Spiro J. Verras Blog

Hopefully summer time was filled with new adventures and time with loved ones. For many, summer adventures may have included moving. An often overwhelming endeavor, so much usually needs to be accomplished before, during, and after a move. Keeping it all straight can be a lot and some important things may fall by the wayside. Whether it has fallen by the wayside or you were not even aware that it needed to be done in the first place, be sure to update your

Estate planning is about so much more than a will, although that can be an important part of an estate plan. Trusts, for instance, may be much of a mystery to most, but remain valuable legal tools when properly implemented in the right estate plan. Trust types and purposes, however, can widely vary and it can be overwhelming trying to figure out what the right fit for your individual circumstances may be.

Have you heard the buzz about the “For the 99.5% Act”? It is a bill that was introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders back in March and it has had people talking. This is because, while the bill has not yet passed, it stands to have a substantial impact on many people if it does go through. If passed, the changes made in the Act would likely become effective by the end of the year. Now is the time to plan accordingly.
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Following in the wake of a loved one’s death, probate is an often dreaded process. The court supervised process of administering and distributing a person’s estate, probate is notoriously complicated, as well as time-consuming and expensive. Beneficiaries of the estate must wait until the personal representative of the estate has managed and inventoried all estate assets, notified and paid all creditors of the estate, and other tasks before estate assets can be cleared for distribution.
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Have you heard of probate? It is the court-supervised process that involves the gathering, management, and distribution of a deceased individual’s assets. As you may have heard that many people look for ways to try and avoid probate because it has come to be known as costly and time consuming, you may be curious as to what is actually involved in the probate process. We will talk about that in more detail here.
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The personal representative of an estate plays an integral role in the successful and smooth administration of a person’s estate after he or she has passed away. Some of the tasks of a personal representative include gathering and managing assets, notifying creditors, seeing to the payment of continuing expenses, and paying valid creditor claims as well as seeing to the proper distribution of estate assets to the appropriate heirs. A poorly chosen personal representative can throw a wrench into the entire process.
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Sometimes, a person leaves out his or her spouse from an estate plan. Whether intentional or intentional, it is important to know that there are laws in place that guard the surviving spouse against this occurring. While such protection may be good news to the surviving spouse, it can be an unfortunate as well as a costly surprise for the intended beneficiary of the deceased as it will likely cut into the share they were set to receive.

Have you put an estate plan in place? If so, congratulations on taking this important step. A strong estate plan can help accomplish and protect your goals for the future. You may have a will, powers of attorney, a living will, and a health care surrogate among your estate planning documents.

To establish a trust, a trustor, or settlor, transfers ownership of certain funds and assets to a trust. The funds held in trust, the trust principle, are then managed for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries. This is a trust in its most basic sense. There are, however, a variety of different trust types that are defined by things such as the type of beneficiary, the terms of the trust, the direction for trust distributions, and the ability of a beneficiary to access assets held in the trust. Because of the structure and variety of different trust types, trusts can be useful in an Read more . . .

Have you heard of the term domicile? While most people may only think of this term as referring to the place they live, it can be much more complex and have more intricate implications when considered in the legal sense. More than where a person lives, a domicile is really a residence where a person has a permanent intention of residing. It can have significant implications on a number of levels, the estate planning context.
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While you have likely heard of a prenuptial agreement, or “prenup,” you may not fully understand what it can do. Most people, of course, use a prenup to set some financial expectations for marriage. It may outline what assets and income will be considered marital assets and which will remain separate in the event of divorce, or even death. The majority of people, even those more familiar with prenups, however, may not consider the fact that a prenup can be a Read more . . .