Most humans have a difficult time thinking about death, but it is a life circumstance that we all face. Part of being a responsible human is making the necessary arrangements for distribution of your cash, assets, and other property in the event of your death. Most people are aware of the Will as a legal tool, but it’s not the only one available. Living Trusts are another way to make sure that your assets go where you want them to, and in a timely fashion. Wills and Trusts are both great legal tools, but some people may want to use both of them together. Let’s go over Wills, Trusts, and the circumstances where someone might want to use both of them concurrently:
The Will
A Last Will and Testament is a written document that is witnessed
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After your death, a trustee designated by you makes sure the beneficiary receives the assets in the way that you wish. Let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages of Trusts:
Advantages
Avoid probate - If you use a living trust, your property can go directly to your beneficiaries, no matter how large the amount is. This ensures a quick transfer of property and protects the value of your estate.
Retain privacy - Unlike a Will involved in probate, your trust is not a public document. For those who want to keep their final wishes private, using a living trust is the best way to do so. No matter how large your estate is, Trusts cannot be filed for probate.
Simplicity - For complex estates or ones involving property in multiple states or countries, a Trust is the best option. Assets will be distributed without proceedings in each state and country, which will save time and money.
Immediate - Trust documents go into effect instantly, so you can also include living wishes like an appointed guardian should you become incapacitated, or any end of life directives you may have that you would like to be followed. Any other actions you would like to include can be added to take place before the time of your death, which can be
If you die without having a will created the estate assets become frozen and the court manages it. No thought is put into the deceased family. A living will is a document that talks about if a person become extremely ill they do not have to be kept alive by medical machines if they don’t want to be. Everyone should obtain life insurance so when they die there living family members will be provided enough money for a standard life. Between your living estate and insurance you must have enough money to cover all debt, future obligations, and supporting your
In 1993, Mr. Heggstad died without a trust. He had assets like his home that were intended to be in the trust, but were not included. He had essentially forgotten to sign and record the deed that transferred his home to the trust. In the case, the justice system found that having a schedule of assets attached to the trust was enough proof that the decedent wished for the assets to be placed in the trust.
Estate planning addresses the distribution of assets prior to a person's death. With the estate plan, the court understands the deceased's final wishes and how he or she wishes their assets to be shared. For some, the process is simple, as the assets are jointly owned or aren't of high value. Others, however, have estates that require special consideration. This is true when there are children involved or the deceased was a partner in one or more
While grantor trusts are commonly created as part of an estate plan, estate planners may inadvertently be creating income tax issues that trustees and tax preparers must deal with during the administration. When the grantor of a grantor trust dies, or the grantor trust status terminates during the life of the grantor, for the most part the tax consequences are well established. What is unclear is what happens if the grantor trust had an outstanding liability to the grantor at the death of the grantor. This paper addresses the issue and how it may be treated. Part I of this paper will briefly address the history of
The united states made the decision to enter WWI in 1917 with England, France, and Russia. The United States entered the war because President Woodrow Wilson requested a declaration of war against Germany. The reason of this being is becauseGermany would not suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic. Germany also tried to persuade Mexico into joining sides with them.Germany's attempt to sink passenger and merchant ships was the real reason President Wilson wanted the U.S. to go to war. Wilson threatened to cause harm to Germany if they didn't stop sinking ships. And on May 4, 1916, Germany agreed to stop sinking ships. On these terms and conditions it was known as the "Sussex Pledge". Germany ended up violating
Contrary there are some faults to that could come into play with a living will. For instance in the state of Michigan it is not required for a living will to be enforced legally so in the end you wants might not even come into consideration. Another fact is that a physician can decide what is deemed necessary under certain circumstances and go against your wishes not to be resuscitated. Given the circumstances your family members might not agree with you giving up the right the life for the sake of their finical security. Terri Schiavo's family never gave up on her and would have been content to take care of her for the rest of her life. In the advent that a person does not have a living will in place one of your close relatives would be instated to make health care decisions for you. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it might not be entirely what you
This is the reason the IRS will not include the assets in the estate because legally speaking, they are no longer owned by the trustor. In addition, irrevocable trusts must be planned to avoid the IRS finding the trust invalid. On average, trusts must be established at least 3 years before death. There are some exceptions, but this is the general rule.” (IRS publication 559)
Sonja has a mentally disabled son. She wants to make certain that her son will have a continuous income after her death. In this particular situation I would say to have a Trust as well as a Will. Having a Will can specifically state exactly what the decease last wishes were and by having a Trust with someone assigned to the Trust or a guardian on the Will, will make everything crystal clear with no hassles on what the last demands were. Another way is to use the fixed amount or fixed period option which
The following is a case study of Blackwell v Blackwell, that is connected to the principle of Secret Trusts and particularly Half Secret Trusts. In order for the principle to be understood, it is significant to expatiate on what secret trusts are and the several laws revolving around them. In general terms, a secret trust arises where a testator, A, tells B that he is leaving property to B on his death, and that he wishes B to hold it on trust for C, even though no trust for C has been set out in any formal will executed by A. If B agrees, when the property passes to B on A's death, the court will enforce the secret trust despite its informality and require B to hold the property for C. In secret trusts, two different types are recognised by the courts, one where the trustee and the terms of the trust are not mentioned in the will, this is a fully secret trust while a half secret trust is subject to a trust obligation which is apparent on the face of the Will, but the terms of the trust and the identity of the beneficiary are not disclosed. The trustee is not in position to deny the trust and can not fraudulently take the property because he is a trustee for someone. Equity will not allow him take the property beneficially. The major difference between both is the extent in which disclosure is made as to the recipient of the gift intends to take the property as a trustee rather than for himself. Secret Trusts can also arise where there is no will, it may be in a case of
On a living will, an individual can express if they would prefer not to be resuscitated or if they don’t want to be living artificially on life-support. Additionally, living wills establish a written declaration of a power of attorney, establishing a person who may legally speak on behalf of a patient who is unable to do so. Living wills are crucial pieces of documentation that are necessary for the dignity and wishes of a person who may fall unexpectedly into a life-threatening condition. If a person does not wish to live artificially on life support, a living will may be the only documentation that can secure their right to die with what they choose to be a dignified death. Unfortunately, living wills are not too common, resulting in countless Americans whose lives are extended long after they wish to live. In order to get a living will, one can either hire an attorney and have the attorney draft a living will or there are templates available that can be filled out and submitted for notarization.
Even if you have a will, you still need to have beneficiary designations on your retirement and life insurance accounts. Your will does not cover these assets. Make sure to check all your life insurance policies, retirement accounts and annuities.
With the revocable living trust, Claire will be able to have her assets put in the trust, and in the future, if she becomes incapacitated, then her trustee can manage things for her, instead of her beneficiaries, or a guardian of the court. A revocable living trust will also allow upon death, privacy of Claire, her beneficiaries and her property. If the revocable trust is designed to become irrevocable upon death it will benefit the beneficiaries in ways that they can design and put several irrevocable trusts in place to protect them and other beneficiaries (Garber, 2017). Claire’s son John, could possibly contest this Living Trust since he is a beneficiary, however if the planner accurately followed State laws, physician assessment guidelines, and uses careful design, chances that John could successfully contest would be slim. John could also contest the Will or the Living Trust if he feels that her capacity level was not accurately assessed during the time of designing and signing the legal documents, hence the reason for witness testimonies along with their signatures to safeguard from such challenge (Garber,
Living Wills, sometimes called Advanced Directives, are legal documents accepted in all 50 states. They clearly define a person’s wish to decline life-support or medical treatment in certain circumstances, usually when death is imminent. Generally, a living will takes effect when a person becomes terminally ill, permanently unconscious or conscious with irreversible brain damage.
In today’s society, you see an outstanding amount of homelessness in the streets with no sign of stopping anytime in the near future. These numbers continue to climb with the majority of people blaming it on the homeless individual either being too lazy to get a college (sometimes even high school) degree, too lazy to go and at least try to get a job or a combination of both. With this thought process in mind, you could say people are oblivious to the deinstitutionalization of thousands of mentally ill patients put out into the streets due to America’s corrupted economic system. But the truth is, people are usually just more drawn to either make fun of them or just walk right by them without batting an eye purely based off the different types of media that are being put out for anybody to see at anytime. The media has played a key role in the public’s perception of homeless people, as well as the increase in the number of homeless people present. Though there are some organizations in the US trying to help combat the rising homeless numbers, the current stereotype of homeless individuals has led the majority of the country to make comedic meme’s, videos and other variations of media to bring down the homeless community and not raise awareness, but bring up their own perception of the homeless to the rest of the country. This only causes one big snowball effect for the perception of
It should be no surprise that colonial women were treated differently than women from today’s generation. Colonial women would get beaten up and they would have to act like if nothing ever happened. As Berkin’s states, “[…] John Tillison chained his wife by the leg to a plow in order to keep her from leaving the house, or when a Maine husband kicked his wife and hit her with a club because she refused to feed his pig, they were considered to be exercising their right to discipline subordinates disrespectful of legitimate authority” (31 Berkin). So as you can see colonial women would be abused and their husbands would get away with it.