Don't Forget Your Pour-Over Will When Planning Your Estate

Summary: A revocable living trust can achieve many things for its owner in terms of meeting estate planning objectives. There are some things, however, that only a will can do. For those who want the benefits of a living trust, a pour-over will can be an invaluable companion to your trust. Your pour-over will can make sure that your goals are protected in case an asset (or assets) didn't get funded into your trust and can also give you other benefits that are unique to wills, such as the naming of guardians. 

Batman had Robin. The Lone Ranger had Tonto. And Sherlock Holmes had his trusty friend, Dr. Watson. Each of Robin, Tonto and Watson were trusty companions whose presence allowed Batman, the Lone Ranger and Holmes to be more effective at accomplishing the goals they set out to achieve. An estate plan with a revocable living trust can achieve many goals, potentially allowing you to avoid substantial expenditures of money and time. But, just like these fictional heroes, your living trust is more effecteive when paired with the right companion. In this case, that companion is a pour-over will, a vital tool for making your estate plan as complete as possible.

Your pour-over will can serve may vital needs. Perhaps the most obvious one is distributing some of your assets. If you have an estate plan with a living trust, then ideally all of your assets (that you have not already planned through other means) have been funded into your trust and would be distributed according to your trust's provisions upon your death. Real life, though, is not always ideal. For example, you could purchase, inherit or otherwise come into ownership of certain assets shortly before your death and not have time to get those new assets transferred from your name to your trust.

Alternately, you could have certain assets that you own about which you simply forgot, or maybe even never knew they belonged to you. Regardless of how it happens, if you have assets you own in your own name (that are not subject to other non-probate distribution,) then they must be dealt with somehow. Your pour-over will directs that, once the probate process is complete, these assets go to your trust. At that point, they can be distributed according to the wishes you put down in your living trust document.

Why is this so important? Well, if you have assets outside your trust (items you own in your own name) when you pass, then those assets are generally part of your probate estate (unless they are things like transfer-on-death accounts that are automatically distributed upon your death.) If you have assets in your probate estate and you have no will at all, then those assets are distributed according to your state's intestacy laws. This could mean having valuable assets being distributed in ways much different than what your goals are!

Your pour-over will also provides you with certain benefits that only a will can do. If you have underage children or children with special needs, you cannot name a guardian for those children in a trust document. You can, however, include your preferences regarding guardians in your plan's pour-over will. For those in that situation, this bit of planning is often a "top priority" in terms of goals to be accomplished.

This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com. 

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Don't Go It Alone When You're Getting an Estate Plan Put into Place

Summary: Do-It-Yourself can be a great way to save time and money on a lot of projects. Estate planning is not one of those projects. Just as you probably wouldn't take out your own appendix, attempting to do estate planning as a DIY project is filled with potential risks and pitfalls. A capable estate planning professional has detailed knowledge of the law and the process of estate planning and can help you avoid traps that can ensnare an inexperienced person, while making sure that your plan with effectively and efficiently convey your wishes about how you want your estate handled after you die.

Americans are people with a strong "can-do" attitude. This attitude leads us to perform a great many tasks on a Do-It-Yourself (or DIY) basis. We may change our own oil, fix our own computers or repair our own faucets. Going the DIY route can be a worthwhile way to save yourself time, money and hassle with many projects. With estate planning, however, it's different. With all the nuances, details and peculiarities that exists in estate planning law, it is well worth your while to rely upon a seasoned professional to assist in the preparation of your estate plan.

One recent case hammers this point home in vivid detail. Although it comes from Australia, what happened could befall an American couple just as easily. Ferdinand and Elizabeth Masci set out to create an estate plan. The Mascis were a stereotypical blended-family where each spouse had children from previous marriages (although they had no children together.) They decided to prepare their plan on their own. Concerned about making sure that each spouse's family was fairly included, their plan said that one of Ferdinand's children and one of Elizabeth's would serve as co-executors of each spouse's estate. After the first spouse died, the second spouse had the right to remain in the home until death. After the second of the two spouses passed away, Ferdinand's children were to receive half of the assets and Elizabeth's got half.

A dispute arose after Ferdinand passed away regarding the ownership of the house. This arose because the couple owned their house as a type joint tenancy where the property passed directly to the survivor upon the first spouse's death. In this case, that meant that the joint tenancy would make the house 100% Elizabeth's alone after Ferdinand died. This transfer occurred automatically upon death and took place outside the probate process, meaning that the provisions the couple wrote into their wills were irrelevant when it came to the house.

What ensued were multiple court hearings and the expense of considerable time and money so that a judge could decide what became of the house. Had the couple consulted an experienced legal professional, he or she likely would have noticed that ownership structure of the house was a non-probate one and could have taken steps to ensure that, whether the house did or did not pass to become 100% owned by the wife alone, the couple's true intentions and goals for their estate were made known. This would have allowed the couple to have had total control over the asset-distribution process, and saved the family a lot of stress, time and money. 

This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com. 

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

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Digital Estate Planning and Estate Plan Reviews

Summary: Sometimes, we overlook how much little personal items will mean to our loved ones after we're gone. Your old photos and letters might seem trivial, but to a loved one, it might be an invaluable way to stay close after you're gone. In this age of email, Facebook and Instagram, accessing those memories may mean going online. To help keep your memory alive for your loved ones, your estate plan should include appropriate instructions for accessing your digital assets. Additionally, you should review your plan routinely to make sure that all parts of your estate plan, including your digital estate plan, is current and up-to-date. 

These days, more and more people of all ages are living more and more of their lives online. As that percentage continues to increase, estate planners continue to "bang the drum" of including your online and digital assets when you formulate your estate plan. Having a plan that allows your loved ones, after you're gone, not only to have the benefit of your tangible assets, but also your electronic things, is essential. What's also vital is making sure that you keep your digital estate plan in mind when it comes time for an estate plan review.  

When one crafts an estate plan, the things one leaves behind usually have either financial value or sentimental value. Digital assets are no different. Many people may think to include their access codes for their online banking or stock accounts, but may not be as diligent when it comes to, say, social media. All of these are important, though. Just as that old shoebox full of photographs and old letters probably has great value to someone in your family, so do your images saved in your smartphone or on your Instagram, Pinterest or Facebook accounts, or personal messages in your email.

Without a digital estate plan, gaining access to your electronic assets can be difficult or sometimes next-to-impossible. The internet is filled with stories of loved ones faced enormous challenges from Yahoo! or Apple or other electronic service providers when it comes to gaining access to an account of a deceased loved one. These battles often come at a price of great stress and considerable time for the loved one. If a court and/or lawyers must become involved, then it becomes stressful, time-consuming AND expensive!

Just like estate planning for tangible assets, estate planning for digital assets is an ongoing process, not a one-time deal. An estate plan review is great time to make sure that everything in your plan is up-to-date. Not only should ask yourself if you've undergone any life events that might affect your plan, you should also inquire about your digital assets. Just like you might need to contemplate how a new grandchild might impact your plan, you should also make sure that changes in your online accounts are reflected. If you opened a new account, whether it's a new online banking account or a new email account, make sure that your digital plan includes the necessary username and password information for accessing that account. If you've changed any of your passwords, you should make sure that your list of existing usernames and passwords is still 100% accurate. If you have relocated your list of usernames and passwords to a new location, make certain that your instructions to your loved ones regarding how to access this list once you're gone are current.

This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com. 

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

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Protecting Your Loved Ones Through Estate Planning

Summary: Adding extra trust provision to your estate plan can, in some cases, offer a needed level of added protection to your loved ones to whom you desire to leave your wealth. Whether your loved one has addiction issues, is going through divorce, or is merely young and/or naïve, adding spendthrift provisions to your plan can help ensure that your plan works as you want by ensuring that your wealth ends up with your loved ones, not your loved ones’ creditors.    

When you set out to make an estate plan and to leave your wealth to your loved ones, you’ll probably spend a great deal mulling over the distribution of your wealth, as it is an important part of your legacy. However, while you may wish to leave a significant sum to a loved one (or group of loved ones,) the prospect of doing so may make you uneasy if you fear that your loved one is ill-equipped to handle a significant influx of wealth. Fear not, though, as there is a wide array of estate planning options for every set of goals, and proper planning can help you protect your loved ones from the possible pitfalls that might otherwise occur with the receipt of a lump sum of wealth.   

One estate planning tool is the “spendthrift trust.” A spendthrift trust put limits on the extent to which the beneficiary (or beneficiaries) can access and control the wealth contained in the trust. While the Merriam-Webster defines the word “spendthrift” as a person “who spends money in a careless or wasteful way,” spendthrift trusts can be useful in more situations than just those that involve a potential beneficiary who is notoriously irresponsible with wealth.

To be sure, this tool can help if you have a loved one who is bad at handling wealth, whether that’s due to personal problems like addictions or because he/she easily duped or defrauded. In the case of a spendthrift beneficiary, the trustee you name can continue to protect your goals after you’re gone, making sure that your loved one will only have the benefit of your wealth to benefit him/her in the ways you’d want.

However, a spendthrift trust can also help in other circumstances. Perhaps your loved ones are not irresponsible with money necessarily, but are merely young. While a 19 or 20-year-old is a legal adult, you may feel that your loved one in their late teens or twenties is too young to handle receiving a single, large lump-sum of money. Your estate plan can help protect that loved one by delaying the distribution of wealth to them. It can make payments over time, like every year for a pre-set period of years, at certain major birthdays, like 21, 25 or 30, or other life-event milestones, like college graduation or getting married.

Another situation where extra planning can help is if your loved one has elevated risk when it comes to creditors or potential creditors. Maybe your loved one owns a sole-proprietorship business. Perhaps your loved one is heading toward divorce. If your loved one has creditors or people who could become creditors, a spendthrift trust could provide a much-needed additional degree of protection because, if your beneficiary is not in control of the funds in the trust, those funds are not available to his/her creditors, either.    

This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com. 

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

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Legal Challenges to Your Estate Plan

Summary: Estate plans, like almost every other legal documents, are subject to challenge in court and potential invalidation. This process is hard to accomplish and relatively rarely successful. Courts consider the intent of the estate plan creator to be paramount, as long as the plan doesn’t violate certain statutory rules (like spousal shares.) Plans are generally only invalidated if the challenger shows that the plan creator was influenced to such an extent that the plan did not reflect the creator’s true intentions. The possibility of a challenge should not stand in the way of you and establishing your plan.   

One of the concerns that a lot of people have as they contemplate creating an estate plan is: “How can I know that my plan is safe from legal contests?” This concern can be especially strong for folks who have unusual or unique goals for their plan. Maybe they wish to leave a distribution to a non-relative. Maybe they have decided not to leave a distribution to a child or other close relative. Regardless of the reasons, fears related to court challenges should not discourage you from getting a plan and generally structuring it however you want. 

The fact is, most plans have a fairly high level of safety from challenges because the law usually makes it hard for challengers to prevail. That’s because the law generally considers “testamentary intent” (in other words, the goals and objectives the plan creator intended to accomplish) to be of the utmost importance.

A real-life example from Michigan, decided by that state’s Court of Appeals in July 2015, hammers home this point. A man named Robert Cederquist created an estate plan with a living trust. Cederquist named Bonnie Rowan and Randal Lewis, who were the ex-spouses of two of his children, as the trustees of his trust, and the beneficiary and alternate beneficiary of his trust and his retirement account. Cederquist’s four children received nothing from either the trust or the IRA.

After Cederquist died in 2011, the children sued, alleging that the man’s estate plan should be declared invalid because Rowan exerted undue influence over the man. The law in Michigan regarding estate contests in similar to that in many other states. In order to succeed in challenging a plan, the challengers must prove that the estate plan creator was influenced by threats, lies, fraud, or other physical or emotional manipulation so severe as to destroy his free will. In other words, the influence was so overpowering the contents of the plan he made did not reflect his true intentions.

In Cederquist’s case, the children had evidence that Rowan “schemed to turn” the man against his children, and that his relationship with them deteriorated the more time he spent with Rowan. Despite this proof, the children still lost. Having evidence that somebody “poisoned” the mind of the estate plan creator isn’t enough by itself. The law in Michigan required the children to give the court direct proof that the poisoning of Cederquist’s relationship with his children was the result of lies Rowan told him. In this case, all they had was evidence that raised speculation or the possibility that Rowan had influenced Cederquist through lies, but no direct proof. So they lost.

The laws in many states are similar. It typically takes a lot of proof, and a very specific type of proof to succeed. Getting a court to invalidate and estate plan is generally difficult and rare. Anyone considering an estate plan should not be scared off by the possibility that a court contest will unravel all the work you’ve set out to do.  

This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com. 

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

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Approaching Estate Planning When You Live in More than One State

Summary: Having a living situation where you have more than one place (and state) that you call "home" can create complexities and risks when it comes to distributing your assets, especially your real estate, when you die. Owning property in multiple states may mean multiple probates, and the risk of larger costs and longer delays. A revocable living trust can help avoid this risk. With a properly funded trust, you may be able to avoid probate in all of the states where you own property. 

Many people, regardless of how many residences they own, have one specific place they think of as "home." For some people, though, the answer to the question, "Where is home?" is a bit more complicated. Whether it is due to the nature of their work, or simply a preferred retirement lifestyle that embraces warm southern winters and cooler northern summers, some people have two places both of which they consider to be home. If you find yourself in that situation, getting a proper estate plan is very important in order to avoid some the pitfalls associated with probate law.    

Say, for example, you have two homes: one in Michigan and one on Gulf of Mexico in Texas. You spend a significant amount of time each year living in each of these places. In that situation, how should you approach estate planning? First off, you should pursue getting a plan without delay! Next, you may be wondering, "Do I need Texas documents or Michigan documents?" The answer to that question is, "It depends." For your will and living trust, your documents should be from the state where your legal residence is located. The law considers your legal residence to be the place where you spend a substantial amount of time and where you intend to have residency. You can show your intent by various actions, such as getting a driver's license, titling and registering your vehicle(s) or registering to vote.

Regardless of what state your documents come from, you'll want to give serious consideration to creating a living trust. If you do not, your estate may have to go through multiple probates. Continuing with the previous Michigan-and-Texas example, let's say that your state of legal residence is Texas. That means that you would need a Texas will. But Texas law does not permit a Texas estate executor to deal with real estate in anyplace except Texas. As a result, your will would need to go through what's called "ancillary probate" in Michigan. Even with newer probate laws that streamline the process in many states, the costs and delays associated with going through multiple probate administrations have the potential to really mount up.    

Creating and funding a living trust can avoid such pitfalls. You can establish a trust and fund both of your residences into it, and neither would need to go through probate when you die. If all the assets you own in one state are funded into your trust (or structured in other non-probate ownership vehicles,) then your estate would not have to go through probate at all in that state. If this is true in both states, then you'd successfully avoid probate entirely in both places.      

Other estate planning documents, such as powers of attorney, are a little different. The law allows you to have multiple powers of attorney in effect at the same time -- your documents simply must state that neither one revokes the other and that the pair work in tandem with each other. You should ask your attorney about the possible benefits of having both Michigan powers of attorney and Texas powers in order to make certain that the wishes you've established in your plan will be carried out without complication. 

This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com. 

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

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Moving to a New State? Consider Getting an Estate Plan Review

Summary: Today, people move from one state to another with some frequency. Moving to a new state does not mean that the will and living trust you created in your old home state are now invalid and useless. Your move does mean that an estate plan review is potentially beneficial to you, as the differences in the laws of each state may lead you to desire a change to your plan, and it likely will mean that you'll want to replace some of your documents, such as advance directives or healthcare powers of attorney.    

In today's modern, mobile society, moving from one state to another is an increasingly common thing. Whether it's a job, family or a retirement destination, people move across the country for many reasons. This may seem like a problem in terms of your estate plan. If you're like many people, you've invested a lot in getting your plan in place. Moving to a new state does NOT, however, mean that all your documents immediately become invalid. It does, though, mean that getting an estate plan review is a good idea. 

Generally speaking, your will remains valid even if you move from one state to a new state. Many states have laws that explicitly state that out-of-state wills are recognized and enforceable in their states. Even though the document is still valid, an estate plan review can help you. Depending on where you moved from, and moved to, you may want to make changes to your plan. 

Perhaps you live in Ohio but decide to retire to a new home in Arizona. That means that you are moving from a state that does not follow community property rules to one that does. ("Community property" means that most things you acquire during your marriage are owned jointly by the two of you as a married couple; as opposed to non-community property where each spouse typically individually owns whatever is acquired in his/her own name.) This move from a non-community property state to a community property state may cause you to re-think some of the provisions in your will and perhaps alter your will's terms.

Another thing to keep in mind is your personal representative. Some states allow non-residents to serve as personal representatives, others allow it but only subject to certain conditions or restrictions and some states forbid it completely. Florida law, as an example, requires that your personal representative must be related to you by blood or marriage, or else must be a resident of Florida. A move to Florida may mean that you'll need to modify your will to name a new personal representative.

Your living trust is generally not affected by the sort of statutory rules that impact your will, so moving from one state to another is less likely to trigger a need for a change to your trust. A review is still a good idea, though, as it can help you make sure everything is up-to-date and that your trust is optimized to serve you in your new state.

Your advance directives and your healthcare power of attorney are different. Each state has its own rules and its own format for how these documents should be worded. Even though some states have laws that expressly allow for the enforcement of out-of-state documents, the best way minimize potential objections from healthcare providers is to create a new document in your state.

This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com. 

This article written and published by:

Legacy Assurance Plan

8039 Cooper Creek Blvd

University Park, Florida 34201

844.306.5272 (Phone)

info@legacyassuranceplan.com (email)

@assuranceplan

#legacyassuranceplan

Click Below To See Other Legacy Assurance Plan Related Sites:

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