You’ve had an attorney draft your estate planning documents, including your living trust and will. Probate avoidance and tax saving strategies have been implemented. Your documents are signed, notarized and witnessed in accordance with all applicable laws, and are stored in a location known to your chosen executor or estate administrator. Your work is...
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Category: Wills and Trusts
A Shared Home but Not a Joint Deed
Many people erroneously assume that when one spouse dies, the other spouse receives all of the remaining assets; this is often not true and frequently results in unintentional disinheritance of the surviving spouse.
In cases where a couple shares a home but only one spouse’s name is on it, the home will not automatically pass...
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First Party and Third Party Trusts, Explained
Generally, a "pooled trust" holds assets for people that have a disability, and/or elderly individuals. The trust is established and run by a not-for-profit organization, which will establish separate accounts for each individual within their system. However, the money of all of the individuals served is added together (in other words, it is pooled...
People. The Essential Component of Your Estate Plan’s Success
Properly drafted estate planning documents are integral to the success of your legacy and end-of-life wishes. Iron-clad estate planning documents, written by a knowledgeable attorney can make the difference between the success and failure of having your wishes carried out. However, there’s more to estate planning than paperwork. For your wishes to have the...
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Protecting Your Vacation Home with a Cabin Trust
Many people own a family vacation home--a lakeside cabin, a beachfront condo--a place where parents, children and grandchildren can gather for vacations, holidays and a bit of relaxation. It is important that the treasured family vacation home be considered as part of a thorough estate plan. In many cases, the owner wants...
What Does the Term “Funding the Trust” Mean in Estate Planning?
If you are about to begin the estate planning process, you have likely heard the term "funding the trust" thrown around a great deal. What does this mean? And what will happen if you fail to fund the trust?
The phrase, or term, "funding the trust" refers to the...
How Much of Your Estate Will Be Left Out of Your Will? (It’s Probably More Than You Think)
You’ve hired an attorney to draft your will, inventoried all of your assets, and have given copies of important documents to your loved ones. But your estate planning shouldn’t stop there. Regardless of how well your will is drafted, if you do not take certain steps regarding your non-probate assets, you run...
What is Estate Recovery?
Medicaid is a federal health program for individuals with low income and financial resources that is administered by each state. Each state may call this program by a different name. In California, for example, it is referred to as Medi-Cal. This program is intended to help individuals and couples pay for the...
Is a copy of a will sufficient?
Many people keep their important documents at home where they are easily accessible. It’s not at all uncommon to find people with a filing cabinet or even a shoe box containing passports, account statements, deeds, tax returns, birth certificates and social security cards. Wills are often added to these files once the...
Removal of a Trustee
In creating a trust, the trustmaker must name a trustee who has the legal obligation to administer it in accordance with the trustmaker’s wishes and intentions. In some cases, after the passing of the trustmaker, loved ones or beneficiaries may want to remove the designated trustee.
The process to remove a trustee largely depends on...