Meet Jason, 34
The Scenario
Jason and his brother are abroad and their mom, Judith, lives in South Africa. Judith is an incredibly independent person and has been financially fine since their dad died. Finances were never discussed in their family, so neither of them had ever been involved in this aspect of their parents’ lives.
The Challenge
- Both sons had started to feel uneasy about their mom’s ability to manage her own financial affairs but it was difficult to step in and the distance between them didn’t help.
- Dad had been advised to use vehicles to save on estate duty and income tax but these had not been reviewed and updated for years.
- Tax and succession rules have changed and the portfolio clearly needed a fresh pair of professional eyes.
The Veritas Solution
When we had the initial virtual meeting with Veritas, we thought it was going to be about the investments but we quickly realised that the financial planner’s focus was on my mom and her needs.
The money discussions were sensitively handled, and:
- My mom’s day to day expenses were taken care of and we had peace of mind that she was going to be ‘ok’
- A new estate plan was put in place
- We talked about succession and how we as the children would inherit mom’s money one day
- They arranged for mom to redraft her will
If the restructuring of mom’s financial affairs had not been done, it would have created dire tax consequences for my brother and me when she passed on. Most importantly, mom was delighted to have her financial affairs sorted and to have someone close by to call on when needed. It is a great relief to have Veritas around keeping an eye on my mom’s finances.