Legacy planning, also known as estate planning, means deciding today how your resources will be stewarded, both today and after you are gone. Chris Fleck, Director of Legacy Planning at NCU, points out that on average, three in four adults in the U.S. do not have a will or trust, leaving \u201ca mess\u201d in a time of transition for families, and this may expose their assets to probate, attorney\u2019s fees, and taxes. But it doesn\u2019t have to be that way.<\/p>\n
Jeff Litfin ’92, a member of North Central\u2019s team of trusted professional \u201creferral partners\u201d recently assisted Nancy Zugschwert, \u201919 M.A., and her husband, Jim, with the process of reviewing, updating, and establishing their living legacy and charitable bequest by creating a living trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we were raising our children, we always wanted to take care of this,\u201d Nancy said, \u201cbut we always got stuck because we didn\u2019t know exactly what we needed or how to find the right people to help us. We had put together a few simple wills via an online website but never felt confident we were properly protected.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tragic loss of two close friends to cancer made the Zugschwerts realize that estate planning needs to be in place for events you may not get to plan in advance. They were pleased to discover at a \u201clunch and learn\u201d session, sponsored by NCU, that the Legacy Planning team had done the footwork to find carefully selected partners who could provide the knowledge and tools they needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have properly prepared legal documents\u00a0that will make things so much easier for our family when we\u2019re gone,\u201d Nancy said. \u201cI learned through this process that your family will have details to sort through whether the \u2018inheritance\u2019 is small or big. Getting things together through legacy planning simply allows us to make decisions so they don\u2019t have to\u2014and now our plan supports our family and the organizations that matter to us. The investment of time and money now has given us peace of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fleck noted, \u201cCompleting a will or trust with specialists from NCU\u2019s referral partner teams allows Christians who steward God\u2019s assets to be able to be fair to family, while making their mark supporting their church, missionaries, Christian higher education, or other areas they care about most.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Zugschwerts decided to share information about their living trust with their children so that whenever the time comes, they know what to do. \u201cGood planning doesn\u2019t need to be a secret or a mystery,\u201d Nancy said, \u201cit just needs to be done. My hope is that by sharing our story, others may be encouraged and experience the same peace of mind that our family now has.\u201d<\/p>\n
Request more information at legacy.northcentral.edu<\/a>, or reach out to Trent Redmann, NCU\u2019s Director of Legacy Planning, at 612.343.4749<\/a> or legacyplanning@northcentral.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Legacy planning, also known as estate planning, means deciding today how your resources will be stewarded, both today and after you are gone. Chris Fleck, Director of Legacy Planning at NCU, points out that on average, three in four adults in the U.S. do not have a will or trust, leaving \u201ca mess\u201d in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":1399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-friends","category-pastors-churches"],"yoast_head":"\n