[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome to Wealth Intelligence with Dominick d', Andrea, where I explore the strategies, decisions and mindset shifts that help people build real wealth with purpose. I'm Dominic d'. Andrea. Today I'm joined by Ann Rhodes, chief legal
[email protected] before joining Wealth.com she practiced estate planning law at McDermott, Will Emory, New York and Perkins Coy in San Francisco, advising everyone from first generation wealth builders to ultra high net worth multigenerational families.
Her work has focused on complex wealth transfer and tax planning, which makes her the perfect person for this conversation.
I want to begin with one of the biggest myths in personal finance, that estate planning is only for the ultra wealthy.
That belief leaves too many families exposed, disorganized and unprepared. And welcome to the show. In this opening segment, I want to reframe estate planning as a core part of financial responsibility, not a luxury reserved for people with massive estates. I want viewers to understand that if I'm building wealth, protecting my family, and trying to create clarity for the future, I estate planning belongs in that, in the conversation much earlier than most people think.
And when people hear estate planning, they often assume it is only for the rich. Why is that belief so outdated?
[00:01:36] Speaker B: I mean, it's, I think it's from just stories that people hear, you know, of who tends to have an estate plan in their own families.
And it tends to be, you know, the rich uncle or whoever, you know, who has money to pass down and some something worthwhile to pass down. I think that's the myth, right? It's like, well, you know, my stuff, my bank account, my car, like, is that worth passing down?
And most people would downplay that.
What's sort of underneath that idea, I think is that, you know, your heirs will figure it out and that you don't even really need to determine who your heirs are. But if you really dig into it, who your heirs are and how much they get of your estate. Estate is determined by default law. If you do not have an estate plan, an estate plan is either a will or a trust that substitutes for a will. So this is where you talk about living trust, irrevocable trusts. But at the bottom line is everyone is going to die and there is default law that will pick up, you know, what will happen to your assets and you're effectively leaving your clients to pass away and pass their assets to people that are determined by legislators.
So think of, you know, if you're based out of Alabama, and I'm just going to use this example because recently in the News, there's been a case about a widow who left France, married, you know, her beau in Alabama. He left, it sounded like an estate in the low, like six figures in a house, a couple of cars, a bank account with fifteen hundred dollars in it.
And you would think, you know, in this story, you know, he died without a will. And I think a lot of Americans potentially in that situation would do the same.
But what you're leaving behind is this idea that first of all, like state legislators from Alabama from maybe 20, 30 years ago are basically writing your will for you or for your client in this case.
And is that truly good planning? Right. You spend so much time talking about budgeting, financial planning, all sorts of, you know, retirement planning.
And at the end of the day, without the estate plan as a back end, you end up basically potentially dissipating those assets. And so in this case, you know, the widow is. She's back in France at this point, but she's fighting with the heirs, the sons of the estate. And what Alabama law has determined is basically how this man's estate is going to pass. And that uncertainty is leaving this huge fight behind for these three people.
And so, you know, that's what you want to avoid because at the end of the day, those assets will go up in smoke in probate, lawyers fees, you know, changing of locks, all those things that people do when there's no clarity.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: Thank you for that answer. And what I just heard was get those documents in place in one way, shape or form because you want to make sure no matter how big or small your estate is, your assets are going to the people you want them to go in the most efficient manner. That's what I heard. And that was a great answer. Thank you, Anne.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: And if I'm still building first generation wealth and do not see myself as wealthy yet, what protection should already be in place?
[00:05:14] Speaker B: So here's when you're building first, you know your wealth today and you're in the midst of, you know, you have a job and responsibilities towards people. Estate planning is not just, you know, how much you've built up. And again, what's valuable to leave to people behind, it's actually also putting decision makers in your shoes.
Because I bet you that anybody who's listening to this show is if you think of where you plug into people's lives around you, you'll realize that you play a very important role in their lives. And having an estate plan to say, this is who comes after me if something were to happen is also very important.
Stereotypical role in here would be guardianship.
So you have kids, you know, you're in the midst of every day, like having to go to work, commuting, whatever, and it's like, who is going to be there for your kids if something happens to you? Maybe you have a complicated relationship with the other parent, the other legal parent. Right. Maybe think of like a divorce situation or it's that, you know, it's very clear who that parent is, you know, the next person. But then what, what about after that? Right. And so there are all these things that you need to think about where it's not just about what's valuable in your life, just the monetary values of things, but actually giving peace of mind to people and giving them the clarity of who steps up if you have to step down.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: You know what's crazy? When I was doing my own documents, you know, I always thought of my kids, you know, but you know what? I didn't think about my dog, who's going to get my dog? And that was really important to me once I realized that. So I do appreciate that answer.
And I think you already touched on some of the next question, Ann, but what risk do families create when they delay planning simply because they think they do not have enough assets yet?
[00:07:14] Speaker B: So, I mean, you are leaving a potential gap of.
And you never know actually what, where the topics are that are the most sensitive for the people you leave behind.
And that will be so, so different from family to family. But I think most of you, your clients will have an inkling as to, you know, family dynamics that are going to be enhanced, augmented if you were not there. And so what I mean, for example, is, you know, let's say, for example, you talked about your dog. But one of the most common things that I think gets overlooked is like taking care of elderly parents.
And you may be the person who is doing, you know, the pickups at the pharmacy, you know, you're the person who picks them up, picks up a parent after surgery, etc.
And when you are not there, what does that support network look like for your elderly parent? And so those are like the myriad questions that can all of a sudden create strife in a family.
And you having an estate plan and being able to actually talk to your family about it is huge in this case. And so you're not giving yourself the opportunity to consider your importance within your own family's lives. And it's not just financial support, but it's being there for people. And who takes that mental for you.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you. And Another great answer. Great. Valuable stuff for our audience.
How should I think about will's trust, powers of attorney and healthcare directives as part of wealth building rather than just end of life paperwork?
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Yes. So let's get into the sort of nitty gritty of the legal documents here. I think. So first is the difference between a will and a trust. I think a lot of people think of. It's funny because it's like the pros and cons wills. A lot of folks think, well, during my life it's much simpler, which it might be actually. Right? So you might be saving money, not having to go and get deeds done. So you transfer your real estate into some sort of trust structure, so the maintenance seems simpler. But actually once you pass away with a will, potentially based on the state that you're located in and also the complexity of your assets, you might actually be creating more of a headache on the back end for your heirs because probate is complicated in your state and a will has to go through probate, and then all of a sudden a judge is signing off on every single decision for how to parcel out your assets.
The trust, on the other hand, is often used as a substitute for a will in this case, but just privatizing it. So think of like, you know, putting it in the hands of like a government official is the will versus privatizing your asset distribution because you really trust the person who's doing it. You know, it's going to be a family member anyways. You know, that's when you consider doing a trust.
And in certain states, it really pays off to have a trust. So where I'm located in California, it's like, please don't pass away with a will. Just, just do a trust. It does not matter how much money you have, do the trust.
So that's first and foremost about asset preservation. And really very easily an estate can go up in smoke because of legal fees, people fighting over assets, delaying things and just trying to push things forward.
And so it is about asset preservation.
Now, the second part that you asked about is the financial power of attorney, et cetera. So, so there are two types of directives that we think about and what's really important to know about these two, which are the durable power of attorney over financial matters, and either a power of attorney or living will or some sort of. The states have different names for this, but it's a healthcare directive. Essentially.
These two documents have legal effect while you're still alive. So you have not passed away here, will, you've passed away but these, you're still alive. You just, for whatever reason, are incapacitated, unavailable. And I can talk about what that looks like. But it's really critical to have these documents in place, because think of the sort of the number of times where taking action quickly meant money, meant getting a deal done, you know, getting to purchase or sell a house, getting to file your income taxes on time so you're not penalized by the government for late filing and late payments.
All of those things could be compromised if you don't have one of these documents in place and you happen to be in that moment, not available.
So I'll give you an example of this. Dominic. My husband and I were looking to purchase a home in California, and he is a lawyer. So he went off to a trial in Delaware, and he was literally stuck in the hotel, you know, preparing for trial, where there was a celebrity at the time and, like, a ton of media outside the hotel, like, camping out. And so it was across from a courthouse in Delaware. He could not get a notary to show up and be able to sign paperwork for our real estate purchase. Thank God I had a power of attorney in my hands over him that was immediately effective. So no one's checking if he's incapacitated. And that's possible in California. It's not always possible in all the states, but I was just able to sign all the paperwork, hundreds of pages, as his power of attorney.
So super important. Right. If we didn't get the deal done, we wouldn't have the house that we're living in today.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: Proper planning got you there, which is fantastic. Great story and great example of why having these documents sooner than later matter.
In closing, what do you wish every financial.
I can't. Oh, my God.
In closing, and what do you wish every financially responsible adult understood much earlier about estate planning?
[00:13:27] Speaker B: So estate planning is not just about death. It's not just about tax savings or something like that. It really just is.
Do you have a set of instructions that you'd like somebody to follow? Right. That are legally effective? Somebody has got to follow them because you happen to be unavailable. And that's the bottom line. Right. Think of all the roles that you fill in your life today, and you have a preference for who steps up if you can't.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: Thank you, Ann.
Coming up next, I'm going deeper into the emotional side of legacy planning, because the hardest part usually is not the paperwork, it's the conversation behind it. Thank you again.
Welcome back to Wealth Intelligence with Dominic d'. Andrea. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand, anytime you like, Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast version at NOW Media tv.
Welcome back to Wealth Intelligence with Dominic d'. Andrea. In this segment I want to talk about the part of estate planning people rarely admit out loud this emotional work. Behind every decision about inheritance, guardianship, control, fairness and responsibility, there's usually fear, financial history or unresolved tension.
I want this segment to show that estate planning is never just technical. It forces people to think about relationships, loss, trust and values they want to pass forward. If I avoid those conversations, the legal gaps are one problem, but the emotional confusion I leave behind can become even bigger one.
And welcome back Is your experience what emotions show up most often when families begin real legacy planning?
[00:15:56] Speaker B: You know, it depends on the client. You know, it depends on the, the family.
I would say that you have certain people who avoid those emotions and don't want to have those tough conversations because they are afraid of tough emotions and they end up just making an estate plan if they do at all. That's another question whether they, they even start. But if they do start, they tend to just leave these documents behind, spelling wishes but not having that follow up conversation with their family to actually, you know, talk about all the details that don't go into the legal documents but to flush out those wishes and those expectations with those family members who are going to be picking up some really heavy roles for that person. So that's one missed opportunity. But I also think some clients just don't like the emotion of feeling vulnerable. Right. That you could be incapacitated and need a financial power of attorney, that you could pass away and leave people behind in like a way that's unfulfilled. Think of like guardianship and kids. That's so hard for people.
I have clients who could just never get started because they thought, you know, the most important thing I want to get in place is that guardianship nomination and I just cannot emotionally handle not being there for my kids. So they just don't start at all.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: And it goes back then. It goes back to what you told about before. Some judge is saying, okay, this is who can raise your children, which may or may not be who you wanted, but who might be the person that would be logical in their mind to pick. So yes, it's very important that you get the documents in place and make sure that your wishes are taken care of.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: Yeah. And I do think that There is not just emotional element, but cultural as well that you have to be aware of, which is that there are some cultures where talking about death is just not really done.
And so you have to get over that hurdle.
[00:17:55] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: Like, I come from the Chinese culture where my parents, you know, are elderly. And to even get them to think about their own death is like a big taboo. So, you know, that it takes time. It takes time to marinate over these things.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: I get it. I understand that. Great. Thank you.
Why do families who may be highly successful financially still struggle so much with the emotional side of these decisions? I think you covered a little of this already.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: Yeah. I think that emotions have nothing to do with how wealthy the family is, to be honest. And people. This is the thing that I think surprises folks. You can fight over a $2,000, you know, thing object that the person has left behind or $2 billion, like it does not matter, because I think so much of people's emotions are wrapped up in the money. But it is not about how much necessarily. It might be about fairness. Right. And so it doesn't matter if you're splitting up $2,000among 2, 3 kids or 2 billion. It is about, you know, something greater than the amount itself.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: Oh, no, I. I definitely agree with that.
When my mom passed, you know, a lot of the jewelry went to my sisters.
I was fine with that.
I wanted her recipes, I wanted her handwriting and the things that I could cook. And, you know, I shared them with my family, but I have the originals, and that, to me was more valuable. So we had that discussion. And so you believe me, I understand exactly what you're saying when it comes to that.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: When people start talking about inheritances, roles and responsibilities, what kinds of family dynamics tend to surface?
[00:19:37] Speaker B: So I think that here, you see, sort of ideally, an estate plan would really mirror what is going on today for that client and the people who step up for them in the first place. Here, I'll use my family as an example again. I think it just kind of highlights, you know, decisions that people are making. So I live out here in California, but my parents are in Massachusetts. And so when my dad and my mom were doing their estate plan, they somehow had this idea that as the firstborn, they should always name me as the next person. Right. And I have two younger siblings. But truthfully, if something were to happen to them today, who's bringing them to the hospital today, who's picking up, you know, prescriptions and delivering things to them, is my second. The second child, my brother.
And so they have this sense of, like, what is fair and, you know, recognizes your importance in the family is to name me next. And I actually told them, no, I actually think that you should name my brother, because he will be there to actually, you know, hold your hand through procedures, make sure that you're okay.
And so I think that you see sort of also a lot of not just sibling relationships and dynamics, but even between parent and child, There's a lot wrapped up in there about love and, you know, who was like a favorite child potentially. There can be some really, like, deeply held, you know, taboo relationships or, you know, just ideas that come through and come out through estate planning. The one thing I will warn people about, however, is that what you should not do is just name all of your children as decision makers equally and share a role just because you cannot make a decision. The worst that can happen is that you name three or more people. Two is sometimes okay, but three or more people to act in a role, you are basically causing a huge issue with financial institutions, hospitals, you name it, trying to get anything done because they need the sign off of all three plus people.
[00:21:47] Speaker A: Believe me, I understand that 100% one part. Too many cooks ruin the soup.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:21:54] Speaker A: In estate planning, how do you distinguish between what feels fair and what is simply equal?
[00:22:00] Speaker B: I love this question, because I think if you asked three different people what fairness is, they would give you three different answers. And that is something that the law, unfortunately, has to deal with in every single estate plan. It feels so somebody can write in their estate plan, I want to divide all my assets equally among my three children.
And it turns out that how each child interprets this, it actually approximates something like, you know, perhaps equitable division. So it's like, look at the totality of what I have today and what my siblings have, and divided that way, so we end up in the, you know, an equitable place. And then somebody else might say, you know, honestly, it's not about the monetary value. Who says that it has to be what those assets can be reduced down to. It's like your recipes, Dominic. You could probably not sell those for any amount of money, right? But at the end of the day, dividing those things based on emotional value is what that person is looking for, particularly with tangible assets, you know, the family heirlooms.
And then you can have somebody who's just like, you know, what if we were to pretend we sold that property today at fair market value? That's what equal value means. And the law, unfortunately, just has to take an approach, because every family would treat this differently and just say we have to go with some black letter black line rules that are repeatable across all families and this is what we're going to do.
So be very cognizant of what split equally can mean and try if something is you don't want it to be purely based on fair market value, like that resale value, that you make those gifts in a different way, that you talk to an attorney or whoever, your financial advisor to try to figure out a way to get around like just pure equal value based on fair market values.
[00:23:58] Speaker A: Thank you. And in closing, how can I start these conversations earlier so they feel thoughtful and intentional instead of reactive and uncomfortable?
[00:24:08] Speaker B: I think, you know, if you are an advisor listening to this, it's really just about broaching it in the first place. And it may take time for that client to become open to it. But just because they shut you down or delay or say they have a decision to make with a spouse on this does not mean that you don't re approach it. And here I would say just address it and say I have some very uncomfortable topics to address. But I wouldn't be a good advisor if I didn't address this. Let's talk about what happens if you pass away and just start there.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: Thank you. And next I'm ship shifting into one of the biggest wealth transition there is the difference between building wealth for the first time and preserving across generations.
Welcome back. I want to explore one of the most important transitions in wealth strategy, the shift from building wealth to preserving it. Those are not the same skill sets and to too many families do a strong job creating opportunities but a weak job preparing the structure to sustain it.
In this segment I want to help viewers understand the first generation wealth and multi generation wealth require different planning instincts. Creating wealth is one challenge. Preserving it, communicating its purpose and transferring it without chaos is a different one entirely.
Welcome back, Ann.
I'm enjoying our conversations today. You have worked with both first generation wealth builders and ultra high net worth families across generations.
What is the biggest mindset difference you see between those groups?
[00:26:08] Speaker B: So here's what I would say first and foremost and this is interesting because I practice both on the east coast and worked a lot more with sort of established estate plans that have matured, meaning the patriarch or matriarch who made the wealth has passed away. And so you're dealing with the beneficiaries and their trusts.
And I also worked a lot on the west coast where here you have your startups and your folks who are building that first generation wealth, right. And I would say the mentality is very interesting because for sort of the folks who are building their wealth, it's a lot about passing down their mission statements. And I think that this was not something that necessarily estate planners or their clients focused on like generations ago. And so, but now this new generation can see just how quickly wealth can explode. You know, think of, you know, startups, unicorn companies, et cetera. And all of a sudden you are dealing with trust that could last in Delaware or Texas for generations until you've run out of descendants, essentially. And so I think that there's a big focus for these families on, you know, I can raise my kids and I can know who my kids are and how they'll deal with the wealth. And here, you know, I may have questions about whether or not I want them to have that much wealth, but I really don't know who my grandkids and beyond might be. And so how can I explain to them why I did the things I did and how I want them to use the money that I'm leaving behind?
Now, on the other hand, with multi generational wealth, when you're dealing with those grandchildren and great grandchildren, what you're left with is actually trying to preserve the wealth to continue growing it, being good stewards of that wealth. And so picking people among the family members who are sophisticated enough to kind of carry on that tradition, because not every sibling and cousin and first cousin twice removed who has a trust is able to join in and actively manage the asset in a way that is prudent. And so you end up seeing the family coalescing around, picking essentially a new patriarch or a new matriarch to make some decisions jointly with a set of advisors who service that entire family. And so you're seeing the development of family offices to kind of like handle sort of merging together like the plan for those trusts.
[00:28:44] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. We're seeing it more and more. Also, what planning mistakes happen most often when a family has created wealth for the first time, but has not yet built the right structure around it.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: So here's where I would say the nice thing is until somebody has passed away, right, the mature disease state. Until somebody has passed away, you can still make mistakes. A lot of these structures can be unwound and even irrevocable trusts can be modified. Right. And so you can continue kind of like growing in your sophistication as a, as a client, you know, understanding what you're doing with a will. Right. So like baby steps, start with a will, then see if like a revocable trust makes sense for your situation because now all of a sudden you have somebody in your life, you can privatize that estate administration process and give it to somebody in your life who can handle it, then you're talking about wealth transfers. It can start as small as a 529 account, that counts as a wealth transfer vehicle, college savings for your children. And then you can level up in your sophistication as your wealth also is increasing.
And so I would say everything that you should do is really just start small in baby steps, understand what it is that you're doing, work with a financial advisor who's going to be able to level up with you as well, and then see where you end up in that process. But a lot of it is just trial and error and your own desire for sophistication.
[00:30:19] Speaker A: In a previous conversation, one thing I heard from you on the side note is that these should be reviewed every minimum two years to five years just to see what changes are there, not just set it and forget it. In 10, 15 years from now, somebody looks at the documents and there's so many different things in your life, so it's really review them regularly.
[00:30:40] Speaker B: Exactly. And I also think that, you know, the things that tend to change in your life or your clients lives are going to be, you know, on that kind of cycle of three to five years.
So even if I think about my own life and you know, I like to use myself as a, as an example, you know, I am a millennial. And so I am having my third child that is going to take updating my estate plan to make sure I haven't inadvertently written out, you know, this child who's not born yet. Number two, I've moved between states and I've actually moved between New York, which is a common law like property state. And I'm married, so I've moved to California, which is community property that carries different tax treatments. That's an ideal time to review not just my state plan for the governing law, but actually my whole financial life with a financial advisor to say, oh my gosh, now what's being shared inadvertently that I didn't realize was being shared? Right. Number three would be things like parents getting older and no longer being named as default guardians for my kids because God knows they would not be able to chase after three kids who are like, you know, five, six and under and instead naming siblings. And then as your kids get older. Right. I could imagine myself in like 18 years starting to name my own children. Right. And so life kind of keeps moving in that way and that's just like a basic timeline without like winning the lottery over here. Right, but then you can also have those asset based events that all of a sudden mean that you should be reviewing that estate plan for appropriateness.
And so again, 529 accounts today, maybe you don't want to fund the 529 beyond, you know, a few thousand dollars a year, but maybe someday you can make like a five figure gift because you know, you've had a big bonus or whatever. And so those are the types of decisions that I think, you know, how to Deploy, your liquidity, etc. That come into play. And every three to five years is kind of a great clip for, for revisiting your plan.
[00:32:44] Speaker A: Thank you. And you just, you did comment about a little bit, a lot about this next question already. But just to touch on some other facts, maybe at what point should I stop thinking only about accumulation and start thinking seriously about legacy and transfer?
[00:33:00] Speaker B: You know, it's so interesting to me because it will depend on the person so much of this, this is such a lawyerly answer. But you can have people who have like $5 million, maybe even two and say, you know, I've got enough with good retirement planning, like I've got enough to, to live. And I can seriously think about, you know, how to define my legacy through charitable giving, through, you know, bringing my kids on, you know, paying for some very significant gift, either a marriage, wedding, you know, or like something beyond college, essentially down payment on a house, you know, helping them with a startup, whatever it may be. And then you have people who are like a 50 million and they don't feel comfortable. They're like, my lifestyle, you know, with my cash flow, flow needs, etc, is like up here, 50 million is still not comfortable enough. And that's okay. And I think it really just depends on your client and their goals and how frugally they also want to live.
But that's, but take your client's lead because I think they will tell you, you know, how they feel about how they're spending their time and their relationship with their families and what truly matter to them. And I think giving them like big overarching goals, let's say like in 10 years, what would be, what would feel good to you, what you've with your money.
That is the type of conversation that will yield the, you know, start the nugget, the seed to say, okay, now let's talk about wealth transfer and not just estate planning because you might Pass away.
[00:34:31] Speaker A: Thank you. Great answer. Love these answers. Love the value we're giving to the audience. And going back on values, why do values, stewardship and communication become just as important as tax strategy and technical planning?
[00:34:46] Speaker B: I think at the end of the day, everyone has some emotional value they assign to their money, right? That's beyond just like what the actual dollar amount is. And so when you're talking about that aspect, the sort of emotional, like, how do you think about a legacy?
How do you think about communicating what's important to you? All of that can be done in a very small, soft way that's just not necessarily met by the, like, letters that are on a piece of paper that's your will or your trust or something like that. It's in the conversations that you have with family members around you. If you volunteer with the charitable organizations that you volunteer for and all of those things that you do, thinking about, you know, how you spend your time and what is then valuable to you, I think is a great way to start with that idea of then if you're not there, how do you want to deploy, you know, your dollars, but also your words to make sure that you've left something meaningful behind.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: Thank you, Ann.
In closing, just some quick points on what separates families that pass down real opportunities from families that pass down confusion.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: I mean, at the end of the day, you know, we don't have crystal balls that will tell us like, where exactly those points of friction might be that cause, you know, tension among family members.
But it pays to try.
People show you who they are today.
And so if you have somebody who's not good at answering email, if you have someone who's an instigator in your family, etc. You know who those people are. And it's okay to be honest with yourself when you're doing your estate planning about how they fit into that plan.
[00:36:42] Speaker A: Gotta love it. So pick the right person, not just the person you think you love the most.
[00:36:46] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:36:47] Speaker A: Coming up in my final segment, I'm looking ahead because technology and AI are changing estate planning fast. And I want to understand what that means for advisors, families and the future of wealth strategy. Thank you, Anne.
Welcome back to Wealth Intelligence with Dominic d'. Andrea. Stay connected to the show and every NOW Media TV favorite live on on demand anytime you like, download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast
[email protected].
welcome back to my final segment. I want to Finish with where this space is going next. Because estate planning is no longer just a static legal event, platforms like wealth.com are pushing the industry towards a living connected model that brings estate, tax and financial data together in one evolving system. With AI tools like Esther helping advisors move faster and with more precision, this is where law, wealth, strategy and technology finally converge. I want viewers to understand that the future of estate planning is not about replacing human judgment.
It's about using smarter systems to surface opportunities faster, keep plans current, and make advanced planning more accessible and useful over time. Wealth.com describes this shift as moving from one time transactional planning to a living system that makes this segment especially timely.
And welcome back.
Why is traditional one time document driven models of estate planning no longer enough for modern families?
[00:38:53] Speaker B: Because families are complex and they expect technology to play a significant part in making their lives not just easier, but to record the things that matter to them. Think about, you know, social media didn't used to be a thing and then all of a sudden, you know, these days, I think everyone has a social media account before or after they're a certain age in the United States. It's just sort of an expectation. Right. And so we just lead technologically driven lives and we expect, you know, the old pen and paper ways of doing things. You know, you have to show up to an attorney's office or the conversation, etc. To just look different these days.
[00:39:39] Speaker A: Yes, I mean I see it all the time with my clients. If I, if I walk in with a paper financial plan, they're like, what is this?
They want to see data, they want to see all the stuff that they can use and live with. So I understand that 100%.
What are the biggest weaknesses in the old approach that technology can now solve more effectively?
[00:39:58] Speaker B: Yes, I think that technology in the legal, for folks who are interested in putting together an estate plan, the space, right. And people that it's more achievable, effective.
Now the interesting thing here that I would say is we do put wills and trust into people's hands through our technology.
Happened in 2022, in December was the huge part of everybody's I think daily lexicon, right. So ChatGPT, Claude, etc, I think all.
And it just, I think exacerbated in some ways a problem that existed before where people could always put together their wills and like Aretha Franklin, like writing on a notebook page like, you know, what she wanted of her will and it was found behind a pillow or something like that to put together a will. But now you can just do it seemingly faster and safer with generative AI.
Here is where I would caution folks attorney's role in this or an attorney still plays a very important role in this because at the effective document in your hands does not necessarily the experience to have thought of all the issues that and is thorough that it's well so that somebody with like years of experience in this field station to reduce the conflicts that we've maybe you have somebody who's fine naming four kids as you heard earlier in the show. You know four kids in a really bad situation once you've passed away. So probably not generative AI.
[00:42:11] Speaker A: Right. So those free solutions that you think you have all the legal documents result you really wanted to have happen because you didn't have the expertise or knowledge.
[00:42:25] Speaker B: Exactly. And I have a thousand different examples you want XYZ done but actually under the law actually maybe a judge would override this. So my favorite here is the pet trust like people leaving significant amounts of money for generations of dogs that could actually be legally ineffective invalidate run those risks when there's not somebody there is a good idea or this will cause
[00:42:59] Speaker A: major issues.com's AI tools are designed to analyze estate documents using support advisor workflows. Where do you see the brig?
[00:43:13] Speaker B: You know, for me it's ho on AI obviously advertisement of what it is that we're doing. But we do truly models that a lot of our companies including wealth, the chat GPTs, the Geminis, etc are going to be sophisticated enough someday to do not just you know, helping writers hands but being able to make video.
Right.
But it is about you know, how is that product good for humanity I think is very important and I think it's you know, whether or not it's of one person versus another. So clear example.
We actually don't use generative AI in our it's a very old school decision tree. It doesn't have so every comma is a comma that I've reviewed in our forms to the hands of somebody who's on wealth.com drafting they're not going to get them that person's passed away.
But you know, general you know, generating visuals we think that's fine. You know, it's a summer or you know, doing research planning. We think that's a great use of AI and so we're constantly looking be surprised if someday we said hey, you know actually attorneys form straight into our documents and help you get so it's just about like balance and harm to people
[00:45:12] Speaker A: that the next question which was as AI part of this process should remain deeply human. No matter you answered that already. You know it's. It's important you know, it's important where it's valuable, it's important where it's helping create touch is still the most important part of any relationship. So I'm going to skip to the last question because again you covered most of that already in this.
If I'm a viewer trying to plan intelligently for the future, what should I be looking for from an era of planning
[00:45:53] Speaker B: for me I think it is truly.
This is maybe a boring answer but smart in terms of its architecture and you as a human being in the age of AI will expect that away to one of these technology companies that you can the benefit of you know insights data you've given and not have to repeat it over and over again or before you get one single output that's useful to you and so the how to connect all the data and be able to keep it in a way that's secure deal you know smart insights to people and the best outputs companies that you as advisors should be looking at.
[00:46:52] Speaker A: Yeah great integrations Clients don't want to get a step words from 10 different entities. They want one simple or they want.
Thank you very much. This is you know and this has been where can viewers connect with you follow your work and learn in the estate planning space.
[00:47:21] Speaker B: Well to Google me because they can find me on podcast a wealth.com called the Practical Planner that I that one is very much geared at financial advice state planning and just in general check out well are about us section.
[00:47:46] Speaker A: Thank you appreciate it.
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