Estate planning attorneys often gather clients’ assetsto review in consideration of their estate planning goals. While the attorneysdo not offer investment advice, we review the investments to ensure our clientshave financial advisors in place that appear to be acting in the clients’ bestinterests.
Often, we find that the investments are not earning whatthey should. When we come across this scenario, we ask our clients to approachtheir financial advisors and ask them to put in writing whether they are acting as a fiduciary in providinginvestment advice.
Financialadvisors are only required by law to offer investments that meet the“suitability” standard. “Suitability” means that the investment satisfiesthe client’s investment needs and objectives. However, the “suitability”standard does not require financial advisors to act in their clients’ bestinterest. In other words, they can recommend and sell you investmentsthat are “suitable,” and earn a larger fee or commission than they would haveearned had they sold you an investment that was better for you.
To remedy this issue, the Department of Labor proposed the fiduciary rule several years ago. This would require financial advisors to act in their clients’ best interests, a higher standard than the current ‘suitability’. Unfortunately, this standard was not enacted into law. We caution our clients to consider these issues when working with a financial advisor. It may be better to consider flat fee-based planning rather than commission for this reason. If you want a second set of eyes on your financial advisor, consider working with an experienced estate planning attorney like Stouffer Legal in the Greater Baltimore area. Call today to schedule an appointment 443-470-3599.
