Most people will be best served by the creation of a revocable living trust as a primary estate planning vehicle. This being stated, there are advanced techniques that can be utilized to address more complicated scenarios. In this blog post, we will take a look at three of them, and we will examine others in future articles. Special Needs Planning Many people with disabilities rely on Medicaid, which is a government health insurance program that is available to people with very limited … [Read more...]
Protecting Trust Beneficiaries by Leaving Assets in a Trust Share for each Beneficiary
When it comes to estate planning there are several types of tools you can use, depending on your circumstances. One such estate planning tool to protect your estates beneficiaries from future potential family law matters, or other creditor situations, it to leave their inheritance in a Trust Share. Purpose of Trust Shares A Trust Share can be created for each beneficiary of your estate after an individual’s death, or the second death of a joint couple. The Trust Share is a legal entity … [Read more...]
Dead Hand Control: How Much is Too Much?
Often, clients want to continue to control their beneficiaries after death, just as they’ve done during their lifetime. They want to etch in stone the exact circumstances under which distributions should be made to the beneficiaries. Sometimes they think the beneficiary will have to go to the tombstone like a confessional or ATM. The problem is the client doesn’t know what may happen in the intervening years. Here are just a few of the several things that regularly change after a plan has been … [Read more...]
Estate Planning and Small Businesses
When you are caught up in your day-to-day activities it can be difficult to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. This is certainly true for a small business owner because it takes so much time and energy to run your business successfully. Retirement and estate planning involve some complexities for everyone, but when you are a small business owner you have added issues to consider. When you work for a company you can simply put in your notice and accept your plaque as you walk out … [Read more...]
Estate Planning Isn’t Spooky! But not planning can be downright terrifying.
The idea of estate planning might be one of the scariest things you have to confront as an adult. After all, nobody wants to think about their death. Or incapacity. But estate planning does not have to make chills run down your spine. On the contrary! Estate planning is empowering for both you and your family and allows you to live confidently knowing that things will be taken care of in the event of your passing or incapacity. Remember, estate planning is not just for the ultra-rich. If you … [Read more...]
Trusts Are Often Misunderstood
The estate planning lawyers at our firm place an emphasis on education, because far too many people have misconceptions about wills and trusts. One of the most common ones is the idea that a will is the only choice because trusts are "only for very wealthy people." Trusts are often misunderstood as being only useful for the rich. Yes, very high net worth individuals can benefit from the utilization of certain types of trusts. These are going to be irrevocable trusts that are used for estate tax … [Read more...]
Planning for a Child With Special Needs
There is no cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all estate plan, and this is why it is necessary to receive personalized counsel from a licensed estate planning attorney before you make any decisions. Every situation is unique, and your own financial position and your intentions will be a large part of the equation. On the other side of the coin, you should also take the life situation of each person on your inheritance list into account. With the above in mind, if you have a child with a disability on … [Read more...]
How to Choose a Successor Trustee
When you establish a revocable living trust, you are also generally the initial Trustee of the trust, administering the trust assets for your own benefit as a beneficiary of the trust. If you are married, your spouse can be a trustee with you. This way, if either of you become incapacitated or die, the other can continue to handle your financial affairs without interruption. What happens if you and your spouse are unable to serve as trustees due to incapacity or death? Generally, your revocable … [Read more...]
Asset Protection After Remarriage
As Reno asset protection attorneys, we emphasize the fact that relatively frequent estate plan revisions may be necessary. There are different events that occur throughout society as a whole that can render your existing estate plan in need of adjustments. At the top of this list would be changes to the tax code that impact the estate tax and/or the gift tax. One of the things that commonly takes place in the lives of individuals is a change in marital status. As we all know, many first … [Read more...]
Why Have a Revocable Trust?
If you have not thought a lot about estate planning until now, you may assume that you will eventually go to an attorney to execute a Will. Many people know that trusts exist, but they assume that they are only useful for people that are extremely wealthy. In fact, this is a myth. There is a certain type of trust called a Revocable Living Trust that is very useful for most people. Let’s look at some of the benefits that are realized through the utilization of a Revocable Living … [Read more...]
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