By Roberta M. Gubbins
Legal News
C. Richard Herrold of Financial Technology, Inc. was the speaker at the Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council (GLEPC) Luncheon held on September 10th at Walnut Hills Country Club in East Lansing. His topic was the importance of coordination between attorneys, financial planners and other professionals to create estate plans.
An effective estate plan, he explained, is a team effort. The necessary potential team members include the lawyer, the financial planner, an accountant, an insurance agent, an investment advisor and a trust officer. Each plays a specific role in the planning process.
A lawyer is necessary, he noted, to draft the legal documents. "You can't have a financial plan," he added, "unless you include legal documents, because (clients) need to put in writing what we should do with their assets if they're not here to tell us anymore."
“Most clients will expect two or three team members to begin the planning process,” he said. And those members could be a Certified Financial Planner, an Insurance Agent and/or an attorney.
Herrold recommended that referrals come from the members of the GLEPC. Emphasizing, “We are colleagues, not competitors,” he suggested ways for members of the group to work together including:
· Coordinate appointments and activities during the planning process.
· Encourage document sharing with clients’ permission using e-mail scan.
· Design tax shelters together, whether investment strategies, retirement plans or legal documents.
· Seek ideas and solutions without dismissing a strategy or product before investigating suitability for the client.
Moving on to the issues of education and promotion, he said, “We need to expand our efforts to improve our knowledge base" and invite each other to speak at public events to promote our services and spread our knowledge to the public.
Herrold noted some areas that needed to be addressed by those in the business of estate planning. First of all, “we need to be aware of elder abuse. Unfortunately much of the abuse of financial transactions is from relatives, which makes our job all the more difficult.”
Other areas of concern involve the young families who fail to have a will or life insurance or plan for their children’s education; financing long term care with Medicaid, insurance, or asset based insurance; and titling of documents meaning that account titles should match the legal documents and beneficiary designations should follow the clients’ goals.
“Our responsibility to our public is of paramount importance,” he concluded. “And our cooperation results in documents, plans, assets, and risk management that help families remain solvent, help businesses continue and allow society to prosper.”
C. Richard Herrold is the Chairman of the Board of Financial Technology, Inc. His professional focus has been on personal finance and estate planning. He is a Certified Financial Planner, Licensed Insurance Counselor and Agent, and a Pension Consultant.
Established in 1971, the Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council provides educational, networking and social opportunities for its members through its meetings and annual social event. GLEPC holds five educational meetings a year. These meetings are held the second Tuesday September thru February. Each CLRPC year is topped off with a social event held in April.
The membership is comprised of the five traditional estate planning professions: accountants, attorneys, financial planners, insurance agents and trust officer. The organization also welcomes professionals involved in any area associated with estate planning.
Mark Quimby, Vice President, introduced the speaker and the Board members present at the luncheon. The next luncheon for GLEPC will be on October 8th at Walnut Hills, with speakers Mindi Johnson and Lauren Dunn from Foster Swift Collins and Smith speaking on Health Care Reform Updates. For more information please contact Katie Lynwood at klynwood@borpc.com.
Photo by Roberta M. Gubbins
C. Richard Herrold, Chairman of the Board of Financial Technology, Inc, speaker at the Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council luncheon.
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