PRE-ENGAGEMENT: INTRODUCTORY VISIT
Before engaging our firm,
our clients have an opportunity to meet us in person, and we gain an overview of their unique situation and concerns. During this complimentary meeting, we will explain our planning process and the client will decide to move forward with the Review Engagement.
This complimentary visit is designed to provide an opportunity to begin a personal relationship with the client, instill confidence in our firm and set expectations.
REVIEW ENGAGEMENT: Clarity of Problem
GATHERING THE DATA
When
the client engages our firm to review their affairs to gain a complete understanding of their situation and goals, we will quote a fee for the Review Engagement, and the proceed to gather and evaluate the following information:
• Existing Estate Planning documents, including pre-marital and post-nuptial agreements
• Most recent individual and business tax returns (past 3 years)
• Business entity documentation, including articles, buy-sells, stock-ownership plans, current financial statements, etc.
• Life insurance policies, including ownership, current CSV/IRV, premiums, beneficiaries and purpose for each policy
• Current financial statements, including the ownership and basis of all holdings
• Copies of all real estate deeds, co-ownership agreements and any liabilities on properties
• Confidential Client Profile completed by the Client or their Advisor
EVALUATION
Prior to substantive meetings with a Laureate client, we perform a detailed evaluation of the family and estate information, including tax and financial information and existing planning documentation. Within 30 days of receiving a client’s information and documents, we will conduct a thorough review and evaluation to determine if, at a minimum, we can save them significant taxes and expenses.
During this review, we will schedule a one- or two-day retreat with the client and any advisors they invite, away from all office responsibilities, to enable the client to tell us in detail about their family and wealth strategy goals. The client’s specific input is essential to prepare an appropriate and effective Wealth Strategies Plan. At the end of this evaluation, the client will be presented with an organized portfolio, easily accessible and understandable to the client and the other advisors.
INITIAL
VISIT
We
visit with the client, their family members, business partners and their advisors for a one- or two-day retreat to understand their every planning nuance and desire and to heighten and expand their expectations. Away from all the pressures of daily life, they are open to discovering their enlightened dreams and what they really want to accomplish with their planning.
DESIGN ENGAGEMENT: Clarity of Solution
ANALYZE
& TEST
In collaboration with the client’s team of advisors, we analyze, test, and challenge combinations of planning theories and strategies for the allocation, distribution, and protection of the client’s assets. We determine those that will best fulfill the client’s stated needs and desires for themselves and their family. This Preliminary Plan is often enhanced by the contribution of the entire team of a client’s advisors.
BUILDING
THE PLAN
Through the use of narratives, graphs, charts, models, and schedules, our firm and the other advisors build every aspect of your comprehensive and understandable Estate Plan. While there is no perfect answer, we strive for the optimal impact within a manageable plan.
PRESENTING
THE PRELIMINARY PLAN
We then meet with the client and Advisor Team to walk through the big picture and then the finer points of the preliminary plan design. We facilitate a critique of the plan to ensure that it is truly tailored to satisfy and exceed the client’s every expectation. During this critique, we note every reaction, critique, and idea in order to further tailor the plan.
PRESENTING
THE ENHANCED PLAN
We present the fine-tuned plan with the enhancements and set fees, timelines, responsibilities for the Implementation of the plan. The infinitely complex plan is transformed into an understandable and workable model.
IMPLEMENTATION
ENGAGEMENT: Putting the Plan to Work
We review and confirm all aspects of the plan with the client. With the client’s understanding and approval, we assign every detail of the plan to the appropriate advisors for immediate action. Each advisor provides the client with a detailed plan and implementation schedule.
CONFIRMATION
During this celebratory visit, we answer any remaining questions and present the client with their family's completed Plan.
THE
FAMILY COUNSELOR PROGRAM: Continuity of Relationship
After becoming intimately involved with our client’s families and lives, they often want us to remain involved with their affairs, to be available to them on an ongoing basis and to keep the plan current, so, in the tradition of the old-fashioned family lawyer, we created the Family Counselor Program.
