I have several clients who restore old cars, usually classic cars, and then either keep them, or sell them to other collectors. They often want to leave the car to their family and ask me, “How do I leave my car to my family after I die?” These really are some neat cars, so I understand wanting to keep the cars in the family. I have seen some really cool cars from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s that my clients have collected, restored, or just found. I think these are really cool, but restoring cars is not one of my hobbies, so I don’t have a cool classic car, but rather just a normal … [Read more...]
Why It’s Vital To Have A Living Trust In Colorado
There are many reasons why a living trust is a good idea. You may want to keep your assets out of probate. You may want to provide for your minor children. You may have property in multiple states. You may be a blended family. You may be taking advice from a television personality or financial person on television who tells you to have a trust. You may have watched your parents pass away, and seen how a trust can streamline the process. You may have just heard it is a good idea to have a trust. Or, you may have just typed in the search terms in an online search engine and you are … [Read more...]
Three Important Questions You Should Consider Before Meeting With An Estate Planning Attorney
I often sit down to meet with people who want me to do absolutely everything for them, and they are somewhat shocked that I do not tell them everything to do with their estate plan. Sometimes I have to explain that I cannot decide who should get their assets, as I do not know their family situation, nor do I know who they think deserves assets, or who does not. If someone cannot tell me who they want to get assets when they die, I will often suggest my children as potential recipients, as I know they could use the money! I quickly identify this as a bad idea, as I don’t really think that … [Read more...]
Something is Better than Nothing: Get your Estate Plan Set Up Now…You Can Adjust Later, If You Need
I completed an estate plan for a client on December 30, 2021. This particular client had first contacted me over two years ago. When we first spoke, the client had a lot of questions on how to proceed. I answered the questions to the best of my ability, and then the client wanted to talk to their insurance agent, CPA, investment advisor, parents, and friends. I let them do so, and the more people they talked to the more different answers and approaches they encountered. After a couple of years of seeking one answer, this client finally contacted me and told me they just wanted to go ahead … [Read more...]
Do I Need An Estate Plan, Will, Or Trust?
I refer to myself as an estate planning attorney, and I prepare estate plans. Oftentimes I will be asked what that means, and I explain that I help people prepare their will, trust, financial power of attorney, medical power of attorney, living will, or other documents related to the end of life. People either understand my further explanation, or have at least heard of the documents I list, so they tend to respond to the explanation by saying something like, “Oh, I get it.” However, some people seem to have an almost angry reaction of, “Well, why didn’t you just say that in the first … [Read more...]
At Home or Virtual: The Benefits of Getting Your Estate Plan Done From Home
I have seen a lot of movies set in the future, where video calls were the preferred method of communication, and apparently that was amazingly cool. In “Back to the Future II” the character Marty McFly (Played by Michael J. Fox) was on a video call with his boss, and then was fired by fax. Apparently this was the futuristic way to communicate in “Back to the Future II.” In “Spaceballs” the president of the Planet Spaceballs, President Skroob, was in the middle of a “nature call” when he took a video call on the wall of the restroom. While it made for a funny scene, I don’t think the future … [Read more...]
How Do I Leave My Car, Boat, House, Money, Family Cabin, Family Business, Family Farm, Monkey, Cat, Dog, or Anything Else To My Family After I Die?
I get asked the question above a lot! OK, so not the whole question at once...mostly I am asked about one part, or the other, and not all of the items at the same time, but I do get asked about how to deal with specific assets quite a bit. I am not sure if people think that each different thing they own needs to be treated separately, or if people are just really concerned about one particular thing, but people ask about how to deal with specific assets all the time. Many times the person asking the question seems most concerned about a particular asset because that asset is so important … [Read more...]
For Grandparents: How Can You Pass On Your Legacy To Your Grandchildren?
When it comes to estate planning, leaving a legacy may be important. Of course, the concept of a legacy raises several different questions: What is a legacy? How you do build a legacy, and how do you leave one for your grandchildren? Is a legacy what you leave to them after you are gone - assets and things? Or, is a legacy more? Is a legacy something that needs to be done in an estate plan, or is it only part of an estate plan? Is an estate plan the most important part of leaving a legacy, or are there other things you can do to leave a legacy? All of these are great questions, and this … [Read more...]
It’s Your Estate Plan: Making it Truly Yours
Before I started my estate planning practice, I worked for a firm handling tax resolution cases. Basically, I tried to help people who owed past due taxes to the IRS or to the state tax departments. Mostly this consisted of negotiating payment plans - allowing people or businesses to pay back past due taxes over time, but I also helped eliminate penalties and worked to reduce tax debts for the people I could help. Sometimes I would get clients who think I should do everything, and that they do not need to be involved in working to eliminate the tax debt. I would often remind these people … [Read more...]
What To Do If Someone Dies With An Estate Plan Already Set Up
Many of the topics I have covered on my blog have to do with what happens if someone dies without a plan, or how not having a plan can be problematic. I spend a lot of time encouraging people to set up a plan, so that they can have their affairs in order. Similar to my last blog post, where I talked about what you need to know about your estate plan after you die, this blog post will be devoted to what your survivors will need to do when you have a plan in place. The timeline for someone who has an estate plan in place is very simple, outlined here: First, We talk about what needs to … [Read more...]
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