What are Coffee Chats?

The Southwestern College Institutional Advancement Office is launching a new online series aimed to help alumni and friends engage and connect. Coffee Chats will serve as an opportunity to learn about various programs and initiatives through the lens of college faculty and staff. Our first session happens to fall on a day when John Griffin is in the office to meet with individuals who are drafting and reviewing their estate plans. He is excited at the opportunity to offer information about his work during our first online chat.

What are the Most Common Mistakes in Estate Planning?

Monday, November 6, 10:30 a.m. (CST)

After nearly thirty-three years in the business of designing, drafting, and implementing estate plans, John Griffin repeatedly sees the same problems and errors in estate planning documents -- which can increase taxes and create unnecessary family disharmony.

On November 6, at 10:30 a.m. (CST), John will lead a 45-minute-long interactive Microsoft Teams presentation, offering solutions to the following issues and various scenarios: 

1. Having no plan, a poorly designed plan or the wrong kind of plan 
2. Failure to achieve a second step-up in basis at the surviving spouse’s death
3. No Durable Powers of Attorney or Living Will 
4. No provisions for child(ren) or issue of a deceased child 
5. Beneficiary Designations on Qualified Plans are not correct 
6. Life Insurance is not held properly and proper beneficiaries are not established 
7. The problems with joint tenancy with right of survivorship or POD and TOD accounts 
8. No farm or business transition plan in place 
9. No provisions for beneficiaries or contingent beneficiaries with special needs 
10. Not dealing with beneficiaries who are divorced, bankrupt, have judgment creditors or are in a litigious line of work 
11. No provision for a charitable component

The purpose of John's presentation is to give friends and alumni of Southwestern College some “fuel for thought” regarding their own estate plan. Additionally, John will answer questions regarding estate plans and estate planning techniques after the presentation and be available to set appointments to meet in person at Southwestern College or through a virtual meeting. Let John help you get an updated estate plan in place for you and your family. Don’t procrastinate…time is of the essence!

Email alumni@sckans.edu or call (620)229-6155 to request the link to participate online – or to reserve a seat to attend in person. 

Reserve Your Seat

About John Griffin

John is an estate planner and major gifts consultant through Stewardship Counseling, LLC. He has worked in partnership with Southwestern College for more than three decades. Raised in the Netherlands and Northwest Iowa, John holds a J.D. from the University of South Dakota School of Law. After practicing law in South Dakota, John joined Stewardship Counseling, LLC in 1991. He is a member of the Kansas Bar, the South Dakota Bar, the Central Kansas Planned Giving Roundtable, and the National Committee on Planned Giving. John is a frequent speaker on the tools and techniques of estate planning.