What Can We Learn From Soccer? 

Can this woman really turn soccer an estate planning newsletter? Challenge accepted!

As you can imagine, estate planning is a team sport. There’s formation, strategy, roles, communications, rules and a referee. Much like your estate planning LOL Let’s dive in!

The Coach — that’s you, baby! You decide the overall strategy as to (1) who should inherit, (2) who should be in charge, (3) who should not be anywhere near the ball, (4) who needs protection and who causes drama at Thanksgiving and therefore maybe should not be trustee!

The Goalkeeper — Your Fiduciary (the Trustee and/or Personal Representative). These decision makers are also your last line of defense and are the folks you appoint to protect the assets, follow your instructions, and keep everyone from scoring on an empty net (can’t help it!).

The Defense — Your Estate Planning Documents. Your will, trust, power of attorney, health care surrogate, and living will documents are your defensive line. They may not be flashy, but they prevent disaster and without them, the ball goes straight to probate, guardianship, family conflict, creditor claims, and court involvement.

The Midfield — Communication and Funding connect the defense and the offense and in the estate planning world, that’s proper communication. The documents may be perfect, but if nobody knows (1) how to find them, (2) where your assets are (3) who your attorney is, (4) or what the plan is, the team cannot move the ball.

The Forwards — Your Beneficiaries trying to receive the benefit of the play. These are the folks that the plan is ultimately designed to help. But not every beneficiary should receive the ball in the same way. Yes, some can handle assets outright, but some may need a trust for protection from divorce, lawsuits, taxes, addiction, immaturity, or their own “entrepreneurial vision” involving crypto and a cousin’s food truck.

The Referee — Probate Court. Nobody wants the referee involved every five seconds. Same with probate court. While court may be unavoidable, usually the goal of good planning is to keep the game moving without constant whistles, delays, hearings, objections, and extra legal fees.

Yes, I can go on (yellow car, red car, goal, you get the idea). 

So, there you have it. We learn that estate planning, much like soccer, is about preparation, teamwork, and knowing who is supposed to do what before the pressure is on. Of course, our estate plan doesn’t guarantee a perfect game, but it gives your team a strategy before the whistle blows. We also learn that the more unclear the plan, the more the referee gets involved.  And in probate, every whistle costs money.