By Marguerite Lorenz

I recently received this email from a wife, mother and business owner who discovered our website while cruising around the Internet: 

My first husband was the executor for his parents' estate legally, but I was the one who actually did all the legwork. I spent countless hours trying to get information. I would call one city department only to find out I needed to speak with a different department.   There were countless trips to city offices and hours spent waiting in line. When the house went up for sale, we thought it would be the end of the legal problems. It was not. The old property deed had some unusual wording in it. We hired a lawyer and after a year, the property was sold. This was a simple estate. There were no outstanding debts and they paid cash for everything.

My second husband died in 2009. This time, I was the legal executor. There were countless details to deal with. The paperwork was overwhelming. I know I made financial decisions that were not in my best interest. I lost more on investments than it would have cost me to hire a professional.

I have children who would gladly take on the responsibility of executor, but I don’t want to burden them with this kind of responsibility. I want my estate handled by professionals who know the laws and are EMOTIONALLY DETACHED from the decisions that need to be made.

The letter writer is a very resourceful person. She’s certainly capable of all the work necessary to complete an estate settlement. As she shared, it was very difficult to stay on track in her business and with her kids AND have this job that included tax returns, formal accountings, court approval, distributions and challenging decisions.

If you have a business and a life, consider getting your estate plan done as soon as possible. Work with a qualified attorney and carefully select who will do the work for you, when you can't.

Marguerite Lorenz, CTFA, CLPF is host for the "It's Your Estate" program in San Diego County, offering free estate planning education, no sales and charities as sponsors. Learn more at www.ItsYourEstate.org.