Q: My wife and I plan to meet with you shortly to discuss our estate plans. What can we do to prepare for our meeting with you?

A: That’s a great question. You and your wife can lay the groundwork for our meeting by simply discussing a few preliminary decisions that you will be asked to make. Here is a brief sampling of some of those decisions:

• Your personal representative—As a first step in an estate planning process, you will identify a personal representative. This is the person who will carry out your plan for the settlement of your estate. In almost every case, people select their spouse as their personal representative. If your spouse cannot fulfill this role, then you can select a friend, family member or associate. (The terms “executor” or “administrator” were formerly used for this role.)
• Alternate personal representative—You will also identify an alternate choice should your original personal representative not be able to (or not willing to) perform this function.
• A trustee—If your plan includes a trust, you will nominate an individual as the trustee. This person can be the same as your personal representative.
• Guardian for your minor children—This person will be responsible for your minor children if you and your spouse die before the children reach adulthood.
• Distribution of your property—You will identify how you want your property distributed among your beneficiaries.

Call Farm Credit If estate planning is something that you have been putting off — or if you'd simply like more information about these and other tools. Call Ken Lassen today at 602.431.4150 or 800.822.3276 or E-mail Ken at kenyon.lassen@fcssw.com. He's ready to help!

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