Holidays are a wonderful time to enjoy family traditions and catch-up with relatives over the dinner table. With family already on their minds, December is a perfect time to remind those within your community that while they might be able to avoid family drama this year by staying at home, their estate plan might not be as lucky.

In order to help individuals navigate family dynamics and protect their estate plans, attorneys need to make sure they are aware of all potential issues. This means educating oneself on the issues, as well as creating a process by which a client is able to openly and honestly discuss these emotionally-charged topics.

The holiday season may be the busiest time of the year for estate planners. With family on their minds, your clients may be reaching out to you for last-minute estate plan changes, or to make good on a promise to update their estate plan. It’s also the perfect opportunity to make sure your clients’ estate plans are designed to take advantage of current tax law and proposed regulations. Here are three year-end strategies (beyond the most common strategies) to help you meet your clients’ needs.  

Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a decedent’s will if they have one, gathering and valuing their assets, identifying and settling their debts, and, ultimately, distributing their estate to their chosen beneficiaries or heirs as determined by law. There are many compelling reasons to help clients plan to avoid probate. Probate can be costly and time-consuming. It can turn a deeply personal matter into a public proceeding during an already difficult and grief-filled time.