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My oldest daughter graduated from high school this month and she heads off to college in the fall. I am not quite sure how that happened! I still remember bringing her home from the hospital, carrying her in a car seat up to our apartment, and the car seat down on the floor. I know I have been there for the past 18 years, and I clearly recall taking her to basketball games, choir and band concerts, and supporting her in school work, so I was involved, but it is amazing how the time has passed so quickly. I am excited to see how the future plays out for my daughter, but she is no longer my … [Read more...]
Can You Change a Living Trust After A First Spouse’s Death?
This is a question mostly related to estate planning for couples. When couples plan their estate, the question of what happens after a first spouse dies becomes quite important. For most couples, the surviving spouse wants to be able to change the terms of an estate plan. Often, that may be related to preserving assets, or transferring assets to children or other beneficiaries prior to the surviving spouse’s death. Many couples want to preserve the freedom and ability of a surviving spouse to make changes, but that is not always the case. In the case of blended families, or people on … [Read more...]
How To Protect Your Assets in a Trust if your Kid’s Have Debt
In my last blog post, I talked about how a living trust does not protect assets from creditors in Colorado. If you want to protect your own assets, you need to use an irrevocable trust. However, if you want to protect assets for your children, you can provide that type of asset protection in your revocable trust. Your revocable trust can be changed, amended, or revoked by you while you are alive. After your death, the trust cannot be changed, and it becomes irrevocable. You are setting up a revocable trust for you, but the same trust can be irrevocable for your children. Since the … [Read more...]
Is a Living Trust Protected From Creditors in Colorado?
The short answer to this question is: No. I seem to keep trying to write the shortest blog post ever, but somehow the complexities of legal questions don’t seem to allow for that to be the case. A living trust does not offer creditor protection under Colorado law, even if someone thinks they are super clever to get around the law. I have had clients want to name their trusts something other than their own name (so as to hide assets). I have had other people put assets into a trust thinking there was no way someone would ever think to look into a trust, but those ideas simply are not … [Read more...]
Does a Beneficiary Deed Avoid Probate?
The short answer to this question is: YES. If that were the end of the story, then this would, again, be the shortest blog I have ever written. But, alas, again this is not the whole story. I have previously discussed what a beneficiary deed is and why you may want one, but we will focus on the avoiding probate aspect of a beneficiary deed in this blog post. Although a beneficiary deed will avoid probate in almost all cases, there are conditions under which probate might still need to happen when you have a beneficiary deed. You may have other assets that trigger the need for probate. … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Luck – Don’t Leave Your Estate Plan to Chance!
My last name is Bailey, so I am familiar with many of the Irish traditions associated with St. Patrick’s Day, and also familiar with the concept of the “luck of the Irish.” I am familiar with the four-leaf clover, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and how if you catch a leprechaun, you can have the leprechaun’s pot of gold. I have never found a four-leaf clover in the wild. I know enough about the physics of light refraction to understand that the end of the rainbow will almost never be on the ground where you can see it. And, I have never seen a leprechaun. I am told leprechauns … [Read more...]
Does a Trust Avoid Probate in Colorado?
The short answer to this question is: YES. If I could just leave the answer at that, this would be the shortest blog post ever, but unfortunately, things aren’t quite that simple. I do wish it were that simple, but alas, it is not. One of the main reasons people establish trusts is to avoid probate. Trusts are private documents and if property is owned by a trust, then the property does not need to be subject to the probate process. However, a trust only avoids probate for property owned by the trust. If you own something personally, and not inside of the trust, then the property may … [Read more...]
Who Should Have a Living Trust in Colorado?
I have many clients who call me and tell me they have heard they want to set up a living trust. I often ask where they heard that they need a living trust and I get all types of different answers. Some read about trusts on the Internet, which others have been told they need a trust by their friends or neighbors. Some tell me they attended a seminar put on by a financial advisor, trust attorney, or other organization that extolled the virtues of a trust. I even had someone who insisted they needed a trust because their brother-in-law’s nephew had convinced them a trust was necessary for … [Read more...]
Should I Transfer My House To My Child While I Am Still Alive?
I meet a lot of clients who I meet will tell me they want to “put their child on the house” while they are still alive. Although “putting someone on the house” does not have true legal meaning, I usually understand that they want to make their child or children co-owners of the house. That means that the house will be owned by the child or children after the parents have died, and the transfer will happen almost immediately, with a minimum of effort by the children. Usually the transfer just involves recording a death certificate with the county and then the child or children will own the … [Read more...]
Does a Living Trust Protect Assets from a Nursing Home in Colorado?
The simple answer to the question above is no. A living trust accomplishes a lot of things, but protecting assets from long term medical care costs, or costs associated with a nursing home is not one of the things that a living trust can do. A living trust helps avoid the probate process, streamlines the process after you have passed away, and can help your survivors have less work to do, but a living trust does not protect against creditors or long term care medical costs. When trying to protect assets from long term care medical costs, you need to consider the timing of putting … [Read more...]
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