Posts Categorized: Trustee

QTIP Trust – Will My Spouse Get What They Need?

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law January 14, 2022 Estate Planning, Successor Trustee, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

A qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust is an estate planning tool that married couples can use to minimize uncertainty about the future and maximize certain tax advantages. Since no one can predict how much they will own at the time of their death, which spouse will die first, whether the surviving spouse will remarry, or what the estate tax rate will be when they die, a QTIP trust can help deal with and minimize these uncertainties without the need for a crystal ball.

The most common form of a QTIP trust is a testamentary QTIP, created when the first spouse dies. This QTIP is a marital trust established as part of a married couple’s estate plan to hold money and property for the surviving spouse’s benefit. This trust may be the only one created at the first spouse’s death, or it may be part of a multiple trust arrangement where, after the first spouse’s death, the family trust (or credit shelter trust) receives an amount equal to the federal estate tax exemption and the marital trust gets the rest. READ MORE

Why Putting Your Family Home In A Trust Is A Smart Move – Part 2

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law December 21, 2021 Estate Planning, Trustee, Trusts

We explained how revocable living and irrevocable trusts work in part one. We discussed the process of transferring the legal title of your home into a trust to ensure it’s adequately funded. Here, in part two, we will outline the key advantages of using a trust to pass your home to your loved ones compared to other estate planning strategies.

One of the primary advantages of using a trust to pass on your home to your heirs is avoiding the court process known as probate. Unlike a will, assets held in trust do not have to go through probate. During probate, the court oversees the will’s administration, ensuring your assets are distributed according to your wishes, with automatic supervision to handle any disputes. READ MORE

Why Putting Your Family Home In A Trust Is A Smart Move – Part 1

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law December 14, 2021 Estate Planning, Successor Trustee, Trustee, Trusts

A proper estate planning is as much a part of responsible homeownership as having homeowners insurance or keeping your home’s roof well maintained. When it comes to including your home in your estate plan, you have a variety of different planning vehicles to choose from, but for a variety of other reasons, putting your home in a trust is often the smartest choice. 

Although you should consult with us your Family Lawyer to identify the best estate planning strategies for your particular circumstances, in this two-part series, we’ll discuss how trusts work (both revocable and irrevocable), and then outline the most common advantages of using a trust to pass your home to your loved ones compared to other planning strategies. READ MORE

What is Long-Term Care and Who Provides It?

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law June 1, 2021 Elder Law, Estate Planning, Healthcare, Incapacity, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

Most long-term care involves assisting with basic personal needs rather than providing medical care. You are usually determined to need long-term care if you need help with two or more “activities of daily living” (such as bathing, dressing, eating, and going to the bathroom). Family members usually provide long-term care to start, but as an illness escalates paid care may become necessary. READ MORE

Do I Have to Leave Anything to My Children?

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law April 30, 2021 Estate Planning, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

One common storyline in Hollywood movies is the rich father disinheriting the family outcast. The story usually traces the child’s attempts to win the father over and be considered a part of the family again. But can fiction imitate reality? Can you actually disinherit a child? READ MORE

5 Questions To Ask Before Hiring An Estate Planning Lawyer – Part 1

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law February 18, 2021 Estate Planning, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

Since you’ll be discussing topics like death, incapacity, and other frightening life events, hiring an estate planning lawyer may feel intimidating or morbid. But it definitely doesn’t have to be that way.

Instead, it can be the most empowering decision you ever make for yourself and your loved ones. The key to transforming the experience of hiring a lawyer from one that you dread into one that empowers you is to educate yourself first. This is the person who is going to be there for your family when you can’t be, so you want to really understand who the lawyer is as a human, not just an attorney. Of course, you’ll also want to find out the kind of services your potential lawyer offers and how they run their business. READ MORE

Things You Need to Know as Successor Trustee

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law January 30, 2021 Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Trustee

Accepting the role of successor trustee can seem a little intimidating when you look at the job description. However, you are not alone. Your advisor team (trust administration attorney, certified public accountant (CPA), financial advisor, and insurance agent) can guide you through the various steps of the administration process. If you are feeling overwhelmed, you may want to consider delegating trust administration tasks to another person with comparable, more advanced, or specialized skills such as an attorney, CPA, or financial advisor. Also note, services completed on behalf of the trust can be charged to the trust, not to you personally. READ MORE

How to Choose a Trustee

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law January 15, 2021 Estate Planning, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

When you establish a trust, you name someone to be the trustee. A trustee does what you do right now with your financial affairs – collect income, pay bills and taxes, save and invest for the future, buy and sell property, provide for your loved ones, keep accurate records, and generally keep things organized and in good order. READ MORE

The Recipe for a Satisfying Estate Plan

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law December 28, 2020 Estate Planning, Guardians for Minor Children, Healthcare, Personal Representative, Power of Attorney, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

Misconceptions about who needs an estate plan abound. Most people believe that estate planning is only for extremely wealthy business moguls or celebrities. But that could not be further from the truth. Estate planning is the process of making decisions about what happens to you, your money, and your property when you pass away or can no longer make decisions for yourself. Thus, estate planning should be standard practice for every adult age eighteen or older.

To learn more about Cheever Law, APC and estate planning, please register for our FREE educational Life & Legacy Planning Webinar. We look forward to serving you! READ MORE

4 Tips for Talking About Estate Planning with Your Family Over the Holidays

by Tara Cheever ~ Attorney at Law December 22, 2020 Estate Planning, Healthcare, Incapacity, Trustee, Wills

With COVID-19 still raging, your 2020 holiday season may not feature the big family get-togethers of years past, but you’ll still likely be visiting with loved ones in some fashion, whether via video chat or in smaller groups. And though the holidays are always a good time to bring up estate planning, given the ongoing pandemic, talking about these issues is particularly urgent this time around. READ MORE