Estate Planning

To establish a trust, the trust “settlor” transfers property into the trust to be managed by the “trustee” appointed by the settlor. The trustee is charged with holding trust property for the trust beneficiaries as well as administering the trust according to the terms set forth by the settlor. A person may choose to create a trust for a number of reasons. For instance, if someone has minor children, the children would not be able to directly inherit from their estate. By creating a trust, the children’s inheritance is protected until they reach the age of majority and can receive the inheritance directly.
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If you do not yet have a will in place, there is no time like the present to execute a legally sound, strong will that will help preserve your legacy and protect a brighter future for your loved ones. While putting a will in place is too important to put off, there are also some things you should know about and consider prior to executing a will in order to help ensure it accurately reflects your goals and wishes.

Things to Know Before Executing a Will

While not the only thing a will can accomplish, one of its main features is often how a person’s property is to be distributed upon death.

A revocable trust is a useful estate planning benefit with a variety of potential benefits. Not only can it work to avoid the time consuming and expensive probate process, but it can also help you avoid guardianship court as well as provide asset protection for your beneficiaries and protection for beneficiaries with special needs. Furthermore, it can give you control over how your assets are spent by beneficiaries even after you have long since passed away.

For those with disabilities or loved ones with special needs, a special needs trust can be an invaluable legal tool to add to an estate plan. A special needs trust, when properly structured, will provide supplemental benefits to the trust beneficiary with special needs without the assets held in the trust risking disqualification from need-based government benefits such as Medicaid and SSI. Trustees and trust administrators must be very careful in how and when trust distributions are made. Improper distributions can end up jeopardizing the beneficiaries’ continued receipt of government benefits. So, what can qualifying distributions from a special needs trust be used for?

What Can Qualifying Distributions from a Special Needs Trust Be Used For?

A special needs trust is also referred to as a “supplemental needs trust.

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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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.

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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