The Financial Advisor’s Role in Inheritance

Bracha: What is a financial advisor?

Katherine: Interesting question. By definition:

Noun: A person who is employed to provide financial services or guidance to clients

By my definition, it is someone who focuses on Life Goal Planning, Investment Management, Financial Planning, Family Legacy Planning, and looking at the client’s overall financial picture to guide the client to fulfill their life goals.

Bracha: What motivated you to become a financial advisor?

Katherine: Money is a complicated subject. So, at a very early age, I was aware of the conflict and resolution money can fulfill. It’s our means of exchange, and therefore not going away. And from the time I was in elementary school, I lived in a home where the stock market ticker went across the screen. Our dinner conversations were about building wealth, investing in real estate and business opportunities.

I knew that money afforded access – and I also didn’t have a ton of modeling of women talking about money. Even in High School I can remember my focus on wanting to build wealth and a freedom lifestyle. After finishing a 5-year Marine Biology program in 4 years, I graduated college, and within a year stepped into the financial services industry. I wanted to break glass ceilings and show other women that they could build their own wealth.

For over 25 years in this industry, I’ve often been – and still am – one of the only women that sits around the tables talking about investing, and breaking financial limits along with the status quo. This creates a large part of my drive as a financial advisor.

Bracha: Are financial planners and wealth managers the same professionals as financial advisors?

Katherine: There are financial advisors that “sell” products. And there are also financial advisors that holistically look at your overall financial life, set up a financial plan, and then offer advice from that standpoint. I fall into the latter category.

Our financial lives are complex, from earning an income, to owning homes, to retirement planning. I would be remiss to say that there is a one-size-fits-all plan. It’s imperative that when I work with my clients, I have details about their financial life now, what they are planning on in the next 3-5 years, and the long-term plan. Everyone has different goals and financial achievements in their lives, and uncovering all of that is what allows me to guide my clients.

Bracha: What educational qualifications should executors look for in a financial advisor?

Katherine: That is a great question – you can google “financial advisor” and come up with all different credentials, or no additional credentials at all. I can speak to the reason I went ahead of my securities licenses and MBA to obtain the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification.

As someone who values education and continuing the pursuit of excellence, it was important to me to pursue what the CFP Board calls, “The Standard of Excellence. For 50 years, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification has been the standard of excellence for financial planners. CFP® professionals have met extensive training and experience requirements and commit to CFP Board’s ethical standards that require them to put their clients’ interests first.”

In addition, if I were looking for a firm to work with alongside a financial advisor, it would be important to me to look for a Registered Investor Advisor (RIA). An RIA is a financial professional firm that advise clients on securities investment and may manage their investment portfolios. RIAs have fiduciary obligations to their clients, which may mean they have a fundamental duty to always and only provide investment advice that is in the best interests of their clients.

Bracha: If a client passes away, when should the family contact you?

Katherine: First, when you become an executor, it can be overwhelming, and there are numerous people to reach out to. One of the first phone calls made by the family and executor should be to the financial advisor in charge of the deceased accounts. It’s important that the financial advisor knows of the passing of the client. There are processes that need to be followed upon the passing of a client. This is one of the main reasons that at Opal Wealth Advisor we have a document called “The Financial Life Organizer,” which we request to be kept with the client’s estate planning documents. That way, the executor knows who should be contacted at the time of their death.

The executor would work with the financial advisor and their office to distribute the funds according to the deceased client’s wishes. As a financial advisor, we adhere to the estate planning documents and wishes of the deceased. Initially, the executor needs to work directly with the financial advisor that has the accounts. Once the accounts are distributed, it is up to the beneficiaries to pick the financial advisor they would like to work with, moving forward.

Bracha: What documents and information will you need from the family?

Katherine: The documents that we would need are the death certificate, and depending on the type of accounts, we may need originals.

• Quick Tip: It’s important to order more than one original death certificate upon the person’s passing.

We would also need a copy of the Will, Trust(s), or additional legal documents with proof of the executor for the client’s estate.

On retirement accounts, we would work directly with the beneficiaries to collect the required information.

Bracha: Can you illustrate your work with the estate of a former client with a case study?

Katherine: I’ll give you two examples:

1. First, let’s take the example of working with a couple, and one spouse passes away.

And the spouse that passes is the one that is the predominant “financial” partner in the relationship. As a financial advisor and CFP®, it’s important that when working with clients we involve both spouses in the conversation. Not to say that one isn’t the key person in the relationship with the financial advisor, but one is just more involved in the day-to-day.

At Opal, we utilize different tools to assist the client’s overall financial well-being, including ensuring beneficiaries are up to date, that non-retirement accounts are titled correctly, and that assets are to be distributed as the client wishes.

In this example, one client becomes a widow and isn’t sure how to manage all the paperwork, financials, and steps moving forward. And this is a very emotional and stressful time for the widow. So we work with the widow through the process of ensuring the accounts are retitled, assets are moved according to the paperwork that has been put into place, and the beneficiaries are updated according to the living spouse’s wishes.

Most importantly, we guide the widow during this stressful time to ensure that moving forward they are comfortable with the process, with how we are working together now, and that they have the support they need through the process – and beyond.

2. A second example would be a client that had a business alongside their personal investments.

This client had one child, and no partners within the business. All their legal estate planning documents were set up, and the child was unaware of the assets their parent had accumulated. This client’s daughter was in her early 20’s and wasn’t quite sure how to navigate everything, and there was a third-party executor. We worked alongside the executor to distribute the assets according to the client’s wishes, while educating the daughter to move forward. It was important to guide and take the time to understand the beneficiary’s (the deceased client’s daughter) goals, her initial needs, and her future needs. There were many outstanding issues, such as:

• Who would be taking over the business?
• Would the business be sold?
• How to navigate not only the personal investments, but also the business as an asset?
• How to follow the instructions of the deceased, according to the legal parameters set up in her documents?

The moral of the story is that when working with clients, one of the first questions I ask when we are in the discovery meeting is whether they have updated estate planning documents. It’s great to accumulate assets throughout your lifetime, but if you don’t have your directives in order, the state will decide for you.

Bracha: What additional challenges do people who choose to hire a financial advisor for the first time when they inherit assets face?

Katherine: I’d recommend that someone who has come into an inheritance do their due diligence, and speak to a few financial advisors to see who fits your goals and needs. Find out how they work with clients and the resources they have to help you create the financial plan and goals you may not even realize at the time you’re looking for. Ask specific questions, and have them review their financial planning and investment management process. ask about their credentials, who is their ideal client, learn about the firm they are working with, and what additional resources do they have for you to learn about investment management and financial planning.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions – and the financial advisor should be transparent about fees and their relationship with clients.

When you inherit assets, you initially start working with the advisor where the investment accounts are held, but that doesn’t mean you need to stay working with that financial advisor.

Bracha: How can you prepare family members in advance to make the transition smoother, when your clients’ relatives who inherited assets want to keep working with you?

Katherine: As part of my practice, I take pride in meeting the extended family of my clients. They join us for events and webinars to become educated, and they can reach out and ask questions for themselves about their financial future. Some of the biggest challenges that I see with clients who inherit assets arise because the family or decedent hasn’t let them know they will be inheriting, or what the amount will be.

The conversation starts with the advisor encouraging an open dialogue before the client passes. This creates a legacy conversation that is important for those inheriting. It avoids the challenges that those inheriting may face because they are already in an emotional state, and knowing the financial advisor can limit the stress and the transitional period.

Bracha: What resources would you recommend to people who want to increase their financial literacy?

Katherine: There is an abundance of knowledge, books, podcasts, and blogs, which can actually be overwhelming. The first place to start is learning the basics about investment management, the different types of investments, and financial planning. You really can get so in depth that you go down the rabbit hole, so stick to financial planning and investment basics to start. If you choose to hire a financial advisor, he or she can recommend more resources as you build that relationship with them over time, and obtain investment and planning knowledge.

Money is confronting, and most often a source of stress. Give yourself grace when beginning the process of learning about financial planning and investment management.

Katherine M. Dean is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Financial Advisor, and founder of OpalWomen at Opal Wealth Advisors. She is also an international speaker and financial advocate, with more than 20 years of experience in the wealth management industry.

Katherine works with couples, widows, executives and women business owners to achieve financial peace of mind. Through the Opal Way, we establish meaningful goals and actions, then we develop a winning financial formula and provide personalized attention to stay on track. To learn more, connect with Katherine on Linked https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-dean-cfp%C2%AE-a0072679/ , set up your complimentary consultation here https://calendly.com/katherine-dean/meeting and checkout her complimentary webinar, Smart Money Moves For Women https://opalwealthadvisors.com/webinars/smart-money-moves-for-women-in-2025/

**Please see important disclosure information at https://opalwealthadvisors.com/disclosure/