Direction Memo: The Importance of a Letter of Instructions in Modern Estate Planning

Presented by Paul Casperson

A personal note detailing the testator’s wishes, hopes, messages to fiduciaries and heirs, is a key part of every estate plan.  Yet this document, which is really the financial plan for the estate plan, rarely gets put into place.  This discussion outlines an explicit definition of the purpose of a comprehensive letter of instructions, including the legal considerations of such documents.  In 2021, for most clients who don’t have a taxable estate, the value of the “modern” estate planner is to provide peace of mind and clarity in lieu of the tools to mitigate federal transfer taxes.  The aspiration of the presenter is the audience will be inspired to add the Direction Memo planning into their practices to provide their donors and clients more clarity in the estate planning process.   

Is estate planning important?  It only involves everyone you love, and everything you’ve worked for your entire life! The objective in this session is to introduce an estate planning tool that galvanizes the financial and estate plans for a client, where advisors collaboration is paramount to meet their client’s objectives. 

This presentation qualifies for 1 hour of CFP CE, and is self-reporting.

Monday - April 26, 2021

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Advance reservations are required

PCEPC Members - FREE

Guests - $15.00

Please register to be sent the link/code to join the Session.

Thank You to Our Sponsor!

Paul Caspersen, Assistant Vice President and Sr. Philanthropic Advisor at the University of Florida, brings complex financial thinking to the charitable planning field. As a Certified Financial Planner, Paul has 24 years of financial, estate, and charitable planning experience. Paul and his office have been tasked with an overall combined Gift Planning goal over $150 Million annually in deferred, real estate, and other complex gifts. He is a key member of the Senior Management Team that is directing UF’s $3 Billion Dollar Campaign.

Caspersen is also Principal of Planned Giving Interactive, a charitable planning software platform.  In 2011 Caspersen published the book “Direction Memo:  How to Write a Letter of Instructions for Your Estate Plan,” and is regularly published in peer reviewed journals.   He graduated with Honors from the College for Financial Planning, in Denver, CO with a Masters in Financial Planning and undergraduate from the University of Northern Iowa.