What Every Woman Needs To Know About Estate Planning

All right. Well, welcome everybody.

Thank you again so much for being here.

Um, I'm Katie Catz. I'm a trust and estates attorney and I'm the founder and CEO of Mitsy. Um, I've spent the last 15 years working with families to help them

think through estate planning, help explain what all these concepts mean, um, and help them put in place the documents that protect themselves, their families, and their wealth. Um, and now,

as I said, I'm the founder of Mitsy. not

practicing anymore. Um, and Mitsy is a digital estate planning app built specifically for women and families. Um,

it walks you through all of the documents, decisions, and details that actually matter for planning. Um,

especially for folks who do not have tax needs. Um, and I just want to say

needs. Um, and I just want to say quickly upfront, um, that, you know, Mitsy is live in Michigan. um we just launched and so anybody who's in

Michigan can come and start using Mity to help them with their plan. Um and

we're going to be rolling out additional states soon. So you can go to

states soon. So you can go to hellommitsy.com and join the wait list and we'll let you know when your state is available. So um I just want to say

is available. So um I just want to say at the top of the hour and this is something I think very very relevant for women and for um younger women especially is that estate planning is

not just about death. Um, the most important parts of estate planning are the conversations and the decisions you make about what happens while you're alive. Um, and so that's really where

alive. Um, and so that's really where we're going to focus today. Um, because

it's the fundamental part of planning and everything else kind of builds on top of that. Um, so my goal today is to help make this topic feel less intimidating, help it feel like

something you feel good or comfortable talking about with your family and with your friends. there's been so much

your friends. there's been so much kind of like murkiness and you know mortality is such a heavy topic that this conversation has really happened like in closed doors. Um and we really

want to bring this out into the open because it's so so important and if you do it you can really feel empowered and protected and lighter to go about your life. Um and I also want to say that

life. Um and I also want to say that this is of course not legal advice. This

is all educational. Um but this is one of my favorite things to do um as a professional. I love doing educational

professional. I love doing educational sessions. I love working with women. Um,

sessions. I love working with women. Um,

and so I hope this is valuable for you.

Again, please drop us questions and we'll answer them generally. Um, but

estate planning is state specific. So,

this is going to be general information.

Um, if you have specific questions about your state or about legal um, you know, legal relevance in your state, you should definitely think about consulting with an estate planning attorney um, in

your state. So, um, with that, we're

your state. So, um, with that, we're going to get started. Um, Ra, you want to introduce yourself?

>> Yeah. Hi everyone. So, I'm Rachel. Um,

my claim to fame is being Katie's best friend. If you've seen any of our Mitsy

friend. If you've seen any of our Mitsy content, that's how we like to frame everything, right? Like, I'm so lucky um

everything, right? Like, I'm so lucky um to have Katie not just as a wonderful friends friend in my life, but an incredible resource who teaches me things that I need to know and make me

feel more confident and make me feel more empowered and like I can do these hard and important things. And that's

how we want Mity to feel for everyone.

So I often say uh now my best friend is your best friend. And um that's how we hope you you feel after you leave today.

So um we got some awesome questions from everyone who registered. Thank you so much. Um and so we will answer those

much. Um and so we will answer those throughout today. Um and as I said, if

throughout today. Um and as I said, if you have more questions, go ahead and ask them during and we'll get to as many as we can. Um so let's get started. Go

ahead, Kate. Okay, let's dive in. Uh,

one of the most infuriating questions that we've gotten as we've talked about this from mostly men is, "Do women really care about estate planning?"

Like, is this something they actually talk about? Um, which obviously has not

talk about? Um, which obviously has not been my experience and I would have bet not any of yours. Um, you know, women so often end up carrying an enormous

responsibility when it comes to estate planning. you know, we are always the

planning. you know, we are always the ones carrying the invisible labor of planning, of protection, of care. Um,

you know, we're daughters helping parents navigate this kind of stuff. We

are mothers and partners helping make sure that our families are protected.

Um, and you know, throughout my career, it's really been women who've been pushing their spouses and their parents to get this done. You know, they're the ones who really want to get their documents in order. And you know, that

is something that doesn't really need a lot more explanation. Um, but what I find interesting is that while women have all of these, you know, concerns and they're having all of these kind of

whatif type conversations or fears, they don't necessarily connect that to estate planning as it exists in kind of the commonly understood way. Um, and so the first, you know, thing that we want to

make sure everyone can start to do is disassociate this concept of estate planning from being wealthy and being retired and being in a much different phase in your life. Um, because really

estate planning is so much more than that and it really applies to everyone.

You know, estate planning is who talks to your doctors if you can't communicate. So maybe you're in a coma

communicate. So maybe you're in a coma or even in a planned, you know, surgery.

you know, you need to have that decision maker available in case somebody needs to act quickly. Um, or who steps in for your financial life if you're hospitalized or you're unable to manage

your affairs. Um, and that can be things

your affairs. Um, and that can be things like managing a business that you operate or, you know, going in and calling a credit card company because there's fraud on your credit card. Um,

you know, these are all things that happen in our everyday life. And without

an estate plan that designates an emergency decision maker, there could be all kinds of not just financial loss associated with that lapse of

decision-m, but also all the emotional um loss and conflict that comes from things being unclear within families and in within legal systems. Um so estate

planning are the whatifs around who takes care of your children. Um who are the guardians? Who can um you know

the guardians? Who can um you know actually know who actually knows your wishes when it comes down to somebody else making decisions for you and are

the people who will be making those decisions for you the ones you want? Um

and this becomes you know really really important for folks who don't have these kind of default or natural decision makers in the form of a spouse. um you

know, you want to make sure that you have that person that you've picked the one who's making the decisions. Um and

for a lot of people who are unmarried, you know, that person is not their parents. You know, that might be their

parents. You know, that might be their partner, that might be a sibling. Um and

so again, all of these are things that women are worried about. Um and really all of these things are estate planning discussions and they all have relevance to what happens while you're alive, not

just at death. Um, so your family should have a plan um, way before you think you might need one. Um, and so we're going to dive into how we can help you get

started. And I think a question came in

started. And I think a question came in on this one, Ra.

Yeah. Um, not to play favorites, but this was my favorite question that came in. And this person asked, generally

in. And this person asked, generally speaking, where do I start? And that

resonated with me a lot, like please start from the beginning. So, uh, let's see if we can help this person.

>> Yeah.

>> Question answer.

>> We can help you. I mean, I think the the number one thing that we I've heard from women my whole life and of course over the summer in the last year, we've done focus groups with hundreds of women and

overwhelm the term or the word that we've heard um, you know, most commonly when we think about estate planning. Um, and

that's totally fair because this conversation has not been something that's gotten a lot of publicity. This

isn't something with a lot of education behind it. Um, and so what I would say

behind it. Um, and so what I would say to everybody is you have to make the decisions. You have to start thinking

decisions. You have to start thinking about who are the people you want to step up. Um, and those kinds of

step up. Um, and those kinds of decisions are um are ones that are challenging to make but usually require thought and conversation potentially

with partners or others. Um, and so just start by thinking about the people. Who

do you want involved? Who do you trust?

um because you can't put any documents in place until you do that. So, a really really strong first step is to just start thinking about that and we'll help you understand what those roles are as we go through. So, I'm going to walk you

through exactly what that looks like.

So, again, to reiterate, estate planning is not just about death. Um it's about life, logistics, and incapacity. And

statistically um you are far more likely to become incapacitated whether it's temporarily because you're maybe hospitalized or because there's some kind of you know incapacity issue that

comes as you're older. Um and this is spec specifically relevant for aging parents when we think about you know Alzheimer's and all the things that um we see affect capacity. Um you're

statistically far more likely to have something like that happen than an unforeseen like accident that results in death. And so estate planning I think

death. And so estate planning I think really should be shifted to a conversation about this type of um you know roadmap. How do we plan for those

know roadmap. How do we plan for those types of scenarios? Um and so if you take one thing from today, it's let let estate planning be something you think

about for your life as well as for death. Um so again um all of these

death. Um so again um all of these things are very important. We talked

about medical emergencies. We talked

about financial um access. We talked about

um access. We talked about communication. So, how do we make sure

communication. So, how do we make sure that these preferences are going to be known and shared um with the people who have to step in to make the decisions?

And we're going to talk a lot about that. Um the communication piece is

that. Um the communication piece is something everyone forgets. So, once you put the plan in place, people feel great, but then they don't tell anybody what it says or where it is. So

effectively they don't have a plan that really is going to be meaningful for them. Um and also this is incredibly

them. Um and also this is incredibly important for people who are younger because your entire life lives online.

So you know you have passwords, you have digital accounts, you have assets that live in places where we're not getting paper statements. We're not seeing where

paper statements. We're not seeing where things are um every day in kind of hard copy. So thinking about organization and

copy. So thinking about organization and how do we make sure that we have everything together and people can use see where it is and get into it if they need to. Um these are all really really

need to. Um these are all really really important parts. Um and at MITY what we

important parts. Um and at MITY what we are building is a tool that will help you not only create the documents that you need to put that clear emergency road map in place um but also help you

keep them in a place that allows you to digitally share those documents when you need to with the people that you need to share them with. So, think doctors, think your mom, think your best friend, think your spouse. Um, and have that

sharing and communication component be something that you start to think about as natural practice in planning as you go through your lives. Um, and so I

think we had a question here um that we can pop in, RA, >> for younger folks.

>> Yeah. So, one of the questions we got was, "What's the biggest estate planning mistake that young professionals make?"

So, I get this question a lot. Um, and

it usually starts off with something like, I don't have anything. Like, I

don't have any assets. Like, I have student loans. I just graduated. I just

student loans. I just graduated. I just

got my first job. Um, but the biggest mistake is disassociating or separating themselves from the need for planning.

So, opting out. Um, if you have a bank account, if you have a pet, if you have a 401k, like you are a person who needs an estate plan, not to mention the fact

that you need emergency decision makers.

Um, and so having a very simple plan or putting in place something that's going to protect what you have and your personal autonomy is important for everybody who's 18 and over. Um, and the

biggest mistake young professionals make is assuming they don't need one yet. Um,

but also assuming that estate planning is not a process for anyone until they are much older and much wealthier. Um,

and so I would say and I would argue that that's the exact opposite that the less you have, the more important it is to get a plan in place because those dollars are more meaningful for your spouse, for your kids, for your for your

for your family. Um, and so plan becomes even more important to protect any kind of loss um and provide for clarity. Um,

and especially when you're a young professional, if you're unmarried, you don't have these default emergency decision makers. Um, like you do

decision makers. Um, like you do sometimes when you have a spouse, although not always, and we'll talk about that. Um, and so having a clear,

about that. Um, and so having a clear, you know, first decision maker for medical, first decision maker for finances, and then backups is incredibly important for young professionals.

Okay, so going back to the question of where do we start? So, five decisions that every adult should make and these are things you should think about, talk

about with your family. Um, and always remember that you can change these at any time during your life. Um, those are who makes medical decisions for you, who handles money and logistics if you

can't, who cares for children or dependents, that includes pets. Um

unfortunately um we know like sadly um when someone dies or when someone's in a um place where they can't manage their pet, it's like a huge cause of animals going to animal shelters. Um so taking

care for pets is something that's really really important for a lot of pet owners. Um in addition, who would get

owners. Um in addition, who would get your stuff and your money? Like who gets what and how are you going to give it to them outright? Do you want a protective

them outright? Do you want a protective structure around that? Um, is that person old enough or responsible enough to be able to use those assets and manage them effectively? Is there

anybody you don't want to get anything?

Um, a lot of people want to benefit charities, especially younger people.

We're highly highly charitable and connected to community causes. Um, is

that part of your plan? Um, and then most importantly, where does all this information live? Um, where are your

information live? Um, where are your documents going to live? and where are all of your kind of assets and property information going to be in the form of kind of a balance sheet so people know

where to go and how to get in including how to access digital accounts. Um and

so again if you can start by just thinking about these things forget writing them down for now just get started by thinking about these most five important those five most important things you are way ahead of the game. Um

and there's a tip here that I tell everyone that I think is helpful. Um,

you could go crazy thinking through all the whatifs of these questions. Like,

well, if my son is four, this makes sense, but when they're 12, I don't know if this makes sense. Um, you know, right now we have a lot of debt, but like one day we're going to be more asset rich.

Like, how do we handle that? Um, and so I would caution everybody to think through the whatifs and have that be something that's limited by a period of

time. So you should make a decision and

time. So you should make a decision and get something down on paper that makes sense if something were to happen to you tomorrow and take that out about 2 years. And again, keep in mind you can

years. And again, keep in mind you can always change this, but that tip can really help you from not only reducing decision fatigue, reducing the spiraling

of all the whatifs, um, but really getting you to the place which is the goal, which is getting something down.

It doesn't have to be perfect. just get

something down and remember you can always change it in the future and you will many times over. So think about that kind of two-year window to help you move forward. Um and again that's

move forward. Um and again that's something that um for every family is different but two years is a good time frame because you really should review your plan annually. Um and so that can

help you move forward.

>> Ra, I think a question came in here.

>> Yeah.

>> Yep. And you know, we've sort of answered it at this point, but I'm going to read it anyway to reiterate it because I'm like so grateful how many questions we got and I it's important to you that everyone understands that like

we're really tailoring this to what you asked. So someone said, "I'm single and

asked. So someone said, "I'm single and I don't have a huge amount of assets.

Why does this still matter?" And I think you really just went through that, but like whoever asked that question, if you're here, like that's why, you know, um

>> and just a reminder. Yeah, totally. And

again, I appreciate these questions. Um,

think about this. Like, think about the way you live your life. Who knows what to do if you were to be not able to do what you do? Um, and so if you're single, you're in the hospital, someone

needs to talk to your doctors, someone needs to call your insurance to see what kind of coverage you have. Someone needs

to make sure your rent is paid. Um, you

know, if you can't access your accounts, maybe it's a brokerage account, maybe there's a fluctuation in the market and you would want to get in there and make some trades. If you don't have somebody

some trades. If you don't have somebody who can do that, you could lose out on some kind of market, you know, swings.

Um, pet care, very, very important. Um,

notifying your employer. I mean, this is something that comes up a lot, like if you're in an accident or you're in an unexpected emergency, you know, is there somebody who knows how to get a hold of your employer to let them know what

happened? A lot of benefits and a lot of

happened? A lot of benefits and a lot of um, you know, the things that would be helpful to you in an emergency run through your employer. So without

someone being able to communicate with them or know who to call, like you could really lose out on a lot of things, including your job. Um, and so, you know, those are the kinds of things that really matter. So, none of these have to

really matter. So, none of these have to do with your net worth. And if you're single, I would say, um, you know, these kinds of things can be handled very easily and quickly and cheaply. And

that's again really why we built Mity to get people started on this path.

Okay.

things that people forget that create the biggest headache later. So estate

planning can really happen in multiple let's call them buckets. The first

bucket is what we talked about which is really like the decision bucket thinking about you know who are going to be the people who are going to be part of your plan. Um the second bucket is and we'll

plan. Um the second bucket is and we'll get into these in more detail later is really getting that down on paper and putting them into the right documents that would help you make sure that plan is followed. Um, and then the third

is followed. Um, and then the third bucket is kind of going through all of your assets and understanding what they are, where they are, and how they would transfer, how they would be accessed, um, at different circumstances. So

whether it's in capacity or whether at death. Um, and you know, the fourth

death. Um, and you know, the fourth piece is really looking at those and making changes to the way those assets are either titled or distributed so that it matches the intentions that you had

in your plan. Um, and I'll give you example of this. So many people have um assets that have what what are called beneficiary designations which means you

have to fill out a piece of paper where you would write down who you would want to receive that type of asset if you were gone. Um so the most easy to

were gone. Um so the most easy to understand examples of that are 401ks um and life insurance. So many people who are married, they want their spouse to

be the beneficiary or to receive their 401k assets or their life insurance if they were to pass away. Um, and yet many people get divorced. Um, and so those

beneficiary designations, even if you change your estate plan and it says, "I no longer want my ex spouse as the beneficiary," which 99% of people do,

you still have to review those documents that are beneficiary designations to make sure that you've removed that spouse and put somebody else on there.

And so beneficiary designations are a huge headache. Um there was actually

huge headache. Um there was actually just a huge article, a huge lawsuit um that had to do with somebody who never removed a former spouse and they 20 years later received like millions of

dollars from some kind of deferred benefit plan. Um and the person who

benefit plan. Um and the person who passed away's family was like this is crazy. Um so those are things to to to

crazy. Um so those are things to to to to be mindful of. The next is digital life and passwords. So like all your social media accounts, your email, like

what lives in your Google Drive. Um all

of these things and passwords are things that people forget. So pass word managers are great. Um keeping some kind of tracker of all of your assets. And

also like think about what do you want to happen to your like whole social media life when you're gone. I think

we've all seen places where people have passed away and their kind of life continues on Facebook or on other places and a lot of people have strong feelings about that one way or the other. So,

think about that. Um, as well as all your like photos and all that kind of stuff. Pets, again, something really to

stuff. Pets, again, something really to be um thoughtful around. Um, and then where is everything? This is something

that I hear like as one of the biggest fears of certainly parents um and uh daughters or family members who are helping aging parents. It's like I don't know where any of my parents stuff is. I

don't know who to call. I don't know if they've done any of this. Like if

something happens to them, I got to step up and I want to feel prepared to be able to do that. So I think for women, um this is something I I worry about all the time. Um, and I know that a lot of

the time. Um, and I know that a lot of my friends do and a lot of people out there are trying to figure out how they can be proactive in helping their parents get organized. We'll talk about that a little later. Um, another big

headache, updating after major life changes. We talked about divorce as

changes. We talked about divorce as being a really big pivot point for revisiting your plan. Um, but there's a lot of others. So, think marriage,

divorce, baby, um death of a family member, um having a significant health event or a financial change, maybe you inherited a bunch of money, or maybe you

uh move states, you know, these are all things that would require you or or would be a good idea to look at your plan. I mean, a lot of people forget

plan. I mean, a lot of people forget that. Um and then a huge huge huge um

that. Um and then a huge huge huge um focus of Mitsy and and again for estate planning conversations in general is how to plan for unmarried partners and

chosen family members. meaning, you

know, you are not in a necessarily legal relationship with your partner um or the rest of your chosen family, but you want to protect them in a way that becomes

incredibly um thoughtful and you know puts very clearly what you would want to happen. And so making sure you do that

happen. And so making sure you do that in a way that is going to be effective is incredibly important. Um and we can talk about some of those things in a little bit. Um, RA, I think there was a

little bit. Um, RA, I think there was a question here too about how often people should update their documents. Um, and

I'll just kind of quickly chime in on that. I think you should do an annual

that. I think you should do an annual review every year. People should just take a look, look at the key points. So,

do the decision makers still make sense?

Has anything major happened in your life that would require you to change this?

um what are the pieces that are, you know, very very important um to your financial life or to your digital life or to any of those other things that you

want to make sure you haven't that you've that you've updated and that you've kept as part of your kind of let's call it filing system. Um make

sure that those are um things that you update every year. Um and then absent a like major overhaul um really every five years a lot of times people are kind of

looking at their documents and making like significant changes. Um but a review should happen at least every year. And with Mitsy um our goal is to

year. And with Mitsy um our goal is to help people essentially be proactive about reviewing. And so our intention is

about reviewing. And so our intention is that um users who are able to um complete their state plan with Mitsy will also have the benefit of having

help in knowing when they should review their plan and keep their plan updated because again there's so little information about this out there.

There's so little education. Like why

would anybody know when to update their estate plan unless they had a lawyer who was telling them to do it or a family member and unfortunately that just isn't the reality for the majority of people.

So, we're trying to make that a little less um work on your end.

>> And I just want to chime in. I just

shared in the chat um a checklist that uh we prepared that helped you with exactly this to Katie's point of just knowing where everything is, knowing what conversations to have both in your

own household and in households where you may be the person helping to sort through things if someone is ill or passes away. Um, so it's a checklist

passes away. Um, so it's a checklist that tells you all of the documents and pieces of information and conversations you would want to have and be aware of

and to compile. So that's um like a free resource anyone can use uh whether you're in Michigan or not. So I just put that in the chat as well.

>> Great. Okay.

Okay. The foundational layer. So we

talked about what matters like the kinds of decisions you're going to have to make. So now I want to get more concrete

make. So now I want to get more concrete about like what are the actual documents that women need and really everyone needs but I think it's particularly important for women for all the discussions we've had. So these are the

documents. Um I'm going to talk about

documents. Um I'm going to talk about them kind of like in general plain English. Different states might have

English. Different states might have different names for these documents but I'm going to talk about what they do practically. Um these names can be

practically. Um these names can be intimidating. Um and so again like we're

intimidating. Um and so again like we're going to really focus on the documents generally what their names are and what they do practically. So the first that everyone needs is a healthcare power of

attorney. And this is also sometimes

attorney. And this is also sometimes called designation of patient advocate or a healthcare proxy. Um and this is something that um allows you to name somebody you trust to make medical

decisions for you if you can't make them for yourself. Um and typically these are

for yourself. Um and typically these are only effective while you're alive. Um

but when you can't communicate, so think you're in a coma or you're, you know, under in a surgery. Um, and while you're alive and able to communicate, you make all of your own health decisions

generally. Um, and so this is really for

generally. Um, and so this is really for the those those times when you're unable to. Um, and the next one is the

to. Um, and the next one is the financial decision-making document, which is typically called a financial power of attorney um or power of attorney for finances. This allows you

or this helps you name somebody to handle money and logistics. Um, so

paying bills, managing accounts, filing taxes, dealing with insurance, um, if you're unable to. And I think a lot of people think like, okay, this is a document that, um, is is available like

in intense emergencies or like serious lapses in your ability to manage your affairs. Um, but you can set these up

affairs. Um, but you can set these up that they're effective essentially right away. Um, and they give somebody the

away. Um, and they give somebody the ability to help you or manage things for you like during your life while you're able to still conduct your own business.

but if you ask them to help you. So,

think about the scenario where you might be traveling, maybe you're overseas, maybe you have Wi-Fi that's spotty or it's just not working and someone calls you and you're getting a fraud alert on

your card or, you know, somebody needs to send a check or pay a bill for summer camp for your kids, whatever it is, like, and you have, you know, somebody in the US or someone at home who's able

to do it on Wi-Fi, like that's a perfectly acceptable sometimes use of a durable power of attorney or a power of attorney if you trust that person and you want that to be something that can

help you. Um, so those are very powerful

help you. Um, so those are very powerful documents. You'll want to make sure you

documents. You'll want to make sure you really really trust that person. They

can have a lot of power or they can have a limited amount of power, but it's something that everyone should have in place. Um, and a note here about married

place. Um, and a note here about married spouses, married couples. So, a lot of questions is like, oh, I'm married, you know, do I really need this? Like,

couldn't my spouse get into all of my accounts? If you have join accounts,

accounts? If you have join accounts, typically yes. Um, but I have a lot of

typically yes. Um, but I have a lot of individual accounts. I know a lot of

individual accounts. I know a lot of spouses now who keep individual accounts, meaning their spouse is not a a joint owner, co- you know, co-owner on that account. Um, and so in that case,

that account. Um, and so in that case, um, there could be a serious time lapse before a bank or other financial institution would let that spouse get into your account if they're not listed

on there, um, or not at all. So, the

safest bet is to have a power of attorney that would designate your spouse as someone you trust to get into those individual accounts if they need to get in there. Um, so the next one is

guardianship. So who takes care of your

guardianship. So who takes care of your children? Guardianship is usually

children? Guardianship is usually physical legal custody. Um, and this is for children who are under 18. Um, I've

seen this happen. Fortunately, it's one of the saddest um, scenarios I've been in where, um, you know, there's been a tragic accident, both parents have been,

um, in a state of incapacity and then passed away. um and they did not have

passed away. um and they did not have guardianships designate didn't they didn't have a document designating their preference who they would want to um be in charge of their kids and you know

often times the problem isn't that nobody would step up it's that everybody would step up. So, think about, you know, your parents, your spouse's parents, your sister, your siblings,

your friends. Um, those can be pretty

your friends. Um, those can be pretty pretty contentious, drawn out, emotional court cases. Um, something that can be

court cases. Um, something that can be 100% avoided. Um, and so, again,

100% avoided. Um, and so, again, guardianship is incredibly important.

Just get it down. You can always change it later. Um, and this is something that

it later. Um, and this is something that the two-year rule becomes very very helpful in moving forward and actually getting that done if there's, you know, a lot of discussion about who you would

want to be in that role. Um, okay. So,

um, and then those are kind of the foundational pieces. And then there are

foundational pieces. And then there are additional documents that are going to protect your assets and are going to essentially ensure they will go to the people you want them to go to in the way

that you want them to go. Um, and so a will is an important document for everybody. It directs where your stuff

everybody. It directs where your stuff goes when you die. Um, so think property, personal items, financial accounts, and it names somebody called a

personal representative or an executive typically to manage that estate administration process. Um, and I

administration process. Um, and I mentioned earlier how important this is for women to plan and to learn about planning. 80% of estate administrations

planning. 80% of estate administrations are managed by women. No surprise there.

Women are survivors. Um siblings, you know, they're surviving daughters, parents, um spouses. And so this responsibility falls on them. And what

that is is an estate administration is the process of essentially finding everyone's finding someone who's passed away assets, inventorying everything, you know, paying all their last bills,

paying all their taxes, um making sure that those assets are secure. So like

going to a home and physically securing a home, um finding bank accounts, you know, and again, people don't get paper statements anymore. So, if that person

statements anymore. So, if that person who passed away isn't really organized, it can be an incredible incredible um undertaking for that person who's designated to manage the estate, which

is largely a woman. Um so, having a will and potentially a trust, which we'll talk about next, um that's very clear um in who you would want to do that. And

having all of your assets organized in a way that makes it easy for them is an incredibly important gift that you can give to your family and to your loved ones. Um, and so having a will that's

ones. Um, and so having a will that's thoughtfully drafted, a trust if you need one. Um, a trust is a most a more

need one. Um, a trust is a most a more advanced structure. Um, it can help your

advanced structure. Um, it can help your family avoid probate as long as the assets are all in the trust. Um, and we talked about that a little bit. One of

the buckets of planning is looking at all your assets and potentially changing the title or the way they're held so that they're they're held in that trust to essentially take it out of the

probate or the court proceeding. Um, a

trust can also control timing of when people would receive money. So, think

children, you know, most people do not want their children to get anything um, you know, when they're young. Um and of

course trusts will help you to appoint someone called a trustee, someone you trust to manage assets for children um you know for as long as you say. So many

people say you know keep it in trust and protected until my child's 30 and then they can have some over the course of you know several years. You can really be creative and put a lot of different

um kind of levers on those trusts. Um

but again, those are more advanced concepts that not everyone needs, but certainly part of the overall estate planning um conversation that you will have over the course of your life.

Again, all things that can be changed.

Um, but the focus for I think for women, especially for younger women, should really be on the documents that give you protection while you're alive, which are the healthcare power of attorney, the

financial um power of attorney, and then um the related kind of advanced directive documents. Um, and then the

directive documents. Um, and then the last thing, and this really falls into um, kind of that bucket we talked about with assets, is looking through all of your beneficiary designations,

um, which are, you know, separate and aside from estate planning documents.

So, life insurance, 401ks, um, and making sure that those match what your intentions are for how assets

would be flowing to folks at your death.

Um so make sure when you're thinking through what documents do you have, what documents do you need that you understand how they work and when they work. Um, and again, these are all

work. Um, and again, these are all things that Mitsy will help you learn and make decisions about um, as you go

through your life and life changes.

Okay, so the process, um, I break it up into six steps. We've kind of already talked about it. Um, bucket one, decide people and stuff. Who do you want in

charge? Um, two, document. So, get it

charge? Um, two, document. So, get it down. Put it down in one of the

down. Put it down in one of the documents we talked about. Um, depending

on what that decision is. Um, three,

find. This is for many people um, something that kind of stops them in the water before they go across the bridge to sign their plan. you know, just

getting things organized and finding where your accounts are, um, is a huge undertaking for a lot of people. Um, and

as we know in families, there's often a division of labor. Sometimes there's

like an administrative partner and then there's like the more investment or financial partner. Um, and so making

financial partner. Um, and so making sure you have a clear understanding of where your accounts are, um, how to access them, who to call. Um, that's not

always something that both partners know um, completely. So having that

um, completely. So having that conversation early and often and helping you put a framework around it so that you can move through the steps to assemble a family balance sheet is

something we're hoping to give everyone as a you know freebie. Rachel dropped

the um family financial readiness checklist in the chat. You can use that as a framework to accomplish step three.

Um fund. Again, this is more advanced, but once you do have those documents in place and all of your assets assembled, you'll want to make sure that all the accounts align with that plan. Um, and

then five and six are, I think, some of the most important pieces. Five, share

your plan with your people. Um, a plan is no good if no one knows where it is or how to use it or how it is supposed to work. So, make sure

you tell the people certainly that you've put in your document as decision makers. Um, I would go so far as asking

makers. Um, I would go so far as asking them and making sure you're having a conversation with them before you even put them in the document so that they feel comfortable with it or tell you they don't feel comfortable so you can

go and find someone else. Um, and then getting them the documents they need or copies of the documents they need so that if they ever had to step up and step in, they would be able to and they would know what to do and they would

have the documents they would need to be able to do what they need to do. So,

walk into a bank and help you or help the doctor make decisions about medical care. Um, and then of course, as we

care. Um, and then of course, as we talked about, review. So, revise as your life changes. Um, and again, annual

life changes. Um, and again, annual quick review of highle things. And then

every five years you might want to think about like doing a major. Sorry, we we have a loud dog here. So, um

>> apologies for the background. Um okay,

RA, I think you had a question here about >> Yeah, someone asked um what are the minimum documents a married couple with no children needs to cover both while

Oh, both while living decisions and after death wishes.

>> Yeah. So again, different life stages have different planning needs. Um I'm

going to kind of go through this quickly um because we are running a little short of time, but essentially um you want to cover both sides if you're a married couple with no children. You want to

cover the emergency decision making. Um

so what happens while you're alive and then what happens after. So at minimum a healthcare power of attorney or financial power of attorney for each of you. Um this is a question we get a lot

you. Um this is a question we get a lot like everyone needs their own documents.

So, um, you know, you can't put a power of attorney in place that really covers you and your spouse. Each person needs their own set of documents. They can be mirror images. You can have different

mirror images. You can have different people in there. Um, but again, um, make sure you and your partner have your own set of documents. Um, and then a will for each of you to direct where your

assets would go. Um, and handle things like pet care, personal property. Um,

and again, those are things that you can always change, but you want to make sure you at least have those in um, in effect. Um, and then for other life

effect. Um, and then for other life stages, so you know, your plan matters depending on where you are in your stage of life. So, if you're single, you're in

of life. So, if you're single, you're in your 20s and your 30s, similar, you want your health care agents, you want your financial decision maker, think about your pet, think about your digital

assets. Um, think about putting in a

assets. Um, think about putting in a good practice for as you get, you know, more as your balance sheet grows, as your assets become more sophisticated.

Starting early, like with an early on-ramp to planning is so much easier because you just don't have as much to take into account. Um, so I would caution or I would encourage everyone young to start thinking about this now.

Even though you might not think you need it, it's very important and it makes it a lot easier down the way. Um, and then partnered or married. um think about all

of those documents. And then the key piece of kind of analysis here is does my partner actually have access or the authority to do what I want them to do or what I don't want them to do. And so

thinking through those um pieces are important. Um parents of young kids,

important. Um parents of young kids, guardianship is everything.

um divorced or blended families. This is

the beneficiary discussion we talked about. Making sure that you don't have

about. Making sure that you don't have outdated names in certain places um is incredibly important. Um or that you

incredibly important. Um or that you don't have accounts that have outdated names or folks who are no longer in your life. Um and then building a business

life. Um and then building a business um or helping agent parents, you want to make sure your plan reflects both your personal choices and then your professional responsibilities. Um, so

professional responsibilities. Um, so you might want somebody to be able to get into your personal accounts and somebody different to be able to manage or get into your business accounts. Um,

and so those are all things that estate planning can help you achieve. Um, and

so really the question isn't for all these different life stages is whether you need planning, it's like what version is the most relevant for you and how can you get started so that you're ready to adapt um, and have a plan that

grows with you as you go through your different life stages. Um, and I always get this question here, like Rachel, I'll just um send it out there, but like people who are expecting a baby, um,

what should you do now? Um, what should you have in place? Like, how do you even bring this up with your partner? Um, I

think a lot of these conversations in general with partners should be framed as logistics. This isn't about like

as logistics. This isn't about like death. This is like, okay, we have this

death. This is like, okay, we have this meshed life together. We have a new human coming into the world. like

if one of us were not in the picture or if one of us were in the hospital tomorrow, like what would we want to happen and how can we make that um emergency scenario clearer, easier for

someone to step into um and reduce the kind of emotion and confusion and tension in an already emotional time.

So, think about framing these conversations as logistics as opposed to like leading with death. I think that can be really helpful. Um, and frankly for those who are having a hard time broaching this conversation with their

aging parents, because this is something I get a lot like, I know I'm going to be involved in my parents, you know, helping them through their plan or helping them, you know, manage an estate when they're gone or helping manage an

estate when they're gone. you know, what are the things I can say? Like, how can I make this a conversation with my parents that's going to be um productive and

isn't going to cause them to think I'm like going after their money or trying to, you know, get um information. Um I

would frame it with logistics and also make it personal. So, I have a lot of um friends who are going through this process right now. I'm going through this process right now. I'm getting

organized. I want to tell you about what I have in my plan. Like, and I'd love to know, you know, where are your where where's your plan? Do you have a plan?

Who should we call? Um, you know, anything we should know? So, frame it as personal. Like, you're thinking about

personal. Like, you're thinking about this for you. And so, you're naturally trying to understand what your parents have thought about or not thought about.

Um, so I think, you know, that can be something that really opens up the conversation. And I would say talking

conversation. And I would say talking about planning with your family before there's a health emergency, before there's a traumatic event is the most effective thing that you can do to

prevent conflict or financial loss or emotional burden down the way because often those conversations things come out that can avoid conflict down the

way. Um, for example,

way. Um, for example, um, we had a I had a family who, um, wanted to have all three kids as their

executives. So, the parents wanted to be

executives. So, the parents wanted to be fair. They didn't want one sibling to be

fair. They didn't want one sibling to be appointed versus the other two. They

couldn't decide or pick one kid. Um, and

as they had that conversation about why they had decided to have all three of them, two of the kids raised their hand and said, you know, we're really not comfortable doing this. we want our

sister in as the primary. Um, and you know, we just don't have the bandwidth to handle this. Um, and that was really useful information for the parents

because putting that responsibility on all three of them would have been really hard and probably would have caused conflict between those siblings later on had two of them wanted to bow out of

that responsibility. So again, having

that responsibility. So again, having conversations with families, especially aging parents, about what their intentions are and why they are doing things in advance can really help head

off conflict later down the way.

Okay, so we are at 45 minutes. I want to be mindful of everyone's time. Um I

don't want people to feel overwhelmed.

Um this is just we kind of went over this. Um this is how to help families

this. Um this is how to help families have conversations about planning with different generations. Um, so again,

different generations. Um, so again, questions you can ask. Where are the documents? Who's named? Were they kept?

documents? Who's named? Were they kept?

What would someone need in an emergency?

Are the details current? All good things you can um start use the starters for conversations. And then here's your

conversations. And then here's your oneweek starter plan. So takeaways for everyone on the the on the line. Um, if

you can do anything in the next week, here's what we want you to do. We don't

want you to feel overwhelmed. Um, choose

a healthcare decision maker, choose a financial decision maker and a backup.

Review your beneficiaries, start a family balance sheet, and we gave you a resource to get that started. Do 10

minutes every day for the next month.

You will get it done. Um, you know, block off some time on a Sunday, an hour here, an hour there. Like little by little is better than nothing. um decide

where you're going to keep your important documents and we can give you some tips on good places to keep originals um in the absence of you know having an actual lawyer or somebody who's going to keep those for you. Tell

one trusted person where to find things and if you're married you know certainly your spouse um but one other person because spouses are typically in places together so you want a second line of

defense um and then send an annual reminder to review in a year.

Um, okay. For those who want to stay on the line, we'll go through some like quickfire questions. Um, but we just

quickfire questions. Um, but we just wanted to say thank you so much for everyone who joined. Um, again, we'll do as many of these as there's interest.

Tell your friends, tell your mom. Um,

tell any groups that you're in in, you know, we would love to be a resource.

Um, and of course, um, again, this is all general. You know, states have

all general. You know, states have specific legal requirements. you're

going to want to make sure you research into those. Um, and if you have a

into those. Um, and if you have a complex situation, tax planning, international assets, blended families with complicated dynamics, um, there's all kinds of things where lawyers are really, really great to help you

navigate them, and you certainly should consult a lawyer on those types of conversations and estate planning um, implications. So, we we certainly

implications. So, we we certainly recognize that um, this is um, very very high level and there's a lot of nuances here. So, um, for foundational planning,

here. So, um, for foundational planning, for the pieces that we talked about that are relevant to everyone, you can get started at helloitsy.com in Michigan.

Um, RA, did you have anything you wanted to add as we close it out and then we could do the questions?

>> No, I was just going to say repeat what you just said. If you're in Michigan, go to hello Mitsy.com. You can get started today. If you're not, but you have

today. If you're not, but you have friends or family that are, please spread the word. Um, we're really excited to be live there and join the wait list if you live in another state.

And make sure to follow us on Instagram, hey.mmitsy

hey.mmitsy on Tik Tok, hey Mitsy on LinkedIn, on YouTube, wherever you are, and join our email list because as you saw today, Katie is an incredible resource to get

your questions answered. And we're doing this all the time through our content.

So that's a great way to like continue learning. Um and otherwise, yeah, why

learning. Um and otherwise, yeah, why don't we spend the next 11 minutes doing questions and um if you have to go, go ahead. Thanks so much for joining and

ahead. Thanks so much for joining and make sure you're on our mailing list.

We'll make sure to share um the content from today so you can refer back to it.

Um okay, so a question that came in, um which I feel like is the primary question when people hear estate planning, you know, that they're confused about a will or a trust. What's

actually better? This is a question we hear all the time and someone asked.

>> Sure. So, it's not typically a will or a trust. It's will or will and trust. So,

trust. It's will or will and trust. So,

a will it and it all depends on your situation. Okay. So, a will is simpler.

situation. Okay. So, a will is simpler.

It's cheaper and it's enough for a lot of people. It essentially says who's in

of people. It essentially says who's in charge um when I die. Um it would be the place where you would put your guardians um and if you had minor children. Um,

and essentially it says here's what I want to happen. Here's who I want to get what or here's who I don't want to get what. Um, and for many people that's

what. Um, and for many people that's enough. For a lot of people who have

enough. For a lot of people who have significant assets, um, or who are really concerned about probate, um, a trust is a addition to >> Explain what probate is. Say what

probate.

>> Probate is the court process for essentially managing the transfer of assets at death. Um, and it's something

that is um, a stateby-state process. Um,

and in some states it can be pretty easy. In some states it can be kind of a

easy. In some states it can be kind of a nightmare. So um, certainly there's a

nightmare. So um, certainly there's a lot of talk about avoiding probate if you can. Um, and the way you do that is

you can. Um, and the way you do that is by creating a trust um, and making sure all of your assets are in that trust or payable to that trust at your death. Um,

and so a trust can avoid probate. It can

give you more control over timing, meaning that you can say, "I want all my money to be held and managed by a person I choose, so a trustee for the benefit

of my children." Um, until they're 40 years old. And before that, they can get

years old. And before that, they can get money from the trust for education, for health care, for, you know, all the things that you would probably give them

money for anyway. um but it's protected so you can essentially kind of they call it rule from the grave um using a trust.

So that's certainly something that a lot of people find attractive and for people with young children is a very very good tool to have as part of your estate plan. Um but again it's more complex.

plan. Um but again it's more complex.

It's more expensive. Um it only works if you actually transfer the assets into it. Um, and for most women getting

it. Um, and for most women getting started, you know, the foundational documents first should be the priority, the will second, and then evaluate whether a trust makes sense later on.

Um, but don't let this whole debate paralyze you. You can always add one

paralyze you. You can always add one later on or essentially take it off if it no longer makes sense for you and you have your documents updated.

>> Um, okay, great. So, um, this question came in from a couple different people like in different ways, but so if you are a a widow and you don't have any

children, you know, what do you need to know? What's the best structure for you?

know? What's the best structure for you?

>> Yeah. So, you know, your foundational documents are arguably the more important, not less. um so without a spouse or for or kids to kind of default to as far as not only emergency decision

makers but um you know people who would receive your assets at death um you know there's a lot of scenarios that might not play out the way you would want them to. So you might have strangers making

to. So you might have strangers making decisions for you instead of trusted people. You might have people that

people. You might have people that you're not that close to who are the ones receiving your assets. Um, and so you just want to make sure that you have um, you know, a clear road map for what

you want to happen. And that road map could take the form of a will or a will and a trust. Um, and so ultimately those would be important documents for you, but certainly the most important things would be to start with the foundational

documents, the powers of attorney.

Great. Um, let's see. Okay. So, um, for health care agents, this question came in specifically, um, and we've talked about this before.

Um, can I have both an outofstate family member and a local friend as a health care agent? How should people think

care agent? How should people think about that?

>> Yeah. So, this is kind of a this is kind of a I call it a double question. So,

the first question is um that I'm hearing is, can I have two people be a emergency decision maker for me? Um and

the answer is yes. Um you can have um multiple people serve in roles. Um the

question becomes how do you want them to make decisions? So if you have two

make decisions? So if you have two people, one local, one far away, can either of them make decisions for you?

Meaning, you know, maybe the local person can get to the hospital faster.

So do you want to give them the ability to make a decision? Um, you know, that can cause obviously confusion and conflict when both people don't have the

same opinion or view on what they would say to do. Um, you certainly will make it clear what your preferences are in the document. Um, and you certainly

the document. Um, and you certainly will, um, give them a guide for how you would want to make the decision if you were able to. Um, but those documents cannot cover every possible scenario.

there's always things that come up that aren't part of that. Um, and so it is possible if you have two people that there could be a conflict. Um, but

having said that, if you are clear with your decision makers what you would want to do, if they both are aligned, they know your values, um, you certainly could have two people. Um, I always

think that the best people are generally the ones that you trust the most, who understand you, who are most aligned with how you would make decisions, who know your values, um, whether they live

close by or far away. Um but certainly for folks who are um this especially, you know, kind of comes up with parents who are aging who might live in other

places. Um if there's a local person,

places. Um if there's a local person, typically it gives them a lot more, um you know, uh a lot more comfort in that there's a person who's going to be able to get to the hospital to assess the

situation quickly and to make decisions.

So, um both both things are possible.

>> Awesome. Well, we're at time, so I'm going to leave it there. Um, thanks to everyone who came. Thanks everyone who stuck around to the end. Um, we got more questions than we were able to answer.

So, like I said, please make sure you're following Mity on social, you're on the Mitsy weight list because we will answer all of these questions and get that

content available to you. Um, and if you have any other questions about Mitsy more generally, you can always email helpmity.com and we will get you your answer. And

thanks so much for spending time with us today. Thank you, Katie. This was great.

today. Thank you, Katie. This was great.

I always learn a lot. I always think I know everything I don't every time I hear you talk. So, thank you and we will see you next time.

>> Bye, everyone. Have a great day. Thanks

a lot. Bye.