You Have Options
Beware of
Instead of conflict, what if there was a way to make
all the children feel that mom and dad took care of
them?
What if you could leave a certain asset completely
to one child who was best suited to receive it, without
overlooking or dealing unfairly with the other children?
What if you could create liquidity (a block of cash) in
your estate that enabled you to distribute highly illiquid
assets without concerns of unbalanced inheritances?
What if you could provide a large tax-free cash ben-
efit to deserving children or grandchildren to help set
up their financial futures?
What if there was a way to create the dollars needed
in the future for pennies on the dollar today?
Let’s Talk
There are several powerful strategies that can help
you accomplish these, and many other, personal finan-
cial goals. Let’s sit down and talk and you can decide if
any of these strategies might be of interest to you.
Ardal Powell, MA, PhD
New York Life/NYLife Securities
460 Temple Hill Rd
New Windsor, NY 12553
(845) 202-9722
apowell03@ft.newyorklife.com
New York Life Insurance Company, its agents and employees may not provide legal, tax or accounting
advice. Consult your own professional advisors before implementing any planning strategies. © 2018
New York Life Insurance Company. All rights reserved.
SMRU 1778978 (exp. 06.30.2020)
Personal Financial
Hazards
Part 4
Inadequate Planning for the Future of Your
Property: Will Your Estate Cause Undesired and
Unexpected Family Conflicts?
The Assets in Your Estate
Successfully accumulating assets often requires hard
work, discipline, and patience over several decades.
However, many people have not considered that every-
thing that you own will eventually be owned by someone
else—literally every dime will end up in someone else’s
hands. Without proper planning people cannot control
who gets what, when or how they get it, or whether their
assets will cause undesirable family conflicts.
Do you own any illiquid assets (real estate, business,
family home) that are a large percentage of your total
wealth? Could your children have different financial
needs or desires if they were to inherit assets? To create
“equal” distribution would prized assets have to be sold?
Would anyone feel hurt if a certain asset didn’t go to
them?
Advanced Planning Group
 How will you ensure that everyone wants to do the
same things with jointly inherited assets (keep vs. sell,
use vs. rent, work vs. passively own, etc.)? Could chil-
dren’s spouses (in-laws) influence decisions about what
to do with that property?
Many families and individuals have not considered
the family conflicts that could arise after mom and dad
are gone if estate equalization has not been achieved.
How might your family be impacted by the distribution
of your estate?
Let’s look at a hypothetical example.
If you passed away without plans to equalize
your estate, where could unexpected conflicts
creep into family relationships?
Dan and Leigh Jones have enjoyed financial success.
For years they have worked and carefully saved. They
have $3 million of farmland, a commercial building worth
$1.25 million, a $350,000 farm house, and $400,000 of
cash, securities, and other property. Their oldest son,
Nate, works the farmland, while their other children (adult
twins – Josh and Jane) pursue their careers in other cities.
If Dan and Leigh don’t plan carefully, their children
could run into conflicts about property, their estate, and
what is a fair division when they are gone!
Let’s Look at the Numbers
Let’s look at some of the unexpected conflicts that
could arise if Dan and Leigh passed away before they
were able to put their estate in order.  
The Jones’ Assets:
$3m (farmland)
$2m (all other assets)
$5m (total assets)
Potential Conflicts:
Nate gets the land because he’s working it.
$3 million to Nate, but only $2 million between
the other two kids? (unequal inheritance)
The commercial property produces passive in-
come, but Nate has to work to make a living.
(should the twins get free income?)
Who should get the house? (Nate could actually
live there, but if he gets it $3.35m goes to him
and only $1.65m goes to his siblings)
Divide the land between all the kids equally.
Nate wants control over his livelihood. (What if
siblings don’t want to sell, or can’t agree on
price? What if they want rent income? What if
they want to sell to an outsider to get cash?)
In other words, illiquid assets (like real estate and
businesses) can cause kids to feel unfairly dealt with.