Posts Tagged ‘Kids Protection’
Beyond the Allocation of Assets
Estate planning is about much more than just deciding who gets what in the event of your death. It’s also about avoiding unnecessary taxes, and in the event that you have minor children, making sure that custody of your children doesn’t go to the state. Yes, you heard that correctly. It’s simply not the case that minor children pass to a trusted loved one or relative. In the absence of a directive from you—a directive from the parents—the state is automatically awarded custody of the minor children of deceased parents . . . until a judge decides otherwise. The Reason for the Baseline Waiting for a judge’s decision is the baseline rule, and it exists for a very good reason: The people who are entitled to custody of children by operation of law may or may not be properly equipped to raise children. Thus the need for a judge’s assessment before custody is passed. Who wants to leave that decision to a judge? Nobody. What is the alternative? Our law firm. Our firm addresses the needs of ...
Your Estate Planning Checklist
The death of a parent… Medical issues… Birth of a child… A milestone birthday… Any of these events can trigger the urge to put your affairs in order and plan your estate. One of the best things you can for your loved ones is to leave them an estate that’s well organized, clear cut and easy to administer. While we talk often about the need for a sound estate plan, we know that trying to plan your estate can be overwhelming, especially if the need for planning was triggered by a traumatic event. Making a list can help you get a handle on what you need to do and what your attorney will need to make the process easier for everyone. This checklist will give you a good idea of what you need to take to your meeting with your estate planning attorney: Make a complete list of all your assets and liabilities. Include how much you pay on any notes and when the payments are ...
What If?
Most people start the process of estate planning to deal with “What If”. What If you died and your children were still too young to care for themselves? What If you were no longer physically able to care for yourself? What If you had very specific instructions for how your property should be passed on? Every person on the planet has an individual list of things they worry about. And those worries are often what drive them to start thinking about estate planning. Unfortunately, many of these same people go online, find a cheap Will, fill out the form and think they’ve taken care of everything. Or worse, they believe the myth that a handwritten will is all they need. After all, as long as they tell someone in writing how they want things handled, everything is fine and that’s all they need to do, right? Wrong. Either of these choices can create a costly, messy nightmare for the ...
When It Comes To A Supplemental Needs Trust, Out of Sight Should Never Be Out of Mind
You’ve been a responsible planner for your family’s future, especially your child with special needs. You’ve met with an attorney, set up a Supplemental or Special Needs Trust and you can breathe a sigh of relief. Your work is done, right? Wrong. Funding and forgetting about a Trust can be as detrimental as not forming one at all. And having one that isn’t properly written can render it completely useless. Supplemental Needs Trusts (sometimes called Special Needs Trusts) allow people with mental or physical disabilities, or even people with chronic or acquired illnesses, to have unlimited assets held in Trust for their benefit. If you have a child, grandchild, or even a spouse with a disability, a Supplemental Needs Trust can ensure that they have the funds they need to maintain their lifestyle after you’re gone. And if your Supplemental Needs Trust is drafted properly those assets don’t count as financial resources in determining your loved one’s eligibility for government benefits. The Trust provides for supplemental care over and above what government programs provide. Even if ...
Idaho legal news by Snake River Law
- Not The End But A New Beginning May 4, 2012In the next two months, those words will ring out in high school graduation ceremonies all across the country. And if you have a high school senior in your home, then chances are that things are about to change dramatically, both for you and your high school senior. There are a few things that you […]admin
- QTIP Trusts April 20, 2012A QTIP trust, or Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust, is a special type of A/B trust. Have I lost you yet? Not to worry… keep reading! Let’s start at the beginning. An A/B trust is a marital trust system comprised of two trusts, an A trust and a B trust. The A trust is typically […]admin
- More About Your Estate Plan April 13, 2012The revocable living trust is the basic building block of most estate plans. It’s the tool that allows your estate to avoid the expense, time consumption, and uncertainty of probate court, and it is the tool that can hold just about any of your assets. While revocable living trusts are ubiquitous in the world of […]admin
- Election Year Antics February 8, 2012Welcome to politics in 2012! Did you sign up for what we’re getting in America? In many ways, nobody is happy with the landscape. Most of us—Independents, Democrats, and Republicans alike—are unhappy (or even disgusted) with politics in general. It’s at the point of being most disgruntled, however, that we need to pay the most […]admin
- Assets Without Physical Form November 8, 2011There’s been a lot written about estate planning in recent years. That’s partially because federal laws on the taxation of estates have changed a lot in the past few years, and they will be up for discussion by Congress again before the end of 2012. Anything being discussed by Congress gets a considerable amount of […]admin
- Professional Guidance Through a Complex Process October 18, 2011There is a widespread misconception that estate planning is simply a method of directing one’s assets to designated beneficiaries in the event of death. That’s simply too narrow of a view. Estate planning is necessary—crucial in fact–in the event that you become incapacitated or otherwise need a loved one to manage your finances. This can […]admin
- Three Reasons for Having a Living Trust October 5, 2011There are a multitude of reasons to have a living trust. We can’t begin to cover them all, but we will touch on three reasons very briefly here. Reason #1: Protecting Property for Certain Beneficiaries When most of us think about estate planning, we think about passing our property to our family and […]admin
- Estate Planning and Business Succession September 22, 2011Most people hear the words “Estate Planning” and automatically think about wills, trusts, tax issues, and probate. The reality is that estate planning is about much more than just figuring out how to pass on your hard-earned assets. We’ve written a lot about the ways that estate planning benefits families. Today we’re going to talk […]admin
- A Hypothetical, But It Does Happen August 4, 2011Today we’re going to discuss a situation that happens all the time. It’s a situation that almost nobody thinks about, unless you’re an estate planning attorney, but it does occur often enough to talk about. Consider the following hypothetical: A woman, let’s call her Elizabeth, has passed away. Elizabeth is survived by four adult sons. […]admin
- Beyond the Allocation of Assets July 14, 2011Estate planning is about much more than just deciding who gets what in the event of your death. It’s also about avoiding unnecessary taxes, and in the event that you have minor children, making sure that custody of your children doesn’t go to the state. Yes, you heard that correctly. It’s simply not the case […]admin
