If you have investments, a larger estate or you’re hoping to leave a legacy for your very young children, a living trust may be the best option to help your beneficiaries avoid time-consuming and expensive legal fees just to access their inheritance. Trusts are definitely more complicated, so please seek legal advice to ensure you’re choosing the right option for your estate.
In the same thread, if you have investments, real estate, various savings plan types, multiple bank accounts, and multiple children and beneficiaries (children from a previous marriage, for example), you may need a Trust, as well as a Willl.
Either way, you truly need to seek the advice of an estate planning attorney.
Setting up your estate plan correctly is worth every penny.
If you’ve ever seen a family torn apart arguing over an estate, you’ll know what I mean.
As a probate attorney, I see it way too often.
Money can change people. Probate also tends to be a venue for airing family grief that has been building up for years under the surface.
The worst part of my job is seeing how very ugly these family confrontations can be when a person dies.
Grief can cause emotions to run very high, so having a clear outline and plan in place is key to ensuring the smoothest transition of your estate as possible.
Don't leave it up to your kids to "figure it out when you're gone," as one person told me her mom stated, who died without a will. Her kids are still not talking to each other, months after this mom's death. Sadly, one daughter showed me a Facebook post that included a laughing, happy family sitting in front of Mom's Christmas tree last year. Now, only two of the kids were even considering a Christmas party this year. This case may last years, as each side continues to refuse to even consider an amicable and fair solution....and they grow farther and farther apart.
However, just having a will may not ensure that you can avoid probate. Probating a will can cost a family thousands of dollars. I say this often: If you don't consult with a competent estate planning attorney who understands the probate process regarding the paperwork for your assets, you may still find that you have to go to probate.
If you think there may be a challenge to your estate plan, then there are ways to ensure that you have documentation and proof in place, before you die, to ensure that most of those claims can be effectively overcome in court. There are steps you must take now to ensure your affairs are in order, so that you can increase your chances of avoiding probate.
When you are dead, it's too late to sign a new document or amend your estate plan.
Start the conversation with an estate planning attorney now, to avoid major issues down the road.
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