You can take the money from that retirement account in one big lump sum, no matter how young you are, but that will trigger a tax bill – probably a hefty one.

It’s tempting to take the lump sum, especially if it represents a huge windfall of cash for you. But you should be aware it’s also a windfall for the IRS.

As a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in working with high net worth clients, I know this issue will become an even more common one in the coming years as the aging Baby Boomers die, transferring their wealth to their Generation X and Millennial offspring.

Some have called it the greatest wealth transfer in history, as over the next few decades the Boomers are expected to leave about $30 trillion in assets to their children and grandchildren.

Part of that money is in tax-deferred retirement plans such as a traditional IRA or an employee-sponsored 401(k) that Baby Boomers have been contributing to for decades.

They didn’t have to pay taxes on the money they contributed to those plans until they started withdrawing the money in retirement. But just to ensure those taxes aren’t deferred forever, the government requires a minimum withdrawal each year once the account holder reaches age 70½.

The IRS also isn’t picky about who does the paying. It’s fine with collecting the taxes from heirs if the retiree dies before spending all the money.

A spouse who inherits such an account falls under different rules, but I have advice for anyone else who finds themselves in this situation:

• Consider a tax strategy.

If you inherit an IRA, think about your need for these gifted funds. If there is no need for the funds for at least five years, consider repositioning them into a tax-advantaged vehicle over the next five years and save yourself thousands of dollars in taxes over your lifetime. We always prepare an RMD analysis and find that paying the tax man over the next five years, while we still have the second lowest tax base in U.S. history, is much more appealing than deferring the tax and then being trapped into paying them in a rising tax rate climate. Taxes must inevitably go up in the future, she says, because of our current federal debt of $20 Trillion combined with the concurrent retirement of the Boomers in mass.

• Understand what kind of account you inherited.

The rules for a Roth IRA are different from the rules for a traditional IRA. Taxes were already paid on the money that was contributed to a Roth. If the Roth was funded more than five years before the person died, you won’t need to pay taxes when you take distributions.

• Don’t rush into a bad decision.

You will face deadlines for when you have to make decisions (the IRS won’t remain patient forever), but there’s no need to be hasty and do something you’ll regret later. If you don’t have a financial advisor, she says, it would be wise to find one who can help you figure out what the best tax strategy will be for your situation.

Maybe you really do need the money, so taking the lump sum makes sense, But I think most people who do that are going to regret it later, especially if they just blow all the money right away and don’t have anything to show for their inheritance.

Rebecca Walser is a licensed tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in working with high net worth individuals, families and businesses at Walser Wealth (www.walserwealth.com). She earned her juris doctor degree from the University of Florida and her masters of law degree in taxation from New York University.

Financial professionals, though, say ignoring the eventuality of death is unwise when it comes to a couple’s decisions about retirement and money.

“The decisions you make today can affect your spouse’s financial situation after you pass away,” says Peter Bombara, CEO and founder of PCB Financial Advisory Group (http://www.pcbfinancial.com/).

“A lot of people aren’t comfortable talking about the subject because they don’t want to think about their husband or wife dying. But you have choices to make about your pension, your Social Security and your investments, and the implications of those choices can have a lasting impact on your surviving spouse.”

For example, both a monthly pension payment and a monthly Social Security payment could disappear upon a spouse’s death, leaving the survivor to managed finances with a reduced income.

Bombara says couples, especially those nearing retirement, should:

• Consider pension options carefully. Not everyone has a pension any more, but those who do may have a few options available to them. A pension pays a set monthly amount for the rest of the person’s life. But often there is a survivor benefit that allows the person’s surviving spouse to continue to receive a check after the pensioner dies. Choosing the survivor’s benefit, though, means the pensioner receives a reduced amount while alive. “Some people choose the highest dollar amount so they have the most money coming in each month,” Bombara says. “But if they choose the largest amount, their spouse gets nothing when they die.”
• Weigh Social Security decisions. A surviving spouse can be eligible for their deceased partner’s full Social Security benefit, but when they claim that benefit is a major factor in how large those monthly checks are. For example, a surviving spouse can qualify for reduced benefits as early as age 60, but they can get full benefits if they are at their full retirement age.
• Seek professional advice if you’re confused. A financial professional can help you better understand the options available for both your pension and your Social Security. A professional also can provide advice on how to manage your assets so that the surviving spouse is in better shape to handle a potential drop in income.

“Most people want their spouse to do well financially after they pass away,” Bombara says. “So, as unpleasant as the conversation might seem, they really do need to talk about the money situation and make sure they have a good plan in place.”

Peter Bombara, CEO and founder of PCB Financial Advisory Group (http://www.pcbfinancial.com/), has been featured in many publications on both the local and national levels, such as FOX, NBC, CBS and ABC. Focusing on retirement income, wealth preservation and estate strategies, Peter has helped many individuals retire successfully by using simple, easy-to-understand strategies.

But plenty of others are determined to leave a legacy – whether it’s by bequeathing a tidy sum to their children and grandchildren, or bestowing a beloved charity with a parting donation.

Not everyone, though, takes the necessary steps to accomplish their goals.

“Don’t assume everything you have left when you die will go to your children or to your favorite cause,” says Stephanie Fullerton, president and co-founder of Fullerton Financial Planning Group and author of Living a Happy, Healthy and Inspired Retirement (www.fullertonfp.com). “Taxes and other costs can eat away at your legacy.”

That’s why it’s important to have a financial plan in place to help make sure as much of your wealth as possible ends up in the right hands.

It’s wise to seek professional advice from those who can guide you through the options, Fullerton says. Among some of the things to consider:

• A will. Everyone knows about wills, at least in theory, but that doesn’t mean they take the time to visit with an attorney and have one drawn up. A Harris Poll last year reported that 64 percent of Americans don’t have wills.
• An IRA. Many people think of an IRA as the nest egg that will help them survive retirement, but these accounts also are one of the largest types of assets inherited by beneficiaries. If you don’t anticipate needing your IRA money in retirement, Fullerton says, you might consider a legacy-planning strategy that will help reduce taxes and increase the payout your beneficiaries will inherit upon your death.
• Trusts. There are many different types of trusts, and they can be complex to set up and execute. However, a trust can be a flexible and advantageous means to transfer your assets in the future, Fullerton says. Most trusts also provide current benefits, such as tax-deferral and deductions. Unlike a will, a trust will avoid probate upon your death, but a trust is also more expensive to prepare. A qualified estate-planning attorney who specializes in these matters can explain more.

Before you get started on a plan, Fullerton suggests thinking about what types of gifts you want to leave to others – and it doesn’t have to be just money.

“It can be items you own, such as your house, a favorite work of art, special dishes used at every family gathering or a family heirloom,” she says.

You don’t even have to wait until you die, Fullerton says. Experiences also can be a legacy, such as taking a special trip each year with a different grandchild to give them memories that will last not only your lifetime, but theirs as well.

Stephanie Fullerton, author of Living a Happy, Healthy and Inspired Retirement (www.fullertonfp.com), is president and co-founder of Phoenix-based Fullerton Financial Planning. She and her husband, Steve, an investment adviser with Kingdom Financial Group, work together to assist clients in protecting their retirement savings and to create an income stream that will last a lifetime. She is featured on two weekly radio shows and frequently appears on local television.

By the time the scene is over, no one is happy – and that part, at least, has some veracity.

Thousands of people fight over money every year after someone has died, especially if that person did a poor job of planning what would happen with their assets. But families don’t have to be rich to get in an uproar over who should inherit what. And unfortunately, the average person doesn’t show the same kind of concern about estate planning that the rich do – and that’s a mistake.

People often think, “Well, I’m married so everything will just pass along to my wife or my kids.” But it doesn’t always work that way. For example, in some states your brothers and sisters could possibly inherit part of your estate, even if that wasn’t your intent.

That’s why everyone – regardless of how small their wealth – should do at least some estate planning, Things to consider include:

• A will.

This is the most basic of estate-planning documents, yet a Caring.com survey this year showed that more than half of Americans don’t have a will. A will can provide certainty and clarity and eliminate the grey areas when property is moving from one generation to the next. Don’t just assume everything will end up with the people you want it to if you fail to leave specific instructions.

• A trust.

Not everyone needs a trust, but it often makes sense. Basically, a trust allows you to control your assets from the grave. You can set certain restrictions, which is especially helpful if your kids are young or they don’t really manage money well. That way you may be able to keep them from blowing their inheritance all at once. For example, a restriction might be that they don’t receive the money until they earn a college degree.

• Power of attorney.

It’s important to assign someone power of attorney so that if you become incapacitated that person can speak on your behalf and sign important documents. You can also have a living will to outline your wishes, which could help your family make tough decisions about your healthcare.

There are online services that can prepare a will, but that may not be the best route.Laws and rules are always changing, so it’s better to consult with a professional who understands all the nuances.

Ernie Burns, president and chief executive officer of Burns Estate Planning and Wealth Advisors (www.burnsestateplanning.com), has more than 25 years’ experience in retirement income planning. He is an Investment Adviser Representative, and also is a Master Certified Estate Planner (MCEP) and a Million Dollar Round Table-Top of the Table Member (MDRT). Burns also is host of Total Retirement, a 30-minute television show. He has been published and/or quoted in Fortune Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Money Magazine and Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Burns Estate Planning and Wealth Advisors is now the “Official Wealth Management Firm of Southeastern Athletics” for Southeastern Louisiana University.

Lack of a will can create big problems if both you and your spouse or partner were to die, or if you’re a single parent. If your child or children have a living biological parent who does not have custody, the court will almost always give custody to that individual if he or she comes forward. In blended families, however, this can result in siblings being separated.

If your current partner is not your children’s biological parent and has not formally adopted them, the children may stay with their stepparent or go instead to grandparents, aunts, or uncles, or even into foster care. It varies by court and state. In the absence of a will, the court may create messy custody battles or award custody to a family member who may not have volunteered to raise your children.

If you don’t have a will or your will doesn’t specify guardianship of your children, act now..

How to pick a guardian

Think carefully about who will provide your children with a loving, stable home If you are raising children with a partner or share custody with someone else, you should have a serious conversation about who you want as a guardian in case something happens to both of you.

Absolute trust is essential, but there are other qualities to consider in a guardian.

• Does this person have the time to become your children’s primary caretaker? Will the person be able to provide sufficient attention and support while your children grow up?
• Sharing important characteristics: Does this person already have children? If so, do you share a similar parenting philosophy? Does this person share your faith, if that is important to you? What is his or her stance on the importance of academic success? If the person is not family, are the person willing to help the children keep in touch with relatives or arrange visits?
• Do you want to choose someone who lives nearby so your children can remain in the same school system or remain involved in their current social activities?
• How well do your children know this person? If the potential guardian has children of his or her own, how well do the kids get along with one another?

Every situation is unique. You may have a close relationship with your sister. But because she lives across the country, naming her as a guardian would disrupt your children’s lives with an extreme relocation. You might instead choose a close friend who lives nearby.

Grandparents are a possibility if they’re in good health. If you have an older child who has already reached adulthood, consider whether he or she is mature enough to be the guardian for your younger children.

Talk to your potential guardian. Raising a child is a huge responsibility and not one you want to spring on anyone without warning. Such a conversation will allow the potential guardian to raise any concerns, and it will allow you to discuss your wishes in more detail.

Once you have settled on someone, name a guardian for your minor children in your will. Rules vary by state, so be sure to follow requirements closely to ensure your will is legal and valid. It’s usually wise to hire an attorney.

All co-parents (you, your spouse or an ex-partner with custody) should name the same guardian in their respective wills to avoid complications. Name a backup guardian. Talk with a backup choice before naming him or her in your will.

Besides a will, you might consider writing a detailed letter of instruction to the guardian. It can list items such as your children’s medical history and any special dietary needs. You might name particular items that hold emotional significance for your children, such as photographs, blankets, toys or other mementos. You can update this letter each year.

The guardian will be grieving your loss as well, and may or may not already be particularly close to your children. Your letter might include advice for helping your children cope with their grief.

Protecting your kids’ financial future

If you can find a guardian who’s financially astute, that’s great, but financial expertise need not be a sticking point. You can name someone else to watch over the money.

While you can leave assets to your children directly, if they are under 18 an adult must oversee the inheritance – either someone you appoint or someone that the probate court appoints as a guardian of property. You can also leave property to the children’s guardian with the understanding it is to be used for their care, but this offers little control.

Other options offer better control. For instance, you can create a trust for the benefit of your children. If you set up the trust prior to your death, the assets can avoid probate court, which can save time and expense. In contrast, when you create a trust through your will (a testamentary trust), probate won’t be avoided.

Either type of trust allows you to appoint a trustee who is not necessarily your children’s guardian. This lets you appoint someone with greater financial savvy than the person you chose to raise your children.

List a primary trustee and a successor trustee. Discuss your plans with your potential trustees and cover the basics of what the job includes. Serving as a trustee may involve managing or investing the trust’s assets, handling distributions for the benefit of the trust’s beneficiary, and completing administrative duties such as recordkeeping and taxes or overseeing a professional who handles such work.

You may want to consider naming an experienced independent trustee, a financial professional, to oversee your children’s trust or serve as a co-trustee with a friend or relative. This option clearly offers advantages regarding expertise and impartiality. However, you should ensure whomever you add will not complicate the administration of the trust or be inflexible.

A typical trust will fund your children’s maintenance, support, education, and health care costs. If you have multiple children, consider whether you wish to specify how the assets should be divided among them. Depending on your situation, you may wish to set up separate trusts for your children, or it may be more logical to set up one “pot trust” for all of them.

You may wish to have the trust buy a term life insurance policy on you. The life insurance policy can cover the period until your children reach a particular age, whether 18, 21 or 25. By placing the policy in a trust, you can avoid the problems inherent in naming a beneficiary under 18.

Even without a trust, you can name your minor child as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy if you also name an adult custodian. The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) lets you name your minor child as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy. However, UTMA requires that the funds will become available at an age specified by state law, usually 18 or 21, which may be earlier than you would specify in a trust. If your estate is large, a trust is preferable because there’s more control.

If you have a 529 college savings plan, name a successor account owner, since the minor child is the beneficiary, not the owner. The successor will manage the account in case of your death. It could be the same person you choose to serve as your trustee or someone else.

Melinda Kibler, Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and IRS Enrolled Agent (EA), is a client service and portfolio manager with Palisades Hudson Financial Group’s Fort Lauderdale, Florida, office.

Palisades Hudson (www.palisadeshudson.com) is a fee-only financial planning firm and investment manager based in Scarsdale, N.Y., with more than $1.1 billion under management. Branch offices are in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Portland, Oregon.

Read Palisades Hudson’s daily column on personal finance, economics and other topics at http://palisadeshudson.com/insights/current-commentary. Twitter: @palisadeshudson.

The Amazon.com founder sought a charitable strategy that looked at the long term and soon he was inundated with suggestions.

Of course, Bezos has plenty of money to give, but you don’t need to be a billionaire to reach a point in life when you start feeling the charitable urge. There comes a time when many of us want to do more than just accumulate money and property. You want to distribute the bounty. You want to enjoy what you worked to acquire, of course, but part of the change in attitude is looking to see how you can do more than just take care of yourself.

But who should your wealth – whether abundant or meager – go to? Should all of it be kept in the family when you die? Should it go to your church? A favorite charity? The college that educated you?

Ultimately, only each individual can answer that question. But there are steps that can help you prepare for making that decision. They include:

• Be aware that circumstances change.

When you die, whatever you accumulated can end up in the hands of family, other beneficiaries, charities – or Uncle Sam. A lot of people I talk to think they have it all worked out and that the IRS is going to get nothing. But often, when I examine their documents and analyze the numbers, I discover that’s not true. It’s not always because they did a bad job. More than likely, it’s because tax laws changed since they did their calculations, or something about their personal situation changed.

• Realize that fair doesn’t always mean equal.

People often divide an inheritance into equal shares. If there are three children, for example, then each gets one-third. Renn says people should sometimes reconsider the automatic urge to do that. For example, both children may be hard working, but one might be well off financially while the other is struggling to make ends meet. One sibling might be more adept at handling money, while the other will quickly blow any inheritance.

• Understand that even small gifts can help

Many people think that leaving something to charity is for the very rich only. But Renn says anyone, regardless of net worth, can find something they care about and include that charity, organization or cause as part of their legacy. A financial professional might even be able to help you leverage your resources so that your gift accomplishes more than you would have imagined.

We can contribute to the greater good with our time, our efforts and our money. In giving financially, we are, in effect, giving all three, since money represents the fruit of our time and effort. When we share our money, we share ourselves.”

Patrick Renn, author of Finding Your Money’s Greater Purpose, has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^TM for more than 35 years and holds a bachelor’s degree from in business administration from Villanova University and an MBA from Loyola College. Renn – who currently lives in Georgia – is the founder of Renn Wealth Management Group Inc. (www.patrickrenn.com), the former president of the Georgia Society of Certified Financial Planners and former president of the Georgia chapter of the International Association for Financial Planning. He is the past president of the Georgia Special Olympics, is the current chair of the Day 1 Endowment and has served on countless other charitable and endowment boards.

Maybe you want everything to go to the kids. Perhaps a charity or a cause you champion should get a portion. And what happens if, before you die, your mental capacity diminishes and you can no longer make decisions for yourself?

Just thinking about your final wishes – or mentioning them to a close friend over coffee – isn’t enough.

“I believe too many people don’t do the proper planning to make sure that any wealth they’ve accumulated over the years ends up where they want it to,” says Jaime Cowper, president of Unity Financial Advisors (http://www.unityfinancialadvisors.net/).

“Of course, that’s not going to cause any problems for the deceased because they’ll be gone. Those left behind, though, could end up feuding over property, paying more taxes than necessary, or just becoming stressed as they try to put together the puzzle pieces of your estate.”

But you don’t have to leave your heirs guessing about your intentions. Cowper suggests an estate-management checklist to make sure everything is in order.

And if you’re lacking with any item on the list, she says, a financial professional can help steer you in the right direction.

• A will. This is perhaps the best known document for letting your final wishes be known, yet it’s not as widely used as you might assume. Just 36 percent of American adults have a will, according to a Rocket Lawyer estate-planning survey by Harris Poll. If you don’t have one, it’s time to remedy that. “It’s especially important to have a will if you have minor children because you can use the will to name a guardian for them,” Cowper says.
• Healthcare documents. Like it or not, as you near the end of your life you could reach a point where you’re no longer capable of making medical decisions for yourself. The right documents can spell out your wishes for health care and you can also name someone to make the decisions for you if it comes to that. Documents you should consider include a living will, a power of attorney agreement and a durable power of attorney agreement for healthcare.
• Financial documents. Similar to the health situation, you can also outline your financial wishes and appoint someone to make financial decisions for you if you become unable to make decisions for yourself, Cowper says. Documents to consider include joint ownership, durable power of attorney, and living trusts.
• Beneficiary forms. In some cases, when you name a beneficiary for bank accounts and retirement plans, they automatically become “payable on death” to your beneficiaries. In other cases, you must fill out a form to make the accounts payable on death. Why is payable on death such an important distinction? The beneficiaries can get their money without the potential delays caused by probate.

Finally, make sure your heirs know where to find all of your important documents.

“When you’ve done all this planning, you don’t want to leave your heirs searching through closets, attics and dresser drawers in search of your important papers,” Cowper says. “You won’t be there to guide them, so someone should know exactly where to look.”

Jaime Cowper, president of Unity Financial Advisors (http://www.unityfinancialadvisors.net/), is an Investment Advisor Representative under Alphastar Capital Management, an SEC Registered Investment Advisory Firm. She has a life and health insurance license with the states of Michigan, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada and Minnesota.

The Lawyer

The law is everywhere and effects almost every aspect of our lives. This is especially true in the case of settling estates. While lawyers may not be realtors, they know property law. While lawyers may not be accountants, they know tax law. And while lawyers may not be bankers, they know banking law—in particular, the Uniform Commercial Code. And so it goes with each member of the team. As such, one of the lawyer’s principal responsibilities is to coordinate the efforts of the team as a whole and prevent one member from doing the job of another. For example, if the lawyer is going to prepare the Federal Estate Tax return (as many do), it is important that the accountant be aware of this so that it is not prepared twice.

In addition to coordinating the team, it is the lawyer who guides you through a court proceeding known as probate: gaining access to assets that were held in the decedent’s name alone. And finally, the lawyer acts as negotiator, helping you deflect complaints from and among your decedent’s beneficiaries as well as settle the claims of your decedent’s creditors (usually at a substantial discount).

The Accountant

The accountant’s principal job is as tax preparer. The accountant will be responsible for preparing the decedent’s final tax return as well as preparing the annual tax returns of both the Probate and Trust estates. The accountant will also act as counsel. Questions such as whether it is a good idea to distribute income to beneficiaries or what is the tax effect of selling property are directed to your accountant.

The accountant also serves as liaison with the Internal Revenue Service. Should you forget to file a tax return or should you fail to pay the tax, the IRS will impose substantial penalties on the Probate and Trust estates. It is the accountant who will negotiate a reduction in these penalties. Many times, an experienced accountant can eliminate the penalties altogether.

The Appraiser

There are two kinds of appraisers: one for real estate and one for personal property (e.g., jewelry). The real estate appraiser is necessary for two reasons. First, you will need to know what your real estate is worth so that you will not waste time asking too much for it. On the flip side, you don’t want to ask too little or you will become the target of vengeful beneficiaries. Furthermore, by providing a high value that the IRS will accept, the appraiser makes it possible to reduce capital gain tax when you sell the property.

The appraiser of personal property ensures that the knick-knacks are distributed fairly. For example, I know of a case where the executor divided two diamond rings between two sisters. The rings appeared to contain identical stones but, in reality, one stone was diamond while the other was cubic zirconium. The executor, in that case, opened himself to a lawsuit by the cubic zirconium sister.

The Realtor

For most people, real estate is the most valuable asset they will ever own. And so it follows that the decedent’s real estate is the most valuable asset in your estates. Therefore, an excellent realtor is an absolute necessity. The realtor will take responsibility for putting the home on the market (i.e., listing), promoting the sale of the home (i.e., marketing), accepting or declining offers for you at your direction (i.e., contracting), and completing the sale of the home (i.e., closing).

Realtors are also expert in the daunting number of regulations that govern the sale of real estate these days. Your realtor will guide you through the maze of regulations, as it is critical that you comply with all of them. Failure to comply will result in some pretty stiff penalties. Not to put too fine a point on it, but executors who attempt to sell without a realtor may as well just stand in front of an oncoming train.

The Auctioneer

The auctioneer’s job is to tell you which of the stuff lying around the decedent’s home is worth something and can therefore be auctioned and which stuff lying about the decedent’s home is just trash. In short, the auctioneer forces you to accept that things that may have sentimental value for some are, in fact, valueless to everyone else.

Having sifted the assets from the refuse, most auctioneers will then hold both in-person and online actions. As a result, you receive the proceeds very quickly. The auctioneer’s value then is in speed and efficiency. Your only alternative is a yard sale.

The Insurance Agent

With regard to the decedent’s life insurance, your insurance agent will most likely be the decedent’s insurance agent. While it is certainly possible to file a claim with the insurance company without the agent’s assistance, why would you want to? Completing claim forms can be time-consuming, especially where there are multiple beneficiaries. The agent will usually do this for you at no charge. You have a million other things to keep track of. Take help when you can get it.

However, life insurance is not the only insurance that should concern you. You are also responsible for the safety of the estate assets themselves. Accordingly, it is imperative that you maintain or replace insurance on real estate, vehicles, and valuable personal property. If you like the decedent’s agent, there is no reason to change horses, as it were. But if not, then you have a duty to find an agent you trust will provide the proper coverage.

The Banker

Probate Estates and Trust Estates need checking accounts just like you or me. A banker familiar with estate work will be able to set one up for you in no time at all. All that is needed is a death certificate and a Federal Identification Number (supplied by your accountant).

A lesser-known function of the banker in estate work is financing. Since death is an automatic default on the decedent’s mortgage, a mortgage company can insist that the entire mortgage balance is due immediately. Your banker can be invaluable in securing a new mortgage, thereby allowing you the time to find a buyer for the property. Additionally, if you are short on liquid assets (e.g., cash), your banker may be able to provide a line of credit secured by estate assets.

The Broker

Whether you are an executor, a trustee, or both, your generic title is a fiduciary. And as a fiduciary, you have many duties. One of the most important of these is the duty to invest. While the estate settling process grinds along, you can’t simply stuff assets in a mattress. Instead, you must depend on your broker to convert unproductive assets, such as cash, into secure investments.

Since many people use multiple brokered accounts, a good broker will also be able to consolidate a decedent’s hodge-podge of investments into one account. In this way, you have less paper to deal with and your accountant will have far fewer statements to review come tax time.

The Bureaucrat

Although you don’t get to choose your bureaucrats, for good or ill, they are part of the team. If you want to change title to the decedent’s car, there will be someone at the Department of Motor Vehicles telling you how it is done. If you need the deed to the decedent’s home, you will be talking to an employee at the county land records office. And if the decedent’s estate is audited, you will be coming face to face with an IRS auditor.

That being said, you may find that bureaucrats are people too and many of them genuinely want to help you. In fact, depending on how you ask, you may even get them to bend the rules from time to time. So it is probably best to start brushing up on your people skills.

The Hauler

Your hauler’s job is just that: to haul away furniture, broken appliances, broken china, and whatever else the decedent had been using to make do. Your hauler needs to be efficient and thorough—and most are. I once saw a two-man hauling team remove 60 years of useless stuff from a four-bedroom split-level home in just over three hours.

In my opinion, this is one of the most valuable members of your team. As long as you’re not a hoarder, you will experience sheer delight at watching someone else haul out what is, literally, tons of worthless stuff from the decedent’s home. And since it is impossible to sell a house with 30 years of National Geographic piled up in a corner, your hauler is not only valuable, he is indispensable.

This is an excerpt from THE ESSENTIAL EXECUTOR’S HANDBOOK: A Quick and Handy Resource for Dealing with Wills, Trusts, Benefits, and Probate (Career Press, 2016) by David G. Hoffman. He is the senior partner at the law firm of Hoffman & Mathey, P.C. He has been a practicing attorney and author for more than 35 years and a lecturer for the University of Maryland, the George Washington University, and numerous private and public organizations. Articles and presentations with titles such as “Why Simple Wills Simply Won’t” and “The No-Plan Estate Plan” have made him a popular personality in the Washington, D.C. community. He lives in Northern Virginia.

“You don’t necessarily have to be in the ‘1 percent’ to benefit from having one or more family meetings,” says Criscuolo, who’s in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office.

Family meetings will generally fall into one of the following types.

Big-Picture Meeting

A first family meeting often falls into this category. It covers the family’s overall financial situation and long-term plans.

“Don’t make decisions at the first meeting,” Criscuolo says. “Instead, try to achieve understanding between various family members about financial matters.”

Family members can discuss their views of the family’s wealth—both dollars and cents, and also thoughts about responsibility, fairness and philanthropy.

This type of discussion can be useful whenever there is an important change in the family situation, whether good (a wedding, a baby, or a major windfall) or bad (job loss, major financial setback, or a death in the family).

“Whenever something major changes, a general meeting can give family members permission to talk frankly about the long-term implications, financial and otherwise,” he says.

Conversations about Inheritance

A family meeting can be a “top-down” explanation of a couple’s or an individual’s plans, Criscuolo says. Subsequent meetings may be appropriate if a gift or an estate plan is substantially changed or updated. The details shared may be as broad or as specific as the individuals involved think appropriate, but may include:

• Inheritance plans for adult children
• Inheritance plans for grandchildren or great-grandchildren
• Philanthropic intentions
• Explanation of the selection of executors and trustees

Discussing a Family Enterprise

If there’s a family business, regular meetings are crucial. Family members who are intimately involved in the business’s day-to-day operations already know what’s going on, but family members with less involvement may still wish to be updated regularly.

Other discussions may cover new roles for younger adult family members and their personal long-term goals, who gets a say in major decisions about the business and who holds leadership positions within the organization, and the relationship of family members not directly involved in the business to its operations and profit. Most crucially, it should cover succession plans for when the current family leadership steps down.

Resolving Specific Problems

Sometimes, a particular issue will become pressing enough that the entire family needs to discuss it in a formal setting. Since the problem may involve intense emotions, an outside facilitator is usually a good idea.

“It’s unlikely you’ll completely resolve a major problem in a single sitting. But the best chance of a successful resolution requires calmly listening to different perspectives and keeping lines of communication open,” Criscuolo says. The goal of this sort of meeting is to resolve the issue, preserve family harmony and, in extreme cases, avoid litigation or unwanted publicity.

Dealing with Conflict

For some families, conquering the initial awkwardness of talking about money will be the biggest hurdle. Once the meeting itself arrives, everyone may be surprised at how smoothly things progress. But not always.

Money conflicts within a family will usually center on disagreements about a few key questions. Does the money “belong” to those who built the wealth or is it a family resource to be shared, and if so, shared by whom specifically? What is the wealth best used for in the long run? What is the family’s responsibility to its individual members, and vice versa?

Members of a generation that created or significantly increased family wealth may feel they have a better perspective on what to do with the family’s assets and more experience in pursuing financial goals. Depending on how much communication has already taken place, they may well have more information than younger family members about an enterprise’s operations or the nature of the family assets.

They may or may not have articulated their expectations about subjects such as the desire for their children to become self-sufficient, their philanthropic intentions, or the way they intend to fund long-term care or other lifetime expenses. “Leaving such expectations unspoken, however, can lead to hurt and resentment over time,” Criscuolo says.

On the other hand, members of younger generations may worry about how to plan their own financial affairs if they are not sure how much inheritance, if any, they should expect. But they may understandably feel awkward asking this question outright.

They may also one day be asked to step into various roles within the family, such as a leader in the family business, a trustee, a holder of a power of attorney, or an executor. They will need to know where pertinent information is located and how to contact relevant professionals, such as the financial planner or attorney involved in developing the estate plan.

The younger generation may also wonder about how the older generation will distribute assets if circumstances differ substantially between siblings or cousins. One sister may be a surgeon with a high salary and two children. The other may work for a nonprofit with a smaller salary and no children. Their parents might wish to leave them relatively equal inheritances, or they may adjust for income, grandchildren or some combination of factors.

“Whatever the older generation decides, the decision will almost certainly be easier to handle in a lifetime discussion than as a complete surprise when the will is examined after death,” he says.

Family discussions may also shed light on differing desires among younger generations. For instance, some adult children may feel a strong attachment to a family vacation home; others may not want to deal with the hassle of maintenance and would rather sell the property. Some may take a strong interest in the family business; some will not.

“Not all conflicts can be resolved through simple discussion, of course, but honesty and transparency make it much more likely that a compromise will be found,” Criscuolo says. For siblings who don’t get along, a parent can choose to set up separate trusts or bequests to remove the need for consensus and to offer a measure of privacy. The need for such steps may not be apparent, however, if everyone avoids talking about financial topics.

“Talking about money is difficult, and talking about money with family can be especially so. But the consequences of avoiding it are serious and the benefits of doing so are clear. A family meeting will provide family members a forum in which to start these conversations and, in the long run, will lead to more fully considered financial planning choices that will help maximize family wealth and harmony,” he says.

Palisades Hudson (www.palisadeshudson.com) is a fee-only financial planning firm and investment manager based in Scarsdale, N.Y., with more than $1.1 billion under management. Branch offices are in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Portland, Oregon. Read Palisades Hudson’s daily column on personal finance, economics and other topics at http://palisadeshudson.com/insights/current-commentary. Twitter: @palisadeshudson.

No federal agency tracks elder exploitation cases on an ongoing basis, but in a survey compiled by the Investor Protection Trust, 20 percent of Americans age 65 and older reported having been taken advantage of financially.

A 2011 study in New York found that only one in 44 cases of elder financial exploitation is ever reported to authorities. “Setting aside any issue of aging, older adults are at the greatest risk for theft simply because they have a lifetime of savings at risk,” says Howard Tischler, EverSafe founder and CEO. “Older adults and the people who care for them need to be cognizant of the risks and common ways they are targeted for abuse.”

Elder financial exploitation also imposes costs on family members, after a victim’s resources have been exhausted. Victims often don’t want to tell anyone what happened, because they fear family members will believe they are no longer capable of independence.

“For seniors, financial abuse affects not only their bank accounts, but their emotional well-being and even their longevity,” says Liz Loewy, EverSafe general counsel and former chief of the Elder Abuse Unit in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. “I have seen older victims pass away shortly after learning they were exploited, with their families reporting they simply lost the will to live.”

EverSafe’s Top 10 Tips for Preventing Elder Financial Abuse

1. Have multiple  trusted advocates. The “sentinel effect” discourages misconduct by letting those helping to manage a senior’s funds know that their actions are  being observed. Having family members or a family member as well as a lawyer, power of attorney, or financial advisor, all of whom have visibility into financial accounts can help ensure no one person is able to take personal advantage. Transparency is critical  and a deterrent.

2. Communicate with family members about your future plans. You have a vision for how you want to live as you age. Share it with your family so they understand your views. Consider discussing your will and potentially a power of attorney with loved ones, which will enable people to be aware of your intentions and plans in case you do start to lose capacity. If you have a financial advisor, communicate your wishes to them as well.

3. Understand and talk with loved ones about the most common scams targeting seniors. Learn about common scams, like income tax fraud or the “Grandma/Grandpa Scheme,” where an individual calls and pretends to be a grandchild needing money to escape serious trouble. The National Council on Aging offers more information about common scams on its website.

4. Give money only to entities you have approached. Never provide your personal financial information over the phone to someone who called you first – not even if they claim to be with a company or charity with which you’ve previously engaged. Adding your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry also makes it illegal for most telemarketers to call you, though charitable organizations are exempt from these restrictions.

5. Be cautious about joint accounts. These can be a good way to allow someone you trust to assist with financial tasks, but naming anyone as  a joint account holder gives them direct control over the funds in that account. Joint accounts also make your resources subject to the joint account holder’s creditors

6. Protect online accounts. In many cases, online banking is much safer and more convenient than paper statements, but it’s not without risk. Use strong passwords  (no names of grandchildren!) and protect them.

7. Do not provide  your account information to anyone who contacts you about a recent data breach.  Hackers raiding unsecured databases for personal information are an unfortunate reality of modern life, as are scammers who try to exploit news of these  instances by calling or emailing and “phishing” for the information needed to steal your identity.  Remember:  financial institutions and the IRS do not call or email to ask for personal information.

8. Watch all of your accounts closely. Any unauthorized charge – even something as small as a few dollars – could be a test to see if credentials work and how much attention you are paying. Watch for any unexpected  debits or changing patterns of spending.

9. If someone  is helping you with financial decisions, have them document all spending. Family relationships can be wrecked by suspicion as much as outright  theft, even in the closest of families. Providing visibility into spending helps ensure everyone is clear on how funds are used. Of course, require the same documentation from non-family caregivers as well.

10. Rely on helpful technology to fill gaps.  Researchers have found that financial decision-making ability starts to decline by the mid-50s. When you notice financial tasks becoming more difficult or taking longer, consider a technology service that can monitor accounts and identify suspicious activity.

Having younger and older family members involved in monitoring each other’s accounts makes sense and provides the most protection.

EverSafe helps protect a lifetime of savings by  offering a simple yet comprehensive service to combat financial exploitation of older adults. EverSafe’s daily monitoring enables seniors, family members and trusted advocates to protect financial accounts, thwart scammers and defeat identity thieves – while  preserving independence and privacy. Learn more at: www.eversafe.com.

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