will limit asset protection with regards to Medicaid and long-term care.

Then again, choosing the wrong person to be a trustee can adversely affect your assets too, especially if their financial literacy is below average. 

Childhood books can be closed and put back on the shelf. “Choose Your Own Adventure” stories had the happy ending buried inside just waiting to be discovered. The effects of a wrong-footed estate plan or lack of a plan can linger for decades and may not be so easy to correct.

Alan D. Feller, Esq., is managing partner of The Feller Group, located at 572 Route 6, Suite 103, Mahopac. He can be reached at alandfeller@thefellergroup.com.