Posts Categorized: Trusts

When creating an estate plan, a critical question arises: Who will get your belongings when you pass on? While major assets like homes and retirement accounts often get attention, personal items such as jewelry, clothing, and sports equipment can be overlooked. What happens if your loved ones don’t want these items? This article explores how to handle personal property in your estate plan, covering wills, trusts, and various methods to distribute or dispose of unwanted items, ensuring your wishes are honored and your loved ones are spared unnecessary burdens. Discover practical solutions and the importance of a comprehensive estate plan to protect your legacy. READ MORE

As a father, you’ve always strived to provide the best for your family, ensuring their well-being and securing their future. From the moment you first held your child, you committed to protecting them, guiding them, and supporting their growth and happiness. Your dedication is unwavering, and your love knows no bounds.

However, even the most well-intentioned plans can falter if you overlook the complexities of estate planning. It’s not just about having a will or a few financial arrangements in place; it’s about understanding the intricate details and potential challenges that can arise. Without a thorough and well-thought-out estate plan, your assets might not be distributed according to your wishes, and your family could face unnecessary legal battles and financial hardships. READ MORE

You just found out that your favorite aunt has died. In the midst of your grief and sadness, you receive a notice from the attorney handling your aunt’s affairs stating that you are a beneficiary. Your best friend advises you to get an attorney. What should you do? Will your aunt’s attorney help you? After all, the attorney has been helping your family for years. Since this attorney knows your aunt and the family affairs, shouldn’t her attorney be able to help you as well? READ MORE

This Pride Month, take the time to safeguard your family’s future by putting the proper legal protections in place for yourself and the people you love. You worked hard to build this life – don’t let lack of planning put it all at risk. In this article, I’ll address some key actions to take so you’re empowered to advocate for your rights as an LGBTQIA+ non-biological parent.  READ MORE

With our society becoming increasingly mobile and international travel becoming more affordable than ever before, families and family-like relationships have steadily grown far more diverse in terms of citizenship. It is no longer uncommon for spouses from different countries to retain citizenship in their native countries. Many couples split their time between the United States and another country to be near their families and enjoy the many benefits of such a lifestyle. In addition, it is not uncommon for a couple’s children or other loved ones to move away from their country of origin and take up permanent residence abroad, or even renounce their home country citizenship, depending on their choices of careers or domestic partners or other considerations. READ MORE

Memorial Day brings with it an opportunity to reflect on the concepts of mortality, remembrance, and legacy. As we remember the brave men and women who lost their lives serving in the military, may this day also inspire you to think about the legacy you wish to leave behind.

But, first, what is a legacy, really? “Legacy” is often misunderstood and so is estate planning. Legacy and estate planning are often perceived as “only for the wealthy” and/or “philanthropic”. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.  READ MORE

Clients often naturally choose their children to be beneficiaries of their revocable living trusts. Many clients also wish to name one or more of their children as the trustee of that trust, but are not sure if that is allowed by the law. The short answer is yes, a beneficiary can also be a trustee of the same trust – but it may not always be wise, and certain guidelines must be followed. 

There are good reasons for naming a trust beneficiary as trustee. For one, it is convenient. A trust’s beneficiaries are usually known, loved, and trusted by the trustmaker, so it makes sense to select one of the beneficiaries as trustee. Also, a trustee-beneficiary has a vested interest in ensuring that the trust is administered in accordance with the trustmaker’s intentions because it benefits them, though this might be less true if the beneficiary is unhappy with their portion of the trust proceeds.  READ MORE

A deed is a legal document used to transfer real property ownership rights from one person or entity (the grantor) to another (the grantee). In many cases, this transfer occurs due to the property being sold, with the seller transferring the property to the buyer. Typically, a deed is recorded with the local county recorder of deeds. Recording the deed gives the public notice that the grantee now legally owns the property. 

Not recording a deed can cause problems for the grantee. They may be unable to obtain a mortgage, insure the property, or sell it. Even more problematic, an unrecorded deed may make it possible for the grantor to sell the property to a buyer and subsequently sell the same property to a different buyer. This could result in the property being sold out from under the original buyer who failed to record the deed.  READ MORE

Moms spend their days and nights thinking about how to make sure their children are happy, healthy, and safe. If you’re a mom, you know. If you aren’t a mom, you were born because of a mom. It’s one of the two things we all have in common. 

So, as  Mother’s Day approaches, let’s talk about the most meaningful gift you can give or receive on this hallmark holiday that means a lot: every mom deserves the peace of mind and power to create financial security for themselves and their children with thoughtful estate planning.  READ MORE

Studies have shown that the largest contributing factors to generational loss of wealth are a lack of communication and trust among family members and the failure to prepare heirs. Often, fear is what underlies the lack of communication and trust that inevitably leads to unprepared heirs. Following are some of the fears that prevent people from communicating with their loved ones about their wealth.

We have all heard horror stories about trust-fund kids who had no motivation to do anything other than relax and enjoy life because they knew that a large inheritance would be available for spending once they reached a certain age. Knowing that the large inheritance was coming, they did the bare minimum to make sure they would receive it, but in the process, ignored opportunities to get the most out of their education or learn new skills because, in the child’s mind, the future was already mapped out. READ MORE

In the digital age, online scams and cyber attacks are becoming more frequent, posing risks to not only everyday users but also to lawyers who manage clients’ sensitive information. But there’s no need to fear if you take measures to keep your data safe. And if (when?) you’re working with a lawyer, you should also know what actions lawyers take to protect your data. Taking these two approaches, let’s discuss how you can safeguard yourself from these digital attackers and how lawyers ensure their clients’ data is protected from the bad guys. 

And since this article is being published around “Star Wars Day” (i.e., May 4th, as in “May the fourth (Force) be with you”), I’ll refer to the bad guys as the “Dark Side” just for fun. READ MORE

When a couple engages in foundational estate planning, one of the first questions addressed by estate planning attorneys is whether it makes sense for the couple to use a revocable living trust (RLT) as a part of their plan. If using an RLT makes sense, an important follow-up question to married couples should be whether it makes sense for them to use a joint RLT or separate RLTs. 

A trust is a legal concept that allows an individual (i.e., a grantor, settlor, trustor, or trustmaker) to transfer ownership of their accounts and property to a trustee (for most RLTs, the trustee is the same person as the grantor) who has a legal obligation to use that property for the benefit of a beneficiary.  READ MORE