The 1970’s TV show “The Brady Bunch” depicts a blended family - a family where the spouses have remarried and kids are not all from just the married couple. The theme song goes like this: “Here's the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, the youngest one in curls It's the story of a man named Brady, who was busy with three boys of his own. They were four men living all together, yet they were all alone. 'Til the one day when the lady met this fellow, and they knew that it was much more than a hunch, that this … [Read more...]
Pet Trusts in Estate Planning: Caring for Your Furry Friends When You Are Gone
Anyone who has a pet knows the love and joy they bring into your life. I have pet dogs, and I love them. Other people have cats, horses, birds, or any other number of animals that they love. My dogs are always happy to see me when I come home, and make sure to greet me at the door. My newest puppy, Harper, will bite at my pant legs to let know I have not greeted her properly, and she is always concerned that nobody is left behind. She knows her pack - her family - and is worried if none of us are doing OK. Pets have an amazing ability to calm us, to provide unconditional love, and … [Read more...]
Everything You Need To Know About Setting Up An Educational Trust For Your Grandchildren
My children went back to school in August, and are still adjusting almost a month later. My kids are more tired, and so they need to go to bed earlier. They are also not sure they really love being in school. The freedom of summer is gone, replaced by homework assignments, new classrooms, and all that goes along with starting school. They still like school, for the most part, and are happy to be in school (even if they would rather just stay home and play). My children are in 8th grade, 5th grade, and 2nd grade, so we don’t need to pay for the school itself. Sure, we may be a little bitter … [Read more...]
Why Emergency Estate Planning is a Bad Idea
Among the reasons that I chose estate planning as a practice area is that there are fewer emergencies, so I can have more predictable work hours, and have less intrusions on the time that I spend with my family away from work. I like to see my family from time to time, like on the weekends, or in the evenings, so I don’t schedule many appointments during those times…only when necessary and no other time will work. I sometimes joke that if there is such a thing as an estate planning emergency, then it is too late, and there is not much I can do to help. However, I do understand that … [Read more...]
Asset Protection: The Difference Between Irrevocable Trusts and Revocable Trusts
A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with a financial planner who has referred business to me for several years. This financial planner told me we need to provide asset protections in a trust for a potential client he planned to refer to me, and referenced using a revocable trust. We have these types of conversations all the time, as we have a basic understanding and how to work together. This type of conversation went beyond the basics of estate planning, sort of like this blog post is a bit higher level than a basic discussion of estate planning - this is a more specialized … [Read more...]
The 3 Roles in a Trust, and Why They’re Important to Understand Before Sitting Down With Your Estate Planning Attorney
A couple of weeks ago I was discussing a trust with a client, and thought I had explained what a trustmaker, trustee, and trust beneficiary were. While I was talking about how only one of their kids would act as the Trustee, the client reacted with haste, exclaiming, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALL OF MY CHILDREN WILL NOT BE ON THE TRUST? THAT’S NOT WHAT I WANT AT ALL!” With a smile, I calmly re-explained the difference between a child being a beneficiary of a trust, and what the role of the trustee was. If you have ever experienced the same, or a similar, misunderstanding when working with any … [Read more...]
What Will You Be? Picking the Right Halloween Costume For Your Estate
It is October, and Halloween is coming up. A couple of years ago my four year old asked what a friend of ours would be for Halloween by asking, “What will Erazz be for Halloween? A witch!” He mispronounced our friend Mirazz’s name, and made us laugh, but picking a costume is always a fun part of Halloween. Picking an estate plan may not be as fun as a Halloween costume, but comparing the two is why this blog exists, so let’s get to it: As a little kid, candy was pretty important to me, so I had to pick the right costume. I wanted to get as much candy as possible, as quickly as possible … [Read more...]
Making Beneficiary Designations Work for You
You spend hours setting up the perfect estate plan, and you are set up exactly the way you want. Everything seems perfect, and then it comes time to implement the plan. But wait, what is this? Your assets are transferring outside of the perfect plan? How can that be? What is going on? What happened? Is everything now ruined because of something outside of the estate plan? In my last blog, I discussed the four main ways that assets transfer - a will, a trust, a transfer on death designation, and a beneficiary designation - when someone passes away. Each method has a purpose, with benefits … [Read more...]
Estate Planning 101: The Four Methods of Transfer & Who Gets What
I am amazed at how often people want a will written to make sure their assets go where they want when they die, but have never considered what other methods of transferring assets exist. And...what different types of asset transfer options are available to use. These people want me to write a will to make sure assets go where the individual desires. At the same time, they want to know which document will win, a will, or something else. Although I would love to see the documents fight things out in a little arena of document battle, I am unsure how that would work, since they are made of … [Read more...]
How to Determine Mental Capacity for a Will or Estate Plan
Your mind matters! I often have people I meet who feel the need to apologize to me for not having created an estate plan before they met with me. Many times this comes from an older couple who realized that they should have planned sooner. I think I addressed that attitude in my last blog about putting things off until tomorrow, but I often reassure these types of people by talking about the two threshold requirement to put together an estate plan, as follows: You need to be alive. You need to be mentally competent. There may be a lot of other things that need to happen to set … [Read more...]