Category Archives: Wills & Trusts

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Photo of 6 year old Dachsund Winnie Pooh dreaming of money

When does it make sense to have a pet trust?

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According to DNAinfo.com, there is a court battle over a $100,000 pet trust created for a 6 year old Dachshund in her deceased owner’s Will. Supposedly, the owner, Patricia Bowers, passed away in 2010 (apparently when the pet was but a wee pup). The dachshund, named Winnie Pooh, was left to caretaker Virginia Hanlon. Ms. Hanlon filed court papers in Manhattan last week, alleging that the executor of Winnie Pooh’s deceased owners estate is improperly withholding funds from the doggie’s trust. The trustee has occasionally sent payments of $2.36 per quarter (apparently estimating the cost of caring for a pet to be $10 per year).  Last year when Winnie Pooh had a $6,000 surgery, the reimbursement check from the trustee bounced. So … when does it make sense to have a pet trust?

Many questions surface from this strange story.

  • Why would you name a dog after a cartoon bear?
  • What is the trustee doing with the money? If $100,000 is held in a pet trust, then there should be absolutely no reason that a check would bounce–unless the trustee is completely mishandling the money. If that’s the case, the trustee needs to get removed by the court and ordered to pay the caretaker’s legal fees and costs.
  • The caretaker says that it would take $5,000 per year to take care of Winnie Pooh. I understand when there is a $6,000 vet bill. But how often does that happen?
  • According to peteducation.com, the high end estimate of owning a dog for 14 years would be $39,000. What else was the caretaker planning to do for the dog? Go on trips to Europe?

Final Thoughts.

Looking at the big picture, whether Winnie Pooh gets $5,000 per year, or a little more or less, her story is actually kind of within reason. You recall Leona Helmsley leaving $12 million to her beloved maltese, Trouble, among many other pets. That is actually absurd. So is when Gunther IV inherited his $375 million fortune from his father, Gunther III, the beloved pet of Countess Karlotta Libenstein. (This was actually the first time I had heard of a pet dynasty. I guess it’s technically possible.)

To conclude, I’m in favor of leaving a reasonable amount of money in a pet trust. That’s only fair to the person to whom you leave your pet. However, if you want to leave millions of dollars to your pet(s), you might just do some more soul searching and see if perhaps your money could better help the world.


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Why Your Trust Needs a Trust Protector

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If you follow my blogs, you know by now that our law firm not only prepares Wills and Trusts. We also do probate litigation. This means that we go to court to handle messy family feuds over inheritances. One of the most common type of lawsuit has to do with a trustee who steals money, mismanages the investments, or for various reasons needs to be removed. A basic check and balance for a trust is to have a “Trust Protector” named who can remove an irresponsible trustee and appoint a successor. In this post, I will explain why your trust needs a Trust Protector.

That fact is that life is unpredictable. You have absolutely no guarantee that the people you named as trustee in your trust will actually do what you want. I have seen this too often. Let me give just a couple of real life examples.

Example One: Husband and wife sign a trust. They say that if husband dies, husband’s father and wife will be co-trustees. (This was a good idea at the time; it was one form of check and balance.) But, what wasn’t planned for? That husband and wife would get a divorce, husband would die shortly after that, and that the husband’s father would make off with all of the trust property, leaving the wife and kids impoverished. This could have easily been avoided if a Trust Protector had been named who could easily remove husband’s father as trustee and appoint a new truste.

Example Two: As mentioned by Jay Adkisson in a Forbes article from 2012, let’s assume that in your living trust you simply make one of your heirs/beneficiaries the Trustee. “The problem here is that you can’t predict the future. Maybe by the time you die the new Trustee has developed a drug problem, or maybe the Trustee harbored a grudge against one of the other heirs/beneficiaries and now wants them to get nothing (even though you wanted them to get their share). Without a Protector, the situation is bad. But with a Protector, the new Trustee can be fired.”

If your trust does not have a Trust Protector, I encourage you to amend it to include one. Personally, I prefer to have the protector have very broad powers, but also have a fiduciary duty. Thus, they are somewhat like a trustee, except that their powers are different from the trustee’s powers. The Trust Protector’s responsibility is to provide a check and balance to the trustee. The trustee is the active manage. The Trust Protector rarely gets involved except when needed to remove a trustee, modify the trust, or make other permissible changes.

This is not to be done by lay people. See a competent estate planning attorney.

P.S., if you are wondering what’s with the coat of arms and tartan, here’s my explanation. The Deloughery Coat of Arms shows horses, which are a symbol of loyalty. Also, there is a knight’s helmet. These are all symbols of protection and loyalty. These are good traits for a Trust Protector (and for a trustee, for that matter). The tartan in the background is the official Deloughery of Scottsdale tartan, duly registered in Scotland (which is where even Irish tartans need to be registered). I see a Trust Protector as being something like a knight … always on guard to protect the family fortune if necessary.


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Your Husband Died and His Children are Asking Questions

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If your husband died and his children are asking questions, what do you do? Your husband’s kids may be asking if they can get your husband’s belongings, such as family photos or furniture. Perhaps you and the step children don’t agree on whether your husband should be buried or cremated.

First, you need to see a probate attorney right away. Find out your rights and responsibilities. Once you know where you stand legally, then you will be better able to deal with the other family members. Treat your husband’s kids with respect. But you also don’t need to be a door mat. Maintaining communication is important. It is usually best to invite them to the funeral or memorial service. It also helps diffuse some of the emotions by allowing your husband’s kids to get mementos, such as family photos. These are easy enough to copy and distribute. (You can either take the photos to an art store than can duplicate them. Or there are places that can scan them and save them digitally.) The same thing applies to military medals; you can purchase duplicates for family members who want them.

As to the bigger issues (like your husband’s house and bank accounts), you need to understand that the devil is in the details. Estate planning and probate can be complicated. To help explain what happens, let’s see what will happen to your husband’s house:

  1. If your husband added you to the house deed as “joint tenants with right of survivorship,” then you get the house now that your husband died. Even if your husband had a will or trust, the designation of a beneficiary on a house or account trumps whatever it says in the will or trust.
  2. If the house was in your husband’s name, and he didn’t have a will or trust, then the house is transferred according to state law. The applicable statute in Arizona is somewhat complicated, but generally you (as the surviving spouse) get 50% of your husband’s “stuff” and his kids get 50%.
  3. If your husband had a will, then the will determines who gets what.
  4. If your husband had a trust, you need to see a probate attorney.  While the trust probably determines who gets what, this is not always black and white. For example, you are probably the sole trustee now that your husband has died. However, there are other issues. What rights do you have to income and principal? Are you supposed to divide the trust into different subtrusts?  Do you have a power of appointment?

It always amazes me how blended family seem to get along fine over the years until one of the parents dies. Then all of a sudden the biological children of the deceased parent becomes scared that they’re not going to be treated fairly. Sometimes this is justified, and sometimes it is not. So often, the surviving spouse excludes the other side of the family from even basic civilities. Suddenly, the surviving kids never find out about the funeral. Their request for copies of photographs and family mementos go unanswered. Sometimes they can’t even get a copy of the will! This friction can lead to arguments and even court battles.

If your husband died, you need the help of a probate and trust attorney who will take charge right away. Give us a call at our Scottsdale office and ask if we can help you.


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Recovering from Trustee Misconduct

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Recovering from Trustee MisconductBeneficiaries of a trust depend greatly on the trustee to act in the best interest of the beneficiaries and the trust.

Unfortunately, trustees don’t always live up to the duty and responsibility of their position. Beyond creating headaches for family members and other beneficiaries, such misconduct can rob them of their inheritance.

In previous posts we covered the actions that can led to the removal of a trustee [link to post on what qualifies trustee for removal] and how to petition the court to remove the trustee and appoint a successor.

After those important steps, how do you go get back the stolen or misused money? It all depends on whether you are able to trace where the money was sent, if it was spent or if it still exists in some form. Let’s look at an example:

If a trustee used money from the trust to buy a new house, and if that house has not been sold or transferred to someone else, you can get a court order to freeze the property and eventually have it transferred back to the trust.

If the money is gone, there are three ways to recover funds:

  1. Surcharge. This applies if the trustee is also a beneficiary of the trust. In this situation, the former trustee’s inheritance from the estate can be reduced by the amount of any judgment the court passes against him or her. To have a surcharge ordered on a former trustee, you must file what’s known as a “Petition for Surcharge” with the probate court.
  2. Seize assets. If you’re able to trace the trustee’s spending to existing assets (cars, jewelry or other property), or if you’re able to show bank statements showing cash the trustee’s withdrawals from estate funds at ATM machines, the court can place a judgment against the trustee, making it more likely that you will get the money back. If the trustee has spent money on intangible purchases such as vacations, it will be much harder to get the money back.
  3. Personal refund. If the trustee has other personal assets (such as a house or bank accounts), the court can order the former trustee to turn over those assets to compensate for the value taken from the trust.

The process of getting the money returned can be lengthy. It can take from three to six months or more to settle a case recovering losses. The court process involves gathering evidence, and filing a petition with the probate court (this is all part of the steps necessary to remove a trustee).

After the court determines the amount of damages caused by the former trustee, the new trustee or other beneficiaries can then request the court to make further orders. To give an example, let’s say that a former trustee, Roger, owned a house, which used to be owned by the trust. After Roger has been removed from the position of trustee, the court can order that the house belong again to the trust. An attorney for the trust can then get a certified copy of the order and record the ownership of the property with the county recorder in the county where the property is located.

If you’re dealing with a trustee who is mishandling a trust, don’t wait to seek help. An experienced probate litigation attorney can walk you through the tricky and complicated petitioning process. It’s important to have someone knowledgeable on your side who knows the law and the court system.

Your attorney should work closely with you and the court to help you recover lost funds that are justly yours. The probate courts are there to help you and your family. Remember to act quickly and seek the assistance of an attorney. This will increase the likelihood that you will recover your inheritance.

Have any questions about recovering from trustee misconduct? Give us a call. We’d love to help.

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How to Remove a Trustee

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How to Remove a TrusteeNot everyone works out. And you have the right, as a beneficiary of a trust, to petition to remove the trustee of the estate if he or she proves to be incompetent, hostile, dishonest or otherwise unable to fulfill the responsibilities of administering the trust.

Here’s a quick definition of a trustee and a summary of the duties of the position.

A trustee can be a person (or a trust company) who has legal title to property, who holds that property for the benefit of another and who has assumed a legal duty (also called a fiduciary duty) to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries of the trust. As you can imagine, things can go awry.

Here’s an all too-frequent scenario from a recent case:

In a case involving a prominent Phoenix family that operated multiple businesses owned by their trust, the father had passed away a number of years earlier. The mother continued running the businesses, gradually turning over control to her adult children. One of the sons took control of the trust after the mother developed dementia.

The son used the money from the trust to enhance properties he would ultimately inherit. He also bought himself a new car and started taking lavish cruises and vacations.

My clients – the siblings of this trustee – turned to me for help. First they obtained evidence of wrongdoing. In this case, they were able to get copies of checks written from the trust directly to the trustee. This gave us enough to petition the court and get the son removed as trustee and replaced with a private fiduciary.

Trusts can be set up to allow for safeguards in case of wrongdoing. That is, they contain trigger points that can lead to the removal of a trustee.

For trusts that don’t specify a mechanism to remove a trustee, the court recognizes other reasons. Here are three:

  1. If the trustee has committed a breach of the fiduciary duties of care over the assets or loyalty to the beneficiaries. Examples include failing to pay taxes, stealing assets, and not following the specifications of the trust.
  2. If the trustee is unfit, unwilling or persistently fails to act in the best interest of the beneficiaries and the trust, the court can remove the trustee.
  3. In come cases, the circumstances surrounding the trust can change significantly or all qualified beneficiaries can request the removal of the trustee. The court can review the case and remove the trustee if it deems this for the best interest of the beneficiaries, as long as this isn’t inconsistent with the original specifications and intent of the trust.

If you are the beneficiary of a trust, it’s important to know what to do if the assets are being mismanaged. Trusts are normally very private affairs. In addition, trusts, being civil matters, are outside the jurisdiction of the police. There’s typically no court supervision and no government regulation to make sure that the trust is being run properly. It’s up to you and your attorney to pay attention to how a trust is being managed.

You need to take immediate action if you believe money is being misused. Proactive action increases your ability to protect your inheritance. Contact an experienced probate attorney at the first indication that a trustee is unethical or irresponsible with trust assets.

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Life and Estate-Planning: What Is a Conservatorship?

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Life and Estate Planning What Is a ConservatorshipWhen an adult is no longer able to care for himself or herself, the court can appoint another person to take over responsibility of managing finances and other everyday affairs. The person appointed (usually a spouse, family member, relative or hired professional) would serve as conservator and collect income and pay expenses on behalf of the protected person.

It can be difficult for an adult child to let a parent know that a conservator is needed. A parent with dementia or Alzheimer’s, for example, may not be aware of a problem. The parent can also become confused in thinking that the child is trying to take over money matters. The parent may think that the child is trying to cheat the parent, or the parent might feel that a vestige of independence is being removed.

Most such situations are resolved by requiring the person in need of help to go through neurological and psychological examination by a trained physician, psychologist or registered nurse. The court relies heavily on the results from these examinations to determine the need for a conservator.

This level of care protects those who are incapacitated from losing assets and being evicted from their homes or living facilities because they have failed to make payments.

Conservators are not, however, required to pay for the care of the protected person with the conservator’s own resources. The conservator should use the protected person’s resources to take care of expenses. The conservator can then apply for government benefits if needed to pay for the cost of care.

Some of a conservator’s duties include:

  • Obtaining a credit report on behalf of the protected person.
  • Creating a budget for the protected person’s finances.
  • Sending annual accounting reports to the court, as specified in that state.

Should the conservator fail to fulfill these responsibilities, he or she can be replaced by someone better suited to the position. Conservators who mismanage funds can be held personally liable.

If you have an aging loved one who is not making careful financial decisions, a conservatorship can be a good solution. Conservatorships are complicated. If you don’t like balancing your own checkbook or reviewing financial statements, then acting as a conservator is probably not something you should undertake. You may benefit from the help and direction of a financial conservator.

If you have questions about conservatorship or serving as a conservator, I’d love to help. Please comment below or contact our office.

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Resolving Disputes Involving Trusts

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Resolving Disputes Involving TrustsTrusts are legal arrangements in which someone holds property for the benefit of someone else.

Trusts can minimize estate taxes and prevent the need for probate. Trusts also offer greater precision in wealth management and distribution, and can protect your legacy.

But given the human element involved in estates and trusts, disputes can arise when a trust is being settled, even if you’ve given proper care to creating a trust.

Some common examples of trust disputes include:

1. A trustee stealing or misusing money or property in the trust.
2. Questions over whether an amendment to a trust is legitimate.
3. Uncertainty regarding the running of a business, should the trust own a business.

What is a trust dispute, then?

Simply put: If you’re a trustee and family members accuse you of mismanaging the trust, you are involved in a trust dispute.

Or, if someone else is the trustee and that person is mismanaging or stealing assets (or accused of doing so), then you are (or probably should be) involved in a trust dispute.

I have experience in trust disputes. In one particularly lengthy trust dispute case, I represented a professional licensed fiduciary who was the trustee of a trust.

Even before her death, the woman who created the trust was aware that her two adult children had been fighting with each other over how her trust would be settled.

After her death, the younger sibling accused the older one of stealing money from the trust.

The older sibling accused the younger of convincing their mother to amend the trust after she had become incapacitated.

Both accused the other of elder abuse and wanted the other to be disinherited. The case was in a standoff for months. It progressed very slowly through the court system.

This case shows the mistakes people make when resolving trust disputes. These
include:

1. Trying to settle disputes without the assistance of an experienced probate litigation attorney.
This area of law is very complicated and confusing – even to lawyers who do not work regularly in the area of probate disputes.
Statutes of limitations can be detrimental to resolving disputes if the disputes are not handled properly (and within the required time).

2. Not going to court when there is the possibility of a conflict of interest.
If you are both trustee and beneficiary, it can be tricky to avoid the appearance of acting in self-interest when dividing assets.
In such situations you should file a petition with the court asking for court guidance on how to distribute the assets and avoid conflict of interest.

The best way to avoid mistakes when navigating a trust dispute is to enlist the support of a skilled probate litigation attorney.

With the assistance of a qualified attorney, you may be able to settle an affair outside of court, saving you time and money.

Either way, an experienced attorney will help you prevent, negotiate, settle and litigate disputes to avoid costly losses.

If you have any questions about resolving trust disputes, I’d love to help. Give us a call.

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Administering a Trust with an Ongoing Business

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Administering a Trust with an Ongoing BusinessAdministering a trust with an ongoing business can be intimidating and overwhelming. It is even more tricky if the business needs to go through probate. And for good reason.

As a trustee or personal representative, you will be held to a high standard as you administer the trust, a standard higher than that the original owner was held to. And if you have specific knowledge (such as having owned a business before, being an attorney or CPA) you will be held to a higher standard still.

Here are three steps you can take as a trustee or personal representative that will help you better manage your responsibility as well as reduce your liability as you administer an estate or trust that has business or complex investments:

  1. Assemble a team. Even if you have experience with owning and operating a business or in managing an investment portfolio, you can be held accountable for making decisions that have a negative impact on the viability of the trust’s business or assets. Seek help from qualified professionals (CPA, probate attorney with experience working with businesses and other relevant advisors.)
  2. Delegate control. You need to find a qualified person to take responsibility or accountability for his or her actions in managing this business and operating it. That person must be committed to making the right decisions, even difficult ones such as firing family members. (This in particular is a common and difficult decision that must be made with a number of trusts.)
  3. Maintain communication. As personal representative or trustee, it’s your responsibility to keep beneficiaries informed of the state of the business or other assets.

Passing along the commitments and responsibilities of a business and business assets through a trust can be complicated. The trustee or personal representative who administers the estate should understand the responsibilities of the position.

Without information, knowledge and expertise needed to run a business profitably, the trustee can be held liable for a decline in the business. Assembling a team and delegating control are two critical steps a trustee should make to maintain and manage the assets. Be sure to keep the beneficiaries informed and in the loop regarding the state of affairs.

If you need help understanding the duties of a trustee and how to manage a business or other complex assets in a trust, we’d love to help.

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Trust Management: 3 Top Mistakes Trustees Make

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Trust Management 3 Top Mistakes Trustees MakeServing as a trustee is a big responsibility that can be complicated and confusing. It’s easy to fall into trouble if you’re misinformed or careless in the trust management. Keep in mind these three pitfalls when serving as trustee:

  1. Breaching fiduciary duties. Fiduciary duty is the highest legal duty of care recognized by the U.S. legal system. The most common example of breaching duties is when a trustee uses the trust to pay for personal expenses or purchases.
  2. Failing to keep beneficiaries informed. Trustees have the duty to keep beneficiaries “reasonably informed about the administration of the trust and of the material facts necessary for them to protect their interests.” Thus, beneficiaries are entitled to periodic accountings showing investments, disbursements and expenses. If a trustee is not transparent with these actions, he or she may be subject to legal action.
  3. Breaking the law. This can involve theft – the most common way a trustee may break the law – or the failure to pay taxes.

A trustee who doesn’t act in the best interest of the trust may be subject to consequences in civil court. The most common of these – for trustees who are also beneficiaries of an estate – is a surcharge, which is a legal term under probate law for a type of lawsuit that will reduce the trustee’s portion of the inheritance to return any losses to the trust that have been incurred because of mismanagement by the trustee. A trustee can also be personally liable for losses resulting from mismanaging assets in the trust.

If you’re concerned that a trustee is mismanaging your loved one’s trust, it’s important to seek help  immediately from an experienced probate attorney.

Many people want to avoid going to court to resolve their probate issues, but probate court exists to help families sort through the process of settling an estate. In fact, probate court can be particularly beneficial when a trustee is either a family member or a friend, because emotions and stress can complicate these situations.

If you’re a trustee and feel over your head in fulfilling your duties, attorneys can help you avoid pitfalls. You don’t have to do it alone. Consider hiring an attorney, bookkeeper, accountant or even a corporate trustee to work with you. A little bit of help can prevent not only mistakes but undue stress during an already-stressful time.

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Estate Planning Basics: Trust Assets and Probate Assets

Estate Planning Basics Trust Assets and Probate AssetsEstate planning isn’t just for the wealthy. It’s an important element of protecting the people you love and the legacy you want to leave behind. An estate is made up of assets.

Assets can be any form of cash, physical property or intangible benefits. These include:

•  A house
•  other real estate
•  business interests
•  stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
•  money-market accounts
•  brokerage accounts
•  royalty contracts, patents, and copyrights
•  jewelry and antiques
•  precious metals
•  works of art
•  valuable collections

For estate-planning purposes, assets fall into two main categories: trust assets and probate assets. Assets held within a trust [link to post on trusts] are referred to as trust assets. Assets that are not within the trust are called probate assets. I’d like to outline the two, and show why creating trust assets is preferable in estate planning.

Trust assets

The advantage of putting assets into a trust include reduced estate taxes and greater control in how your descendants will receive their inheritance. When you put your assets into a trust, you no longer own the assets legally, which become known as trust assets.

You can decide what you’d like to be put into a trust, to become a trust asset, and you do this by having the item or property or deed officially given to the trust, with a title in the form of a deed or other legal documentation. For example, a certificate of title for a car owned by a trust should show John Doe, Trustee, or something similar indicates that it’s the trust that owns the asset, and not John Doe himself. There are various ways to transfer property such as jewelry, art, coins and other collectables, and an estate planning attorney can assist with this.

Probate assets

All assets that are not included in the trust are probate assets. A court proceeding is necessary to determine how these probate assets can be distributed. Thus, it makes sense to consider assigning assets to a trust, to avoid having your heirs go through probate court to receive any legacies you have assigned them.

The actual act of transferring assets to a trust can be a bit complicated and challenging, even for an attorney who has some experience with this process. But it’s worth the time to work with an experienced estate attorney to set up a trust for assets so that your estate can run smoothly.

Get help from someone who is skilled in estate planning and probate. It’s critical that you have legal documentation that the trust owns the assets. Without such documentation, these assets cannot be distributed as part of the trust and, as I mentioned, they’re considered probate assets.

The consequences of a poorly planned estate can affect not only the peace of mind of your survivors, but can be detrimental to the value and distribution of the assets you leave behind.

Find an experienced attorney who is familiar with probate law and asset protection in your state to protect your family and protect your legacy. [link to service line questionnaire]

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Testate and Intestate: The 2 Things You Need to Know About Your Last Will and Testament

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The 2 Things You Need to Know About Your Last Will and TestamentIf you don’t have a plan for your estate after you die, the state where you live has one for you. But you probably won’t like it.

Even if you don’t believe in the afterlife, you need to take control of what will happen after life. Your life. For your family’s sake. Without a valid, comprehensive living will (a legal document that specifies what you want to happen to your assets after you die), your family will be left to pick up the pieces.

You should be aware of two definitions about your last will and testament in order to protect your assets and make things easier for your family. These definitions involve the difference between testate and intestate. The difference is simple, but it can determine whether or not your wishes are carried out.

Definition 1: testate – Having a valid will made before one dies. “She died testate.”

Definition 2: intestate – Not having a valid will made before one dies. “He died intestate.”

Translation: If you have a valid will, you are said to die testate. If you die or become incapacitated without a valid will, you are said to die intestate.

It’s also important to understand what makes a will valid and legally binding. Let’s look at the key components of a living will.

A valid will must provide instructions stating:

  • whom you want to receive something,
  • what you want that person to receive and
  • when he or she will receive it.

A valid will must be in writing and must be signed by the testator (the person making the will) or in the testator’s name by some person in the testator’s conscious presence, and by the testator’s direction.

To define this more simply, your will must be in writing. You must sign it. If you’re not able to sign it (if you become paralyzed or otherwise incapacitated), someone else may sign for you under your direction. Most wills are notarized and include a self-proving affidavit. While this extra step isn’t strictly necessary, it does help expedite the process.

A valid living will is important for every family. It helps make the complex process of settling an estate much simpler.

Now that we’ve given you the basics of a valid will, you should be aware of what not to do with it. Here are three common mistakes people make when it comes to a last will and testament:

  1. Putting the will in a bank safety deposit box. Unless you have specifically given someone the authority to open the safe, you will have to have a probate to determine who has authority to open the deposit box. This can create an unnecessary sticky situation.
  2. Not giving a copy of the will to your children or other involved parties who will be handling the estate after your death. If your will is stuffed between the mattress or hidden in the back of your sock drawer, your family may not be able to locate it. Without a copy of the will, your estate will be subject to probate.
  3. Not being specific about who will be in charge of the estate in blended family situations. This is one of the most common causes of confusion and disagreement.

Take the time to create a valid will and give instructions. This will give you and your family peace of mind both now and later. It may be uncomfortable for you to plan your estate, but it’s far better to do it correctly now than for your family to pay an attorney to try to fix later.

Do you have any questions about testate or intestate? I’d love to help. Please leave a comment below or contact our office.

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