Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Estates and Premarital Counseling

By: Barry G. Allen- President & CEO

Jane Bryant Quinn said it well, “You own stuff, you will die, someone will get your stuff.” The Apostle Paul advised, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

Regardless of how much or how little “stuff” a person owns, inherent in the Christian marriage covenant is the duty to God, to each other and to the families of a couple about to be married to have in place a written plan of (1) asset distribution at death and (2) asset management and healthcare decision making should one or both become incapacitated due to an accident or a health condition.

Regretfully, most couples enter into the sacred bond of matrimony without having given any consideration to these vitally important planning issues; this lack of planning at this important point in their lives could result in unintended and devastating consequences.

To help alleviate this, Laurie Valentine, our trust counsel, and I have developed a tool for ministers to use in their premarital counseling ministries. In the development phase, we sought and received the benefit of the wisdom of four experienced Kentucky Baptist pastors each of whom engaged in a premarital counseling ministry in their churches. We incorporated their ideas and suggestions into the tool to keep it as simple but as effective as possible.

We shall be introducing this new tool at the annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention on November 13 at Immanuel Baptist Church, Lexington. We encourage all ministers who will be at the annual meeting to stop by the Kentucky Baptist Foundation exhibit to view a sample and to place an order for this innovative ministry tool. Kentucky Baptist ministers who will not be attending the KBC annual meeting can call our office toll free and request the tool.

The KBF is making this tool available free of charge to Kentucky Baptist ministers whose ministry includes premarital counseling. We pray with confidence the Lord will bless its use. 

For more information, please call us at (502) 489-3533 or toll free in KY at 1-(866) 489-3533

The information in this article is provided as general information and is not intended as legal or tax advice. For advice and assistance in specific cases, you should seek the advice of an attorney or other professional adviser.

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