Articles Posted in Estate Planning

It’s difficult to accept, but accidents occur every day. In addition to preparing for accidents, it is also a good idea to anticipate events like entering a nursing home. Because an event of this nature is almost a certainty, it is a good idea to take some important estate planning tips to prepare for what lies ahead. 

As a result, this article reviews some important strategies that you should remember to implement to make sure that your loved ones have an easier time navigating matters when the unexpected happens.

# 1 – Plan Now, Not Later

There are several reasons why people hesitate to or refuse to plan for death or incapacity. Failure to create an estate plan, however, can result in a person facing several complications which includes increased fines and placing additional stress on your loved one. 

As a result, this article reviews some of the important pieces of estate planning errors you should make sure to avoid.

# 1 – Failure to Create an Estate Plan

The federal estate tax exclusion was recently raised to $11.4, but there are cases where large estates or businesses are transferred to beneficiaries and the recipients are subject to estate taxes. In some situations, the only way for your loved ones to pay for the taxes that accompany these assets is to sell the very assets that you hoped to pass on. 

Several  estate planning strategies that can be utilized to avoid the risk that your loved ones will end up paying estate taxes. One of the best methods to avoid these estate taxes is to use an irrevocable life insurance trust.

How Life Insurance Trusts Work

Before recently, the terms used by each individual website influence who has ownership and access to digital assets following a loved one’s death. These regulations greatly increased the number of regulations that loved ones must follow after your death. In many cases, these complex laws ended up having the result of beneficiaries losing digital assets that belong to the deceased family member. 

Understanding RUFADA 

Passed in 2015, the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADA) governed a person’s access to online accounts when the account owner passes away or loses the ability to manage their digital accounts.

A California Superior Court in the case of In Estate of Holdaway recently ruled in favor of a creditor who was attempting to collecting on a deceased person’s estate. Following the individual’s death in 2013, a creditor in 2014 filed a petition for probate and seeking compensation for $90,875 on a debt. This claim was based on four loans the creditor made to the deceased individual and in-home services provided to the deceased individuals. In 2015, a trial court issued an order showing why the creditor’s petition should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute. 

Later in 2015, the trial court ordered that the case should be dismissed without prejudice. In 2016, the deceased individual’s son filed a competing petition for probate, which stated that the deceased individual had left all of his assets to a family trust. The trial court later granted this competing petition. After this, in 2017, the son rejected the creditor’s claim against the estate, which led the creditor to challenge this denial. 

In arriving at its decision, the Court of Appeal stated that the trial court does not have a power authorizing it to extinguish the claim of a creditor in such a way based on the mere stipulation that others are interested in the estate. As a result, the appellate court reversed matters and remanded the case to the trial court.

An increase in new types of family structures, new estate planning laws, and new types of assets has led to the use of many new non-traditional estate planning tips. Hopefully, by reviewing some of the non-traditional methods in this article, you will begin considering whether your estate will benefit from any of these strategies.

# 1 – Appoint a Trust Protector

One of the most difficult (although obvious) parts of estate planning is that after you die, your estate planning language will be permanent. A trust protector can help you make sure that your wishes for a trust are carried out. Some of the powers that you can assign a trust protector include making revisions to the trust and resolving disagreements among trustees. 

Many people understand that they should create an estate plan, but there are many reasons why they hesitate to do so. One of the most common reasons is that it can be difficult to accept that a person will not be around one day. 

If you die without an estate plan in New York, however, you risk dying without an estate plan that could make sure that your assets are protected and that your loved ones receive what they deserve. 

This article follows some strategies that you should follow to make sure that you end up writing your estate plan sooner rather than later.

Many people who have engaged in estate planning understand that beneficiary designations play an invaluable. Despite this, the value of beneficiary designations is overlooked by some people. After signing estate planning documents, it is critical to make sure that your beneficiary designations are consistent with the rest of your estate plan. Otherwise, the possibility arises that the intent expressed in your will or other estate planning tools might override beneficiary designations. 

The purpose of this article is to review some of the other critical issues that everyone should consider when it comes to beneficiary designations and the potential complications that can arise.

# 1 – Be Wary of Naming Spouses as Beneficiaries