Garn-St Germain and Your Estate Planning
Last week in this space we wrote about Arizona’s beneficiary deed option. The Arizona law allows you to set up an automatic transfer on death for real estate. No probate, no complications. There are things to look out for, of course, but it can work for many people. One thing you should know about: Garn-St […]
“Letter of Instruction” Helps Document Your Wishes
When we prepare your estate plan, we try to capture your wishes as thoroughly and precisely as possible. It can be a challenge, though, to cover every variable. You may also have preferences that are hard to capture in the legal language of trusts, wills and powers of attorney. That’s why we encourage clients to […]
Beneficiary Designations May be Key to Probate Avoidance
Probate avoidance is often a key goal for our estate planning clients. Sometimes that is best addressed by establishing a living trust. In other cases it might be just as efficient to focus on beneficiary designations. In fact, even when a living trust is involved, beneficiary designations help meet the purposes of the trust. At […]
Failure of the Imagination in Seven-Decade-Old Trust
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 33 Why involve an attorney in your estate planning? Partly because they know the rules — and not just the rules about how to prepare a valid and comprehensive document, but also the rules about taxes, trust limitations, and all of the related concerns you might not focus on […]
Dad (Mom), We Need to Talk
FEBRUARY 22, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 8 This week, a letter from Fleming & Curti, PLC attorney Amy Farrell Matheson, addressed to a father (not, as it happens, her father so much as your father): Dad, we need to talk: We love you and want the best for you. Over the past few months, we’ve […]
Not Every Cognitively-Impaired Senior Needs a Conservator
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 35 We handle a lot of guardianship and conservatorship proceedings at Fleming & Curti, PLC. We also meet with a lot of clients (or potential clients) and help them figure out how not to initiate a guardianship or conservatorship proceeding — we subscribe to the modern view that court […]
Is Dispute Inevitable When Two Children are Named as Co-Trustees?
MAY 18, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 19 So often our clients assure us that their children are different from other children. Our clients know that their children will fundamentally get along. They are sure that there will be no big problems when they die, and that the children will communicate and cooperate. Fortunately, that turns […]
Top Ten Reasons to Skip the Living Trust and Sign a Will Instead
FEBRUARY 2, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 5 Last week we suggested some of the reasons why you might think about having a revocable living trust as part of your estate planning documents. This week we’ll try to turn it around, and give you ten reasons why you might prefer to have a will (“just” a […]
Top Ten Reasons You Might Want a Trust, Rather Than Just a Will
JANUARY 26, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 4 Do you need a living trust? Even with an estate tax threshold of over $5 million (and double that, for most married couples)? That is the primary question posed by most of our estate planning clients. For years the answer depended mostly on the size of your estate. […]
How Increased Estate Tax Exemptions Affect Existing Trusts
SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 35 A lot has changed in American estate planning in the last decade (as you may have already heard). Estate tax thresholds have increased to (as of 2014) $5.34 million. On top of that figure, there is a relatively new concept of “portability” of the estate tax exemption, so […]
What To Do About a Child Who Can’t Handle Money
SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 31 A reader asks: “could you do an article on how to leave inheritance to a son who is not good at handling money? Should I leave his portion to another son who is good at it? They are very close and would get along.” First we have a […]
Does Your Personal Property Belong to Your Living Trust?
JULY 21, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 26 When you create a revocable living trust, you usually want to transfer most (maybe even all) of your assets to the trust — especially if one of the reasons for creating the trust is to avoid the probate process. A new deed to your home, a change in […]
