Estate Plans / Wills / Trusts

JOEJOEJOE

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

Halifax2TheMax

JOEJOEJOE said:

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

As a good friend of mine used to say fairly often, “don’t die messy.” He didn’t practice what he preached. Bladder cancer at 44.

dankind

Halifax2TheMax said:

JOEJOEJOE said:

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

As a good friend of mine used to say fairly often, “don’t die messy.” He didn’t practice what he preached. Bladder cancer at 44.

My wife and I did this a couple of years ago before we took a trip overseas. In addition to the advice provided here, I'd offer the following: If in the event of your death you choose to have someone other than your parents/siblings take over the care and feeding of your children, it's probably best that your parents/siblings never know that while you're still alive. 

I mean, only an asshole would tell her mom and dad that they missed the cut, right? I married such an asshole.

bbiggs

JOEJOEJOE said:

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

He could have just listed his wife as beneficiary, even if she was not a joint account holder of the asset, and the probate process would have been avoided, correct? 

ed243421

dankind said:

Halifax2TheMax said:

JOEJOEJOE said:

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

As a good friend of mine used to say fairly often, “don’t die messy.” He didn’t practice what he preached. Bladder cancer at 44.

My wife and I did this a couple of years ago before we took a trip overseas. In addition to the advice provided here, I'd offer the following: If in the event of your death you choose to have someone other than your parents/siblings take over the care and feeding of your children, it's probably best that your parents/siblings never know that while you're still alive. 

I mean, only an asshole would tell her mom and dad that they missed the cut, right? I married such an asshole.

I make a mean clam chowdah!!

dankind

ed243421 said:

dankind said:

Halifax2TheMax said:

JOEJOEJOE said:

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

As a good friend of mine used to say fairly often, “don’t die messy.” He didn’t practice what he preached. Bladder cancer at 44.

My wife and I did this a couple of years ago before we took a trip overseas. In addition to the advice provided here, I'd offer the following: If in the event of your death you choose to have someone other than your parents/siblings take over the care and feeding of your children, it's probably best that your parents/siblings never know that while you're still alive. 

I mean, only an asshole would tell her mom and dad that they missed the cut, right? I married such an asshole.

I make a mean clam chowdah!!

Needs hot sauce.

ed243421

hedonist

JOEJOEJOE said:

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

Ugh - it's one of those things I know we need to do but just never have.  I figure our condo is in both our names, so one of us would get that if the other goes first...correct?

Regardless, that's a hurdle we still need to address, plus a living will.  Although I've told my husband when to pull the plug or call California's version of Kevorkian

brianlux

JOEJOEJOE said:

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

Great advice, Joe.  My wife and I had our trust set up several years ago.  Along the way a few circumstances changed and we've had  adjustments made to the trust as needed- also a good idea.  A few of you are younger than I am, but earlier is way better than late or not at all.

Who Princess

JOEJOEJOE said:

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

This is SO important, and I can't emphasize it enough.  My family was unusual, in that my dad always stressed the importance of taking care of these things.  Probably because my parents had been involved in a dispute over an estate.  When my mom passed away 2 years ago, she'd updated her will a year earlier.  As her executor, I had a lot of things to take care of but I can't even imagine how it would have been if she hadn't left a will.

I could say a lot about this stuff but one thing that's really important--let a professional prepare these things for you!  I can't believe how many people think they can save a buck by finding some form on the internet and doing it themselves.  Bite the bullet and hire an attorney.  Preferably one that specializes in estate law.  The attorney will be familiar with the laws of your state and what's appropriate for your situation.  It doesn't cost that much and it's the least you can do for the people you leave behind.  If you don't have a plan for how you want your estate divided, your state has one for you and it probably doesn't fit with your wishes.

Three years ago we updated our estate documents.  My health situation has changed dramatically since then but everything's covered.  My physicians have copies of my Health Care Power of Attorney and my Directive to Physicians (living will).  My husband's my executor but the two alternate executors have copies of all our documents.  That is one thing that I don't have to worry about.

stuckinline

JOEJOEJOE said:

I am a CPA, and I am now dealing with a client's unexpected death.  Despite constant urging, he never finished up his estate planning, and most of his assets were in his name, as opposed to his and his wife.  Some assets will be easily transferred to his wife, but others will be held up in the court system, as the estate will now have to go through a difficult probate process.

I urge everyone to look into an estate plan, because you never know what the future holds.

Great advice!!!
For those who are reluctant to write a will, finish estate planning, etc - approach it as if this is your final gift to your friends and family.
They will appreciate that you took the time to get everything in order!

I agree with Who Princess, hire a professional that specializes in estate law. 

mickeyrat

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE.

My FiL passed in June. His trust was set up in 99 with his 3rd wife. She passed in 04? Her daughter is still listed as a cotrustee with my wife. All of her mother's portion was handled back then. Yet, wife still has to jump through unnecessary hoops getting her to rescind her role in it. Which she is willing to do, but it's delaying everything.

He had married and buried a 4th, so the older one was largely moot after 3 passed.

side note, if you bank with PNC , switch now. These people fucking suck. Simply could not tell her every fucking thing they needed to release the trust funds to get final bills paid and balance disbursed.

darwinstheory

So random...this topic has been on my mind a lot lately.

How much do attorneys charge for this shit? What about if I want to make changes to it in the future? 

Gern Blansten

darwinstheory said:

So random...this topic has been on my mind a lot lately.

How much do attorneys charge for this shit? What about if I want to make changes to it in the future? 

Depends but plan on $500-$750.

Don't use a do it yourself kit....bite the bullet and get an attorney.  Ask friends/family for a referral.  

Future changes should be pretty simple.  A good attorney will likely want to meet with you every few years to make sure things are updated as needed.  It's worth the extra cost.

dankind

Gern Blansten said:

darwinstheory said:

So random...this topic has been on my mind a lot lately.

How much do attorneys charge for this shit? What about if I want to make changes to it in the future? 

Depends but plan on $500-$750.

Don't use a do it yourself kit....bite the bullet and get an attorney.  Ask friends/family for a referral.  

Future changes should be pretty simple.  A good attorney will likely want to meet with you every few years to make sure things are updated as needed.  It's worth the extra cost.

See if your work has a legal benefit plan. That took care of ours.