A productive family meeting can have a profound impact not only on the individual family members who attend, but also on all those they interact with afterwards.
Communication is key when it comes to estate planning. In fact, the entirety of an estate plan – from the advance health directives covering your end-of-life decisions down to the distribution of your assets – is all about communication. However, not all decisions are easily and clearly communicated in writing. What you may need is a “family meeting.”
If the term “family meeting” conjures little more than memories of classic TV shows, (e.g., the “Brady Bunch”), then you are not alone.
As addressed in a recent article on WealthManagement.com titled “Family Meetings Come of Age,” the family meeting can be a very useful forum for estate planning. A family meeting, whatever that may mean for you and your loved ones, represents a conscious act to come together and openly communicate.
All families are different, too. The family meeting for one family may be more of a means to relay information, while for another family there may be more collaboration on the planning itself.
In the end, as long as there is something to communicate, there is value to the family meeting. As the original article notes, it is really up to you and your loved ones to shape the event together.
Reference: WealthManagement.com (November 7, 2013) “Family Meetings Come of Age”
