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| Advisors' Forum |
The Chips Are Down
03/01/2008
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Finally, get support. There are numerous organizations that can
assist and advise you and your family through this difficult time.
Financial protection is only one step in the whole process of
dealing with your wife’s addiction. Consulting a reputable family-law attorney
might be helpful. I’m certainly not suggesting divorce, but talking with experts
in these areas can be extremely helpful when it comes to protecting your assets
and your financial future.
Kathy Kuehl, Lowry Hill, Minneapolis
Because you have a joint account,
your wife would need to sign paperwork to remove her name from the title of the
account. Because she has admitted her problems, this should not be much of an
issue. We would advise you to then title the account in your name only. Once
her name has been removed, only you will have access to the assets.
If you want to go even further, and you prefer that she never
see any statements, then we would suggest two additional steps. First, choose a
new financial advisor to work with—a firm whose staff doesn’t have any ties or
standing relationships with your wife—and invest the money there. Then have the
statements sent to a post office box that you establish, or set up an account
that will email the statements to you.
To further protect your estate should you pass or become
disabled, we would encourage you to work with a competent estate planning
attorney. The attorney will be able to help you change the beneficiaries of
your accounts so that those assets flow into a trust account. That way, your
financial professional, the estate planning attorney and a trust company will
work in your best interests to protect the accounts from being squandered.
The bottom line: With proper planning now, you can protect the
assets both from your wife and for her.
Shane Barber, Barber Financial Group, Lenexa, Kan.
Send Us Your Questions. Are you wrestling with family issues, business governance or succession
decisions, investment or estate planning dilemmas, problems related to
philanthropic activities or foundations, or a similar predicament? We invite you
to email a question to advisorsforum@worth.com.
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