An Estate Planning Case Study

Unexpected life events, especially those that limit your ability to care and provide for your family, are one of the reasons why estate planning is critical.

A family that we’ve been working with for many years on their commercial banking and lending needs resisted taking steps to complete a comprehensive estate plan after many requests by our wealth advisory team. The patriarch of the family was a successful business owner of several distinct businesses and focused most of his energy on growing his enterprise, stating he didn’t have time for planning. He and his wife did not have a succession or estate plan in place and felt they had plenty of time to craft one.

One day, the business owner was in a near-fatal accident. His wife was completely unprepared should he not recover. She had no idea what his wishes were for his businesses—what would be done with his ownership interests, if he had liquidity needed to pay taxes and other expenses, and other concerns. He did not have a will or any trusts in place.

Luckily, the business owner survived and immediately agreed to meet with us to develop a comprehensive estate plan that would create succession plans for his business and provide long-term support to his family.

Learn more about this wake-up call from Marguerite Weese, part of our wealth planning group, in this informative video. Marguerite talks you through an overview of estate planning basics, as well as how Wilmington Trust has helped with unique estate planning challenges.