New Hampshire Magazine September 2017

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
New Hampshire Magazine’s Guide to Wills and Estate Planning
Ask the EXPERTS
Making end-of-life arrangements, such as
appointing executors, divvying up assets and
identifying someone to make important decisions in the
event you become incapacitated, are important elements
in arranging one’s financial affairs — and doing so can
ease the burden on family members and loved ones.
“Often, people find the subject difficult to deal with and so they procrastinate
taking action until it is too late,” Jeanne S. Saffan, of Upton and Hatfield says. “Clients
who procrastinate about setting up an estate plan tell me they feel like there
is a great weight they are carrying around. Once their questions are answered
by a knowledgeable professional and the plan is established, I am told they have
a sense of relief and wish that they had taken care of matters sooner, especially
since it is generally an uncomplicated process.”
We asked five experts to identify some of the most important elements of
wills and estate planning. Our panel: Thanda Fields Brassard, of Fiduciary Trust
of New England; Stephanie Burnham, of Hage Hodes; Elise Salek, of Sulloway
and Hollis, Christopher R. Paul, of McLane Middleton; and Jeanne S. Saffan of
Upton and Hatfield.
What kinds of things are discussed
during the estate planning process?
Stephanie Burnham: “Estate Planning is the
process in which a plan is implemented to control
how assets are passed when someone dies, using
a variety of methods such as beneficiary designations,
documents such as last wills and testaments,
trusts, and powers of attorney, and types of
ownership of those assets like joint tenancy with
rights of survivorship.”
Thanda Fields Brassard: “The individual’s
personal and financial goals are taken into consideration
in this process. Once all of this information
is gathered, attorneys draft documents that carry
out the client’s objectives and take into consideration
what assets they have. Tax planning is part of
this process, as estate planning is usually done in
a manner that is as tax efficient as possible, which
means that transfer taxes are minimized to the
extent possible when wealth is transferred from
one person to another.”
Christopher Paul: “As with many legal
concepts, ‘estate’ can have several meanings.
Most people may think of a person’s estate as all
the money and property owned by the person.
However, in New Hampshire, a person’s probate
estate generally consists only of assets that are
not held in trust and does not include assets that
have specific beneficiary designations, such as
life insurance, retirement plans, certain annuities
and the like. In fact, a wealthy person can pass
away in New Hampshire having no assets at all in
the probate estate. As far as the IRS is concerned,
however, a person’s estate consists of all property
owned by a decedent, including non-probate
assets and various interests, in which the decedent
holds such as powers of appointment or others
generally not thought of as part of an estate.”
When should I get started?
Thanda Fields Brassard: “Since no one can
predict when they are going to die, ideally an estate
plan should be put together soon after an individual
turns 18, and thus has legal capacity to execute such
documents under the law. But I would say it is most
common for people to think about creating their
first sets of wills and trusts when they are either
getting married or having children.”
Jeanne Saffan: “In New Hampshire, a person
is not legally competent to execute any estate
planning documents, such as a will, durable
financial power of attorney, health care power
of attorney or trust, until age 18. At Upton and
Hatfield, we recommend that as soon as possible
after turning 18, young people execute these basic
estate planning documents so that in the event
of an accident or other tragedy, there is someone
who can make decisions on his or her behalf. Furthermore,
someone would be able to access his or
her digital accounts, such as Facebook, and digital
assets, such as photographs. As a person grows
older, estate plans can be created, or revisited, at
any time, but especially when major life events
occur, such as marriage, divorce, births, deaths
and the onset of illness. Any time is a good time
to put one’s affairs in order so that one’s survivors
can transfer the estate with ease.”
Christopher Paul: “Now is always a good
time. Once it’s too late, it is too late, and predicting
when that will be is risky. People know that
eventually they will pass away or may become incapacitated,
but often they think it will not happen
soon. Leaving it to your loved ones is always more
time consuming, expensive and difficult.”
Are there limits to what a will
can cover?
Elise Salek: “A will can only dispose of
property that is in your name, as an individual. It
does not operate as to assets such as retirement
accounts and life insurance policies that have a
beneficiary designation.”
What’s the difference between a
will and a trust?
Thanda Fields Brassard: “A will is a
document that is filed in the probate court. It is
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