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What Nobel Prize Winner Kazuo Ishiguro’s Novel Can Teach You About Estate Planning

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Kazuo Ishiguro author

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2017 was awarded to Kazuo Ishiguro, “who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.” Ishiguro has written several novels, and is best known for two: The Remains of the Day, and Never Let Me Go.

Never Let Me Go

Published in 2005, Never Let Me Go is a unique creation, a dystopian romantic drama set in a British boarding school; it’s part Kafka, part Austen, with a dashes of soft science fiction, and even slave narratives thrown in. Still, despite its uniqueness (or, because of it), the novel reveals four themes useful when planning your estate.

If you’ve read Never Let Me Go, you know it’s so hard to discuss this book without spoilers. Still, no spoilers below.

Lesson # 1. You need direct, unvarnished, and unbiased advice

Never Let Me Go is told in first person narrative by the character Kathy H.

Kathy H. is what your English lit professor called an “unreliable narrator.” There are reasons to question if what she relates is the entire truth. She’s limited even as to what she is truly and able to see and reflect upon.

But, don’t we all have our own blind spots? A good estate planning lawyer, along with professional expertise, offers a clear view and objectivity. By working with a lawyer, you’re going to bring that extra voice of reason to bear on current and future estate planning needs. Is it a good idea to leave your entire estate to your cat Tiger? Should you instead consider a pet trust? Is your 18-year-old kid truly mature enough to responsibly handle your million-dollar life insurance policy payout in one lump sum? A lawyer can give you direct, unvarnished, and unbiased advice.

Lesson # 2. YOU decide the terms of your own estate plan

Many who’ve read Never Let Me Go come to vastly different conclusions as to what the novel “means.” No one interpretation is “right,” nor are any interpretations “wrong.”

When you talk to your beneficiaries about estate planning—whether it’s loved ones, charities, or hopefully both—be aware they have their own point-of-view. That’s not meant as criticism. It’s just that reasonable folks can, and often do, differ on resolving issues.

It’s YOUR estate plan. Except for the most extreme cases, there is no right or wrong. Your estate plan is whatever you decide it is.

Never let me go quote

Lesson # 3. Read and reread (and reread again) very carefully

Never Let Me Go, at first glance, is a coming-of-age story, with twists. Upon rereading, many readers report they view the novel much differently—as a deep allegory; a meditation on memory and forgetting; the meaning of love and what it means to be loved; the definition of being human; and most especially, what should we each do with our own life, lives that are all too short.

Even though you’ve hired a professional estate planner, who’s put a lot of time and thought into drafting an estate plan perfect for your needs, you must read the estate planning so carefully. And reread it. Upon rereading(s) you might, say, change your mind on overall goals; think of a new issue to address; realize what sounded good during a conversation may not look as appealing when written down on paper; remember another nonprofit you want to aid, and so on.

Read, read carefully, and reread carefully.

Lesson #4. Leave a Legacy

Forgive me for posting this horrible hypothetical, but suppose you suddenly suffer from major organ failure. What will your legacy be? What do you want your legacy to be?

Estate planning is largely a part of leaving a lasting legacy. No matter what happens, through estate planning you ensure your legacy will continue.

Have you read Never Let Me Go? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book as well as any questions you may have about your estate plan. If you don’t have an estate plan, now is a great time to get started. Fill out my Estate Plan Questionnaire or contact me by phone (515-371-6077) or email.

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Understand football? Then you can understand estate planning.

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Football

This upcoming weekend college football fans in Iowa will all seem to converge in the annual colossal clash of Hawkeyes versus Cyclones. (It’s a tradition that dates back to 1977 and has been extended through 2023.) Even the University of Northern Iowa fans tend to take sides in this match-up that has the energy of a statewide holiday.

cyclones vs. hawkeyes

Talking tailgating and reviewing the predictions got me thinking that although this game is huge in the ongoing (usually fun) banter battle between Iowa and ISU fans (and coaches), it represents just a small part of the season. Both teams endure grueling pre-season training and both have a long regular season ahead of them, not even counting any playoff games. Plus, a lot can happen over the course of a football team’s season. Star players can get hurt, strategies can change, and unexpected variables get tossed into the mix. But, great coaches have solid plans in place for when the game changes.

And, that’s why if you can understand even the basics of football you can understand estate planning!

Just like every football season eventually comes to an end, your (hopefully long and healthy) season will also come to a close. When it does, you need a special kind of playbook for the rest of your team…AKA an estate plan. In this analogy an experienced lawyer is the great coach who is going to help you put plans in place for when the game changes unexpectedly or the stadium lights turn off for the last time. And, just like so much can change over the course of a season, a lot will happen over the course of your lifetime. That’s where annual reviews and revisions after significant events fit in.

football stadium

While it is often difficult for people to ponder their unavoidable exit off their own fictitious field, preparation for what happens after your season is over can be one of the most comforting aspects of financial and legal planning.

The Main Players

Let’s take this analogy a bit further and put some estate planning terms into football speak.

  1. Estate – An estate is the whole playbook, containing the following documents: your will; healthcare power of attorney; financial power of attorney; disposition of personal property; and final disposition of remains. (Go more in depth with this blog post.)
  1. Will – A will deals primarily with the distribution of assets and care for minor children. You need to make certain the will is well drafted, solid, and can stand up in court. Keep in mind though, important assets such as a life insurance policy payouts, retirement assets, and investment accounts may well contain beneficiary designations that trump your will.
  1. Trust – You have lots of different options with this player. A trust can dictate how your assets will be dispersed, the timeline and manner in which they are dispersed, and who’s overseeing the process.

Mid-Season Starting Lineup Adjustments

Just as a coach may switch up who’s starting partway through the season, you’ll may need to make adjustments to your estate plan as things inevitably change over the course of your life. Big events like marriage, birth of a child/grandchild, moving to a different state, a large change in financial status, divorce, and other significant changes are good reason to review your “playbook.”

No ‘I’ in Team

Your loved ones and close friends are all a part of your team; part of being a strong team player is including them on the plays you’re making. Discuss important aspects of your estate plan with the people it involves to avoid any confusion or conflict when it comes times for them to carry out your wishes. For instance, if you have minor children (under age 18) you’re going to want to establish legal guardianship if the worst happens and you’re no longer around to care for them. You’ll want to discuss with your chosen guardians ahead of time to make sure they’re willing and available to carry out the responsibility.

referee

Final Score

There are probably at least a few more good football analogies I could tie into the conversation of why you need an estate plan, but the most important takeaway is that you never know when the game is going to change. So, you need to have your “playbook” written out ASAP. The best place to start is with my free, no obligation Estate Plan Questionnaire. You can also shoot me an email or give me a call at 515-371-6077 to discuss your situation (or football).

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12 Things Every Iowan Should Know About Estate Planning

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Gordon Fischer working hard to make sure a proper estate plan is in place for you and your family
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From a Client: Why we Chose to Hire Gordon Fischer to Create our First Estate Plan

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Although well-meaning, my husband and I are perpetually running late. We are late for everything—missing the first two minutes of a movie, showing up 30 seconds too late to see the balloon drop at a New Year’s Eve party, showing up to a physical therapy session five minutes late… Sound familiar?

When it came to finances, my husband and I managed to keep up on bills and our credit scores were decent, but we were always just doing the minimum to keep our heads above water. Saving enough funds for a couple trips, enough to pay the bills, and maybe throw a couple bucks into long term savings.

There is a game changer in this equation: our daughter.

Photo by Aditya Romansa on Unsplash

She has been the single greatest catalyst in our lives and has forced us to address the facts about sound financials and estate planning. We were especially concerned about the potential for an accident involving both me and my husband.

We decided to create an estate plan with Gordon because we needed reassurance that should anything happen to us, she would be cared for with as minimal amount of legal hiccups as possible.

Gordon set us up with a complete estate plan. It wasn’t nearly as complicated (nor as expensive) as we would have thought.

My husband and I took special care selecting her guardians, should something happen to us, as well as setting up a trust for her to gain access to assets after her 18th birthday.

We plan to revisit the estate plan annually, just to make sure that everything is current. In addition to her college fund, it is our way of taking her financial security seriously and planning for the unexpected. Maybe she’ll forgive us for the chronic lateness she inherited with the knowledge that she has also inherited a strong financial support system in place to help her, no matter what.

Note from Gordon: If you’re like this client (who wished to remain anonymous), children and grandchildren can mean you’ll pursue legal and financial actions you never thought of before to ensure piece of mind that they’ll be taken care of if something happens to you. There’s no harm in giving me a call or shooting me an email to at least talk about what you may need in terms of an individualized estate plan. I look forward to working with you!

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Free Workshop April 26: Basics of Estate Planning

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Gordon Fischer Basics of Estate Planning Workshop

Let’s be honest, estate planning isn’t the most enticing topic to spend your free time on. The last thing you want to do after a long week at work is to dive into the depths of the internet to attempt to understand what an estate plan actually is and why you need one. Even if you do get that far, it’s hard to know where even to begin to start making an estate plan. Can you write one yourself? Do you have to hire a lawyer? What information do you even need?

Lucky for you, estate planning is one of my passions and what I spend a good deal of time and focus on while achieving the mission of Gordon Fischer Law Firm: To promote and maximize charitable giving in Iowa.

Gordon Fischer Law Firm mission

On April 26 at 325 E Washington St, Iowa City (in the large conference room on the 1st floor), I’ll take the mystery and complicated leg work out of estate planning. We’ll keep it simple and easy to understand while we cover:

  1. Five major reasons you need an estate plan
  2. Six “must have” estate planning documents
  3. Seven common mistakes in estate planning (and how to avoid them!)

Bring your questions and I’ll stick around after the presentation until all questions are answered.

The hour-long workshop is free and open to the public. A light lunch will be served.

It’s been approved for one hour of CFP credit for financial planners AND for one-hour of CLE for Iowa lawyers.

Please RSVP to gordon@gordonfischerlawfirm.com. 

Choose “going” on the Facebook event and invite your friends, co-workers, and family to join you!

Can’t make it to the event, but still want to learn more? Contact me at any time via email at gordon@gordonfischerlawfirm.com or phone at 515-371-6077.

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Prince Died Without a Will: 4 Reasons YOU Need an Estate Plan

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Prince 1958-2016

When Prince died in 2016 the world lost an icon and amazing contributor to music and art. Unfortunately, it has come to light that the award-winning artist passed away without an estate plan. Considering all of Prince’s 12 properties, eight vehicles, fine art, unreleased music, and hoarded gold bars, it’s estimated his entire estate could be worth $300 million pre-tax. Prince didn’t have any stocks or bonds but he did have about $6 million spread across four companies. A Minnesota court judge on the issue said without the will the estate’s current status is “personal and corporate mayhem.” Comerica Bank & Trust—the company that took over the Bremer Trust’s duties to administer the “Purple Rain” singer’s estate earlier this year—is still appraising the total value of the estate and itemizing everything Prince owned.

Paisley Park

Prince’s Minneapolis estate, Paisley Park Studios

The situation has created a tragic real world example of the infighting and conflict that can occur if passing away without a will; currently there are six potential heirs to Prince’s fortune including his sister and five other half-siblings.

Now, most Iowans aren’t going to have multiple gold bars sitting around and properties valued at over $25 million total, but that doesn’t make what assets and property you do have any less important. If you don’t have a will, it can cost your family and friends a lot of time, a lot of money, and indeed lots of anxiety and even heartache. Here are four reasons you need a will.

  1. Without a will, probate courts and the Iowa Legislature decide everything about your estate.

If you die without a will, you are leaving it up to the legislature/courts to decide who will receive your property. Or possibly even who will get to raise your children!

  1. Without a will, you cannot choose a guardian for your children.

After Prince died multiple claims were put forth about potential biological and adopted children. Whether or not those claims are true, you likely do know who your children are and if you die without a will, the courts will choose guardians for your children. One of the most important aspects of a will is that it allows you to designate who will be the guardian for your children. This can ensure that your children are cared for by the person that you want, not who the court chooses for you.

  1. Without a will, the probate court will choose your estate’s executor.

If you die without a will, the probate court is forced to name an executor. The executor of your estate handles tasks like paying your creditors and distributing the rest of your assets to your heirs. Of course, if the probate court has to pick who will be your estate’s executor, there is always a possibility that you would not have approved of that person if you had been alive.

If you have a will, it will name an executor who will carry out all of your final wishes, pay your bills, and distribute your assets just as you wanted.

Prince and purple symbol

  1. Without a will, you can’t give your favorite nonprofits gifts from your estate.

Prince was a resident of Minnesota, and each state has different matters regarding intestate succession (dying without a valid will). If you die without a will, your estate assets—your house, savings, life insurance, trusts—will pass to your heirs under Iowa’s statute. But, if you have a will, you can include gifts to your favorite nonprofits and see that they are helped for many years to come. Prince may have wanted to give to charities given his track record while living. He gave to Black Lives Matter, Harlem Children’s Zone, and National Public Radio. Prince was actively engaged with #YesWeCode, an initiative to train black children for good jobs in the tech industry. He gave more than $1.5 million over just two years to Love 4 One Another Charities Tour and supported an environmentalist group working to fight climate change and grown green jobs among other initiatives, Green For All. Regrettably, without an estate plan Prince didn’t have a chance to support these charities through his estate in the event of his death.

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Your Farmland and the Future: Setting Goals, Taking Action

Your Farmland and the Future White Paper

I had the chance to write an article pertinent to modern Iowa farmers in a new white paper published by Peoples Company entitled, Your Farmland and the Future: Setting Goals, Taking Action. My piece is focused on the basics of wills, trusts, estates, and estate planning for farmers, farm families, and farm businesses. Peoples Company President, Steve Bruere wrote a great introduction that sums up the need for the paper:

With approximately 30 million crop acres in Iowa, farmland represents over $234 billion of asset value in Iowa alone. According to the latest land tenure study at Iowa State University, 55 percent of Iowa farmland is owned by someone age 65 or older. Using conservative estimates, nearly 50 percent of Iowa farmland could transfer in some form or fashion over the next 20 years. These statistics are similar throughout most of the major agricultural areas in the United States. The future of farmland ownership and agriculture as a whole will look dramatically different than it does today as this wealth transfer occurs. Keeping land in families and local communities is the ideal result, and the only way for this to happen is proper planning.

Regardless if you are a farmer or not, the majority of the estate planning basics apply to ALL Iowans. Scroll to page 26 of this PDF to read the article in full.  Also, scroll to page 32 for a great guide to “Write Your Own Farm Legacy Letter.”

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Five Legal Lessons You Can Take Away from The End of Oscars 2017

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Winning an Oscar Award Academy Award leaves a legacy

I, along with all of you, just watched the totally wild end of Oscars 2017. Here are five legal lessons you can take away from this debacle.

(1) Absolutely, positively ANYTHING can happen at ANY time. So, be smart, plan ahead, and secure your future and your family’s future. A major way to do that is through estate planning.

(2) Planning is paramount. Somewhere along the line, protocols weren’t met, and a wrong envelope was handed out at the wrong time. Proper planning would have — SHOULD HAVE — prevented that.

(3) Double check EVERYTHING. Are you SURE your will is updated? Are you POSITIVE your estate planning documents are still in that safety deposit box, and your kids have access? Are you CERTAIN you updated your estate planning documents after your third kid was born? Go see your estate planning lawyer. 

(4) Did Warren Beatty seem a bit confused? He and his family might consider a medical checkup, and might also consider a Healthcare Power of Attorney. I explain all about healthcare PoAs and their importance here: LINK. And I’m not picking on Warren, I’m really not. A Healthcare PoA is good for everyone. Seriously, everyone should strongly consider a Healthcare PoA.

(5) Download my Estate Planning Questionnaire. The Oscars may end in total confusion, but you shouldn’t. The Estate Planning Questionnaire will ensure a smooth and predictable ending, just like you want.

 

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The Oscars & Estate Planning

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Winning an Oscar Award Academy Award leaves a legacy

What could the Oscars possibly have to do with the estate planning?

Actually, a lot. The most celebrated films – the Best Picture Award nominees – all feature themes of death and legacy. Certainly, in some films, this theme is more pronounced than in others. But in all the films, death and legacy are present, almost as if unseen actors just offstage.

In Fences, an ex-ballplayer openly mocks death, wryly declaring more than once, and always with a wink, “Death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.” Later, confronted with a sudden tragedy, he throws open a window and shouts into a storm, daring death to take him on.

In Manchester by the Sea, the tragedy of premature deaths washes over the entire story. Like waves relentlessly pounding the beach during a storm, the characters cannot escape memories of tragic loss.

Hacksaw Ridge is of course about death in war. The protagonist struggles, with tremendous courage, to save lives during the horrific carnage of battle.

Arrival actually features a “canary in a coal mine.” In movie’s dénouement, the characters are given a whole new way of looking at life and death, at past and present.

We shouldn’t be the least bit surprised by any of this, of course. Great art so often wrestles with the meaning of death and legacy. Think about Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, to Shakespeare’s plays, all the way to recent novels like Marilynne Robinson’s Lila and Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread.

In movies, characters so often face the riddles of death and legacy, because we do so in real life. How to give life meaning? How best to leave a legacy? Allow me to suggest that one very practical, and even relatively easy, way to secure your legacy is through estate planning.

For all of us, at some point, the credits will roll and the screen will go dark. Before that time comes, diligently plan so that your loved ones are protected and taken care of.

Perhaps most importantly for the question of legacy, through estate planning we can leave meaningful charitable gifts to our favorite charities. Without estate planning, it’s just not possible to make charitable gifts at death.

Do estate planning, do it right, so your testamentary gifts can help nonprofits for decades to come – quite a legacy for you. One might even say, proper estate planning, with a charitable component, is deserving of an award.

Now, pass the popcorn, and enjoy the show. Tomorrow, take some time to get started on your own legacy, by downloading my Estate Planning Questionnaire.

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