People who create their own estate plans often make the mistake of thinking that they only need to use one legal instrument and that it will take care of everything. This is usually a Revocable Living Trust . While a Living Trust is a great estate planning tool, it is probably not the only thing you need. Estate planning is more like putting a puzzle together to find the right fit between various ...
If you have paid life insurance premiums for years, the last thing you want to happen is for the insurance company to receive a windfall after your death instead of paying out to your beneficiaries. However, if your beneficiaries do not know about the policy, they will not know to make a claim. For this reason, part of your estate plan should include some way of letting your beneficiaries know ...
As part of your estate plan, your New York City estate planning attorney will draw up a wide range of documents for you. As part of the process, you will need to designate people to act on your behalf. You might need to appoint an executor, a trustee, a general power of attorney, a healthcare prox and more. You do not need to designate the same person to act in every role. Speak with your attorney ...
To fund your living trust, you need to transfer assets into your trust. You can transfer money and property into your trust by placing title to your bank account and title to your real property into the trust. You must specifically identify the property and accounts within your trust. In addition to properly funding your living trust , you need to appoint an individual or trust company to oversee ...
A living trust allows the person creating the trust to set aside money or property within the trust for the benefit of others by appointing a trustee to administer the trust and ensure the trust property is distributed to the beneficiaries. If you are the person creating a living trust, you are known as the grantor, owner or settlor of the living trust. A living trust is also known as a revocable ...
Some estate planning documents are effective as soon as you sign them; others not until you’re incapacitated or die. You and your trusted helpers (i.e. executor, power of attorney agents, guardians for minor children, and trustees) need to understand when your estate planning documents are effective. After all, your trusted helpers only have the legal authority to act on your behalf when the ...
If you’re like most people you know that your trusted helpers need access to your estate planning documents. However, you may not realize that your helpers need access to other information as well so that they can carry out your wishes if you become disabled or die. Your estate planning helpers are the trustee of your trust, the executor of your Will, and your agents under your Power of Attorney ...