A week or two ago, while driving home, I was listening to a radio discussion that caught my attention.
A woman had two children. One was married, had children of their own, and was struggling financially. The other was unmarried, had no children, and was doing considerably better financially.
The mother was considering leaving everything she owned to the child who was struggling.
And then came the question: Is that fair?
As you might expect, the telephone lines lit up.
Some felt that it was entirely her decision. It was her estate, so she could decide who should benefit from it. Others believed that both children should be treated equally and should each receive half. Others suggested some sort of middle ground: give something to both children but perhaps give more to the one who needed it most.
What interested me, however, was how many of those opinions were shaped by personal experience.
Some callers spoke about what had happened when their own parents had passed away. They spoke about what they had received, what somebody else had received, and whether they believed the outcome had been fair. In some cases, there was clearly still disappointment or hurt attached to what had happened.
Everybody had an opinion, but many of those opinions came from something that had already happened to them.
As I listened, another question occurred to me.
How many of the people judging her estate plan had dealt with their own?
How many had drafted their will, and have a completed one saved? How many had reviewed an old will after their circumstances had changed? How many had considered what would happen to their families if they died tomorrow?
A will is not simply a legal document. It is also an intensely personal and emotionally linked document. It deals with family, relationships, expectations, and our own understanding of what is fair.
Getting it right is not always easy.
What one person considers fair may not be what another person considers fair. A decision that makes perfect sense to the person drafting the will may be viewed very differently by the people left behind. And, by then, the person who made the decision is no longer there to explain why.
That is precisely why doing something about your own estate planning matters.
You may never be able to guarantee that everybody will agree with the decisions you make. But by considering those decisions carefully, putting your wishes in writing, keeping your will up to date and making sure that the practical arrangements around your estate have been dealt with, you have a far better chance of ensuring that your family and loved ones are treated as fairly as you believe they should be.
But a will is only part of the conversation.
An estate also needs to work practically. Is there sufficient cash available to meet the costs that could arise, or will assets have to be sold to pay those costs? Are the people who need to deal with your affairs able to find the necessary information? Do they know where your bank accounts, investments and important documents are? Do they know who your financial adviser, banker or fiduciary specialist is?
Then there are the smaller matters that may never belong in a will.
Who should care for a pet? Who did you promise a particular painting, item of clothing, or sentimental possession to? Where are important documents kept? Who needs to be contacted, and what are their contact details? Are there special friends or acquaintances who need to be notified, especially those who live abroad?
When I was an active financial planner, I used a simple additional document with many of my clients. I called it “In Case of My Death.”
It was not a will, and it was never intended to replace one. It simply brought everything together. It recorded where important information could be found, who should be contacted, and what still needed to be known. In many ways, it was the document that rounded off everything.
Perhaps there is also a more considered solution for the mother in the radio discussion than simply leaving everything to one child and nothing to the other. There may be estate-planning options that she has not considered.
But those possibilities only emerge when people start having the conversation.
That may mean speaking to a financial planning professional or fiduciary specialist, putting an estate plan together, drafting or reviewing a will, considering whether the estate will have sufficient liquidity, and making sure that the wishes expressed can be carried out.
The radio discussion was about one woman, two children, and what people believed was fair.
But perhaps that was never the most important part of the conversation.
Instead of only looking at somebody else’s decisions and deciding whether they were fair, perhaps we should occasionally turn that same question back on ourselves.
If something happened to you tomorrow, would the people you leave behind know what you wanted, where to find what they needed, and what they were supposed to do next?
World Financial Planning Day
World Financial Planning Day on 7 October highlights the value of financial planning and helping people turn goals into action. It is also a reminder that financial planning is about more than individual decisions – it is about how the different parts of a person’s financial life fit together.
That approach is reflected in the courses offered by Moonstone Business School of Excellence (MBSE). Estate planning forms part of the curriculum for the Higher Certificate in Wealth Management (NQF 5), Advanced Certificate in Financial Planning (NQF 6) and Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning (NQF 8), alongside areas such as tax, investment and retirement planning.
For financial planning professionals looking to develop their skills, MBSE also offers CPD training, including 6 Steps of Financial Planning, an eight-hour CPD course focused on the broader financial planning process.
For more information about MBSE’s range of qualifications, visit www.mbse.ac.za or contact MBSE at help@mbse.ac.za.
Tyrone Ford is a Certified Financial Planner® and Senior Lecturer at MBSE, with postgraduate qualifications in Financial Planning, Taxation, and Estate Planning, and a Master of Education in Higher Education. His teaching excellence has been recognised with the Stadio Academic Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
Disclaimer: This article was contributed by MBSE, a sister company of Moonstone Information Refinery. The views expressed are those of the author and are provided for general information purposes only. They should not be regarded as financial, legal or estate-planning advice.
