Estate & Legacy Planning
Estate and legacy planning at SkyOak Capital focuses on the financial side of your estate plan—helping ensure that your accounts, ownership, beneficiary designations, gifting strategies and overall financial plan work together with your estate documents and legacy goals.
For clients who already have an estate plan, we review how the plan coordinates with the assets they actually own and work with their estate attorney when changes or more advanced planning may be appropriate. As families, assets, tax laws and circumstances change, we help clients keep the financial pieces of their estate plan aligned.
For clients with more complex estates or charitable goals, planning may include evaluating charitable trusts, donor-advised funds, private or family foundations, irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), gifting strategies and other wealth-transfer techniques in coordination with the client’s estate attorney and tax professionals.
SkyOak Capital does not draft legal documents or provide legal advice. Our role is to help clients understand and coordinate the financial elements of their estate and legacy plan and ensure those decisions are considered throughout their broader financial plan.
Why the Estate Plan and Financial Plan Need to Work Together
Creating a will or trust is only one part of estate planning. The way accounts are titled, who is named as beneficiary, how retirement accounts and insurance policies are structured, and how assets are ultimately transferred all need to work with the estate documents.
Over time, those pieces can become disconnected. Families change, assets change, beneficiaries change, people move to different states and estate and tax laws evolve.
SkyOak Capital helps clients periodically review the financial pieces of their estate plan and coordinate needed changes with their estate attorney and other professional advisors.
Estate Planning Through Wealth.com
SkyOak Capital provides clients access to Wealth.com, an estate-planning platform that can help guide clients through the creation or updating of foundational estate documents, including wills, revocable trusts, powers of attorney and healthcare directives.
As part of the planning process, SkyOak Capital Advisors helps clients coordinate their estate plan with other areas of their financial lives, including beneficiary designations, account ownership, investments and insurance.
Clients with more complex estate-planning needs may work directly with an estate planning attorney, with SkyOak helping coordinate the financial, investment and insurance pieces of the plan.
SkyOak Capital does not practice law or provide legal advice.
What Estate & Legacy Planning May Include:
- Estate Plan Review—Reviewing wills, trusts, powers of attorney and other estate documents alongside the client’s financial accounts to identify areas that may need further attention or coordination with an estate attorney.
- Beneficiary & Account Titling Review— Reviewing beneficiary designations and account ownership across retirement accounts, investment accounts, life insurance and annuities to help ensure they remain consistent with the client’s estate plan and intentions.
- Estate Tax Planning— Evaluating potential federal and state estate-tax exposure and financial strategies that may be appropriate, particularly for clients with larger estates or property in states with separate estate-tax rules.
- Gifting Strategies— Evaluating lifetime gifting, education funding, gifts of appreciated assets and other strategies for transferring wealth to children, grandchildren or others.
- Charitable & Philanthropic Planning— Evaluating donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions, gifts of appreciated securities, charitable trusts, private foundations and other charitable strategies.
- Wealth Transfer & Business Succession— Helping clients evaluate how and when assets or business interests may pass to the next generation and coordinating financial decisions with the client’s legal and tax professionals.
- Insurance & Legacy Planning— Evaluating life insurance and other insurance strategies as part of estate liquidity, wealth transfer, charitable or legacy goals, including ILITs when appropriate and established with an estate attorney.
- Incapacity Planning & Financial Coordination— Reviewing powers of attorney and other arrangements that affect who can assist with financial accounts if the client becomes unable to manage them.
Who This Is For
Estate and legacy planning can be valuable for clients who already have a will or trust but have not recently reviewed how their financial accounts and beneficiary designations coordinate with it, as well as individuals and families whose wealth, family circumstances or goals have changed.
We also work with business owners considering succession, families with significant real estate or other assets, individuals with charitable goals, clients concerned about federal or state estate taxes, and families who want to plan how wealth will pass to future generations.
Your Advisors
Estate and legacy planning is overseen by Jennifer Davis, CFP®, Founder and CEO, and is incorporated into SkyOak Capital’s comprehensive financial planning and wealth management process.
For more complex estate matters, SkyOak works in coordination with the client’s estate attorney, CPA and other professional advisors.
FAQs
Questions About Estate & Legacy Planning
Does SkyOak Capital write wills and trusts?
SkyOak Capital does not practice law or independently draft legal documents. Our role is to help clients evaluate and coordinate the financial side of the estate plan, including accounts, beneficiary designations, investments, insurance, gifting and legacy strategies.
SkyOak clients also have access to Wealth.com, a digital estate-planning platform that can guide clients through creating or updating foundational estate documents. More complex estate matters are coordinated with an estate planning attorney.
Why do beneficiary designations matter?
Certain assets, including retirement accounts, life insurance and annuities, generally pass according to their beneficiary designations. Reviewing those designations is therefore an important part of making sure the financial assets and estate plan continue to work together.
Does SkyOak Capital help with estate-tax planning?
Yes. We can help evaluate potential federal and state estate-tax exposure and model financial, gifting, insurance and charitable strategies as part of the broader financial plan. Legal and tax recommendations and implementation are coordinated with the client’s estate attorney and tax professionals.
Should I give assets to my children during my lifetime or leave them through my
estate?
The answer depends on the asset, its tax basis, the client’s financial needs, estate and tax considerations, and the goals for the recipient. We can model different gifting and inheritance strategies and coordinate the tax and legal considerations with the client’s CPA and estate attorney.
Can SkyOak help with charitable and legacy planning?
Yes. Depending on the client’s circumstances, planning may include donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions, gifts of appreciated securities, charitable trusts, private foundations and other charitable and wealth-transfer strategies.
How often should an estate plan be reviewed?
An estate plan should be revisited when there is a significant change in family circumstances, assets, beneficiaries, residence or applicable law. We also consider estate and beneficiary planning as part of the ongoing financial planning process.
SkyOak Capital does not draft legal documents or provide legal advice. Our role is to help clients understand and coordinate the financial elements of their estate and legacy plan and ensure those decisions are considered throughout their broader financial plan.