Trust Modification May Not Bind Future Beneficiaries
Families often agree to modify the effect of a decedent’s will or trust. Does such a modification always bind future beneficiaries? A recent California case provides an example. It also gives us a chance to explore differences from state to state. The California facts McKie Roth, Sr., died in 1988. His second wife, Yvonne, survived […]
Irrevocable Trusts: Never Totally Irrevocable
People may believe estate planning should be a once-and-done affair. But things tend to change over time, and estate plans may need to change, too. Even plans that say they are irrevocable are never totally irrevocable. Change is the norm these days. The just-passed SECURE Act brought a slew of changes and new strategies to […]
Can You Make Your Estate Plan Irrevocable?
Clients often ask how to make their estate plan irrevocable. In most (but not all) cases, the question comes from a married couple — often in a second or later marriage, and with children from earlier marriages. The actual question one spouse asks: how can I be sure that my spouse can’t change our estate […]
Your Trust and Ownership of Real Property
MARCH 7, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 9 We occasionally get questions from our clients involving ownership of real estate — usually around the creation, funding or administration of a living trust. These questions are particularly common, and since we got them (from different clients) in the last two weeks, it seemed like a good time […]
Exercise of a Power of Appointment Should Follow the Document
JUNE 29, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 24 Clients are often unfamiliar with the concept of a “power of appointment.” If they don’t know what it is, they can be excused for not knowing whether they have one, or how to use it. Suppose Thomas leaves $10,000 to charities in his trust, but gives his brother Richard […]
Definitions For Common Estate Planning Terms
FEBRUARY 3, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 5 Judging from the questions we field online and from clients, there is a lot of confusion about some of the basic terms commonly used in estate planning. We thought maybe we could do a service (and make our own explanations a little easier) by collecting some of the […]
Determining Which Court Has Jurisdiction Over Your Trust
JANUARY 13, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 2 In the past four or five decades there has been a tremendous growth in the use of trusts (usually, but not always, revocable living trusts) for estate planning purposes. Once very rare, they are now very popular. Perhaps as many as half of our estate planning clients choose […]
Powers of Appointment and Trust Reformation
JULY 1, 2013 VOLUME 20 NUMBER 24 Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you intend. That is hardly a novel observation, but it can have a big effect on the work you hire a lawyer to do for you. Let’s try an example. Suppose that you want to give some money to your […]
EINs for Trusts: The Questions Just Keep Pouring In
APRIL 16, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 15 Tax ID numbers for trusts. When we first wrote about this topic, we did not appreciate how interested our readers would be. We thought that the issue was sort of dry, actually, and that most people would have asked their lawyer or their accountant for direction. It has […]
Challenge to Three-Year-Old Trust Reformation is Dismissed
JANUARY 9, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 2 With the increased emphasis on (and use of) living trusts for estate planning, we lawyers are seeing more and more cases in which an old trust needs modification. Perhaps the tax laws have changed since a parent or grandparent died. Maybe what once made sense is less defensible […]
Decanting: It’s Not Just for Fine Wines Anymore
JUNE 20, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 22 Imagine this tragic scenario: your 33-year-old son has a serious illness, and requires extensive medical treatment. The good news is that the treatment may well effect a cure. The bad news is that it will be horribly expensive. Right now he qualifies for government assistance with that expense […]
More on Types of Trusts — Some of the Less Common Varieties
JANUARY 24, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 3 Last week we wrote about different types of trusts you might have encountered, and tried to explain some of the generic terms, differences among and between types, and likely settings where a given type of trust might be appropriate. We wrote about spendthrift trusts, bypass trusts, special needs […]
