The Estate Planner’s Podcast

There is an important addition to the previous episode, Coping with Chaos, which is worthy of its own episode. Half-done, incomplete jobs often sit at the heart of backlogged work. They can be hard to spot, but once you have identified their characteristics, you will start seeing the signs frequently and can potentially eliminate them to increase your overall efficiency.

After a long absence, the podcast has returned. Having coped with some significant challenges in the last three months, this episodes shares a few of the lessons I have learned.

You have probably heard the proverb "For Want of a Nail", that illustrates the importance of dealing with the little details that can otherwise snowball into major situations. In this episode, we look at how that principle applies to Estate Planning.

This episode looks at what happens when there is not enough money in the estate to pay out the gifts in the Will.  Understanding this can help us structure the Will in such a way that the client's wishes are achieved.

Probably our most imporant skill that we employ with clients is the skill of communication. One element of that skill is the acknowledgment of a client's answer to a question. This episode looks at some of the mistakes that can be made with acknowledgements. 

What is the extent of our duty of care? Is that duty only to the client - the testator of the will - or does it extend to the beneficiaries of the Will that we write? We take a look at two relevant cases in this episode to answer the question.

This episode is a little different to most others. It follows the progress of a journey towards retirement for one Estate Planner, and the problems and solutions that were encountered along the way. Sadly, the lady in question was diagnosed with a terminal condition during the process and passed away quite suddenly. I hope the lessons learned from her story can help you as your own story is written.

In this episode, we take a look at the function of proactively reaching out to clients to review their circumstances. We examine a few tips on how to do this successfully and we see what impact client reviews can have on the ultimate value of the business.

This episode looks at this unusual case which is a rare instance of a claim being brought on the grounds of a lack of knowledge and approval of the contents of the will, without any overlapping claims of lack of capacity or undue influence.  

This episode looks at how the value of a business or an individual's job position can be increased by implementing policies.