A few of our customers have asked us what we mean with our motto, “Focus on what matters.” We love getting that question! We carefully selected “Focus on what matters” to underscore why we built Estate Clarity in the first place. “Focus on what matters” has two meanings: it refers both to the purpose behind Estate Clarity and the process of using Estate Clarity in your home.
Purpose
The first meaning of “Focus on what matters” is a bit more abstract. Estate Clarity kills two (very stressful) birds with one stone: you need a clear accounting of what you own for 1) insurance purposes and 2) for estate planning purposes. By using Estate Clarity we are removing the uncertainty from our insurance policies and ensuring that our legacies are protected after we die. Estate Clarity frees us from worrying about our material possessions: will my homeowner’s insurance policy cover rebuilding my house and replacing my possessions if there’s a disaster? Will my family struggle to settle my estate after I’m gone? With Estate Clarity, we can focus on what truly matters: living our lives with our families and friends. After all, our insurance policies and estate plans should protect us, work for us, and give us peace of mind, not cause confusion, stress, or worry.
Process
The second meaning of “Focus on what matters” is a bit more straightforward. When using Estate Clarity, what you choose to add to your catalogue, value, and ultimately assign a beneficiary to is entirely up to you. Some users may choose to add individual items of clothing–each jacket, button-down shirt, and pair of socks will end up in their estates. The same users may add every piece of furniture, every stool, and every lamp. That’s totally fine! Some of us are just more detailed than others and, frankly, being this detailed is a great way to be double sure your insurance company will have no cause to deny your claim if disaster ever strikes.
Many of our users concentrate their efforts on only their most valuable possessions–perhaps a Norman Rockwell print, the nice china that only comes out on Thanksgiving and Christmas, or the antique dresser that has been in your family for generations. In this sense, “Focus on what matters” means you should catalog not only what is financially valuable but also what is emotionally significant.
Keeping track of what matters most is critical to helping your estate planning attorney, financial advisor, and insurance broker tailor their services to your needs and recommend appropriate products to protect your wealth and legacy. So, in a sense, Estate Clarity helps your professional “focus on what matters” to you too.
We started Estate Clarity because we experienced the stress and confusion of dealing with stuff and what its all worth after the deaths of loved ones. When we originally coined “Focus on what matters,” Estate Clarity was intended as a tool for dealing with the assets of those who had already passed away, but we quickly realized that Estate Clarity was just as important, if not more so, in life to help people prepare estate plans with detail, love, and care, to help people ensure their insurance policies fit their needs, and to help them “Focus on what matters” in life as well.
Let us help you and your clients focus on what matters.
Beau
P.S. Perhaps the universe is telling us something. When I wrote this piece, I selected the Norman Rockwell painting “Saying Grace” at random to use an an example of a (very) prized possession. After penning the first draft, I decided to look up the work to learn more about it. As it turns out, this very painting has a history with both extreme insurance demands on its owners as time went on (not uncommon for Rockwells, as you can imagine!) and, unfortunately, causing quite a bit of strife in the settlement of an estate of its original owner, one Kenneth J. Stuart. Wherever we look, we see a need for Estate Clarity! Read more about the painting here.