A trip to an estate planner is almost certain to involve a series of questions, information the planner needs to determine how best to ensure your wishes are carried out.  For sake of convenience these questions often take the form of a questionnaire.  Most of these forms are pretty much identical, with the same basic questions asked.  They’ll include all the pertinent personal information: date of birth, social security number, children, spouse information, etc.  And they’ll also ask about your financial position.

All of this is very important information, of course, but there are considerations to estate planning that go beyond these basics that can be very illuminating.  In a series of posts to appear over the coming weeks, this blog will present a few of these estate questions you might not have thought of before.

The basics are important.  Your financials, your personal information, and your family are all integral parts of any estate plan.  Here’s one question, however, that might not immediately come to mind.

Question: “What does ‘wealthy’ mean to you?”

The textbook definition of wealth, especially within the context of estate planning, is something you can put a dollar sign in front of.  And this definition may suffice for some, but for others, certain considerations may trump monetary affluence.  Perhaps you consider influence or effect of money to be worth more than its numerical value, so your estate planning might prioritize charitable interests over avoiding taxes.

Next time we’ll look at values and goals.

For more on estate planning, contact the Chicago estate attorneys at Horowitz & Weinstein.

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