When considering what should happen with a person’s financial resources after his or her death, many people do put something aside for the care of their pets, including naming “guardians” and setting aside funds in a “pet trust” for the benefit of the pet. However, pet trusts are usually just enough to pay a pet’s basic expenses: food, vet visits, etc. In that context, pet trusts are a sensible way to ensure that a beloved family member does not end up in a shelter in the event of the ...
Should I Take Steps To Avoid Probate? Yes!
One of the common sources of misunderstanding in the estate planning arena is the topic of probate. Simply put, probate is a legal proceeding that takes place after a person dies, to wrap up the financial affairs of that deceased person. Typically, the process involves a number of steps: establishing whether the person had a valid will; taking an inventory of the person’s assets at death; paying any debts and taxes owed; and distributing the remaining property under the will ...
Same Sex Estate Planning — Is It Any Different?
It used to be that estate and legal planning for same sex couples was drastically different than planning for opposite sex couples, since same sex couples were, by rule, not married. With the recent court decisions allowing same sex marriage, I’m contemplating whether this distinction remains true nonetheless. For now, at least, I believe the distinction remains important and that same sex couples should, for planning purposes, continue to treat themselves as unmarried. Here’s ...
Do I Still Need A Trust?
It used to be very common for estate plans to include a two-part trust scheme, often called an AB trust, designed to avoid or minimize estate taxes. In 2012, Congress finally passed “permanent” estate tax legislation, with the estate tax exemption set at $5,000,000 per person adjusted for inflation. In other words, married couples who have less than $10,000,000 in assets no longer face serious estate taxation concerns. It might be tempting to think that the once-common trust is now a relic ...
Idaho Has A Plan For Your Money
The next estate planning myth I want to address is the belief that, if you die without a will in place, the state will get your money. Idaho (as with all states) has a series of laws that control who gets what in the event you die without a will, called the laws of “intestate succession.”These laws govern what happens to your “estate,” the legal term for a part of what you owned when you died. Not everything that you owned becomes a part of your estate. Typically, life insurance proceeds ...
I Don’t Need An Estate Plan, Right? I Don’t Really Own Anything… Wrong!
When I talk to people about “estate planning,” the most common response is, “I don’t need an estate plan because I don’t have an estate.” The problem is that the word “estate” conjures visions of Hearst Castle or the Biltmore estate. People wrongly assume that they don’t need an estate plan unless they are uber-rich. But the reality is that, in the law, the word “estate” just means “all the stuff someone owns at the time of their death.” So, anyone who owns something (a favorite pair of ...
