Chapin Hill Advisors clients typically have done well in life and often have sizeable net-worth statements. However, even very successful people may not be well-informed as to how to maximize their estate planning.

Chapin Hill’s approach is collaborative with the client’s estate attorney. We begin in an estate plan as we do with our life assessments and family business planning – with current expenses and projections for the future expenses as our clients enter the next stage of their life. Once we have a sense of what income needs our clients have going forward, we can then make recommendations on how to reduce the potential for estate taxes.

We recommend trust and estate attorneys to our clients or can work with their current counsel. We help to reduce the duplication of data-gathering as we provide the chosen attorney with net-worth statements, titling of assets, future cash flow and net-worth projections as well as an executive summary of suggested documents the client may wish to have drafted.

Our clients look to us to explain how their estate planning strategy may be implemented and review the pros and cons of various planning techniques. We often review the selection of guardians and trustees and explain how trusts of various sorts may be implemented. Our future cash flow and net-worth projections are helpful in determining if an estate will be taxable and what types of strategies we may implement to reduce the potential for tax as well as methods of   providing liquidity for estate taxes.

Since we are often working with multiple generations, we are not working in a vacuum and can assist the family in integrating planning to consider the needs of various family members and generations. We assist our clients in implementing whatever recommendations the attorney has made to be sure the estate plan is executed to completion.

We do not provide legal advice but we do work closely with our client’s legal counsel to be sure the client understands the plan, any potential risks going forward and can assist in relaying information to the other family members if that is what our clients wish. We can orchestrate family council meetings to assist in relaying the senior generations plans in advance so that children are not surprised after their parents pass. We work up and down generations to assess risk and work to mitigate those risks.