Estate Planning, Explained
← Older postsMany people seem to think of being a trustee as being like having a job: a trustee has responsibilities to fulfill and gets paid (sometimes). But, in many ways, being a trustee is nothing like having a job. The difference
Tags: Fiduciaries“Funding” a trust is what estate planning lawyers call the process of getting your assets into the trust. Trust vs. Trustee When we say we want to transfer something to your trust, what we really mean is we want to
Tags: Funding, TrustsI often see people who are operating businesses under their own names. Most are renting out real estate or other property in their own names. Some are a sole proprietors running operating businesses under a DBA name. Operating this way may
Tags: asset protection, businessReal estate includes your house, condo, vacation home, commercial building, and similar properties. This section deals only with the transfer to your trust of real estate that you hold in your own name or with your spouse or other individuals.
Tags: Funding, TrustsWhen you set up a revocable trust, it’s really important to “fund” it. (Funding is what lawyers call the process of transferring assets to your trust.) The primary reasons you created a revocable trust were probably to facilitate the management
Tags: FundingA brief defense of long wings and other estate planning documents.
Tags: NoneWhat if I don’t want to be an organ donor? How do I prevent my organs from being donated? It’s easy enough to avoid checking the organ donation box at the DMV, but that may not be enough to ensure
Tags: medical directive, organ donationWhen you go the DMV for a drivers license, you might check a box regarding organ donation. At the DMV in many states, organ donation is a yes or no question. You either check the box to become a donor
Tags: medical directive, organ donationThanks to the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA), which should become law in the relatively near future*, we’re keeping the $5 million exemptions and portability. Here’s a summary of the changes ATRA will bring to the 2013 estate
Tags: estate tax, portabilityDepending of the terms you’ve selected for your trust, your attorney might tell you that you need to choose an “independent trustee.” Who can you choose? There isn’t a universal answer–it depends on the provisions of your trust. I’m going
Tags: Choosing Fiduciaries, Trusts