• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
< class="site-title" itemprop="headline">Flood & Masiuk LLC | Southampton Estate Planning Attorneys

Attorneys At Law

  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • About The American Academy
    • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
    • Speaker Connection
  • Estate Planning
    • Asset Protection and Business Planning
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Pet Planning
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning Services
    • Trust Administration and Probate
  • Elder Law
    • Are You A Caregiver?
    • Coping With Alzheimer’s
    • Emergency Medicaid & Nursing Home Planning
    • Guardianship & Conservatorship
    • Hospice Care
    • Medicaid Planning
    • Veteran’s Benefits
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law Resources
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
      • Elder Law Reports
    • Estate Planning Resources
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Needs Checklist
      • Estate Planning Reports
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
      • Legacy Wealth Planning FAQ’s
      • LGBTQ Estate Planning FAQs
      • Trust Administration & Probate FAQs
    • LGBTQ Resources
    • Newsletters
    • Special Needs Resources
    • Trust Administration & Probate Resources
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss of a Loved One
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
Home / Estate Planning Articles / Leaving a Lasting Legacy

Leaving a Lasting Legacy

April 29, 2011 by Marianne Flood, Estate Planning Attorney

Compliments of Our Law Firm,
By: The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

What is “wealth?” Upon hearing this question, your thoughts might run first to material possessions: money, real estate, and other assets. However, when you really think about it, your true wealth is much more than just your accumulated assets. It encompasses the financial and the non-financial, and many people would argue that the most important elements of true wealth are all those things that don’t show up on a balance sheet, things like your life experiences, your faith, your values, your work ethic, and your family history. This distinction between simple financial wealth and true wealth takes on extra significance when you begin to plan your estate. Traditional estate planning focuses on distributing your financial wealth to your chosen beneficiaries in the most time- and cost-effective manner. Legacy Planning, on the other hand, goes several steps further. Not only does it accomplish the financial objectives of traditional estate planning, it also helps to preserve your financial wealth as it passes from generation to generation, and it helps to ensure that your non-financial wealth is handed down to your children and grandchildren. The result is that you have an opportunity to build a true legacy and bond within your family.

One method for leaving behind a lasting legacy is the Family Wealth Trust, a planning tool that is flexible in meeting the specific needs of you and your loved ones. Within a Family Wealth Trust, there are two levels of protection: the Family Access Trust and the Family Sentry Trust. Both allow you to do more than simply pass on your accumulated possessions at your death.

For parents whose children are mature and have proven themselves to be good money managers, the Family Access Trust provides a combination of financial protection and flexibility. Your children have broad access to their inheritances, but the Trust keeps those assets separate from their personal finances. This allows your children to have the maximum control over their complete financial picture, while protecting their inheritances from unexpected events, like a divorce.

For children who are inexperienced with money, or who are facing a substance abuse problem or a similar issue, the Family Sentry Trust goes a step further. Not only does it protect your children from divorce or lawsuits, it also protects them from their own lack of experience or ill-advised decisions.

The Family Wealth Trust also allows you to hand down the non-financial wealth that is so often ignored by the traditional estate planning process, but is often the most important part of your legacy. Not only can you make sure your valued personal possessions and family heirlooms make it into the hands of the appropriate loved ones, you can provide context and meaning to the inheritances you leave behind by passing along your memories, wisdom, and values.

No matter what your family’s needs, a Family Wealth Trust can help you protect your true wealth and ensure that it is preserved from generation to generation. An experienced estate planning attorney who focuses on Legacy Planning can help you secure your family’s future.

About Marianne Flood, Estate Planning Attorney

As the founder and managing partner of the Southampton, Pennsylvania law firm of Flood & Masiuk, LLC, Marianne Flood oversees a practice devoted to providing clients with personalized service and counsel in all aspects of estate planning.

Primary Sidebar

Is Your Plan Outdated?

Change is inevitable! See if your plan is outdated and if you need to take action to protect your loved ones.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Flood & Masiuk LLC | Southampton Estate Planning Attorneys

112 Lakeside Park
Southampton, PA 18966
Phone: (215) 322-6330
Fax: (215) 322-9199

MAP

map for Flood & Masiuk LLC office

Opening Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Footer

  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us

© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.

All Rights Reserved.
Attorney Advertisement

footer-logo
  • fb
  • twitter
  • linked-In