Well, I guess since Prince didn’t have one, you don’t need one either . . . Prince’s sister has said the superstar musician had no known will and that she has filed paperwork asking a Minneapolis court appoint a special administrator to oversee his estate. Something tells me this will neither go smoothly nor end […]
For your reading pleasure, an excellent but brief article titled, “Estate Planning and Administration – Be Prepared for the Year That Follows the Death of a Loved One.” Worthy of a read if only to put you on notice that there’s a lot to do following the death of a loved one. Here’s the middle paragraph: […]
What is decanting and how does it relate to trusts? The term “decanting” sounds mysterious, but in reality, decanting is simply a form of trust modification initiated by a trustee. The trustee accomplishes the modification by moving assets from one trust to a new trust with different terms. Estate planning attorneys draft trusts designed to […]
On becoming a trustee one enters a relationship which is governed by rules and bounded by limits. A trustee who thinks of himself or herself as controlling the relationship is far more likely to encounter serious trouble than a trustee who recognizes that the more practical characterization is that of a faithful partner with […]
There’s a misconception out there that if you use a revocable living trust in your estate planning, you avoid probate and save on all those costs associated with probate. Well, maybe and maybe not. First, in order to avoid probate, virtually everything you own has to be owned in a way that will do just […]
You’re the executor or personal representative of an estate (they’re the same thing, by the way) or a trustee of a trust. The owner of some NFA firearms has died, and you’re left to deal with the aftermath. (Of course, the real “owner” of any NFA arms in a trust is the trustee, but generally, […]
So a relative just gave me a blank copy of her parents’s will and trust, documents prepared for them by a financial planner, a guy not licensed to practice law. I have no idea what this guy knows about financial planning. I know that he knows very little about wills and trusts. Here’s a short […]
Your loved one has died, and you discover that you are the personal representative or executor of his or her will. What do you do now? Well, possibly the first thing you should do is order the death certificates; you’re going to need them–in spades: To file an estate tax return–if necessary. To prove to […]