Faith-Based Planning: Trust & Estate Strategies for Beliefs

Every trust and estate plan reflects the values of the client.  These values are often rooted, consciously or not, in religious, philosophical or ethical belief systems.  Some clients choose to make these values explicit in their plans and documents.  This can be sensitive terrain for lawyers, not always familiar with integrating explicit religious, philosophical, and ethical statements into legal documents. Understanding the purposes of clients, advising clients about the real limits of what the law can accomplish or will allow, and drafting documents for these clients can be a major challenge.  This program will discuss advising clients about integrating religious, philosophical and ethical beliefs into their trust and estate plans.

Schedule:

• Understanding and documenting client beliefs and the purposes they seek to achieve in trust and estate plans
• Counseling clients about what can be practically achieved and the limitations of law
• Anticipating possible post-mortem challenges and steps to enhance enforceability and mitigate litigation
• Practical guidance on drafting underlying legal or supplementary documents – and common traps