The Importance of Estate Planning for Everyone

When you reach the age of majority, no one has statutory authority to make medical decisions on your behalf. Furthermore, after becoming a legal adult, you have full control over any assets that are titled in your name, so the importance of estate planning becomes a pressing issue. By creating an estate plan, you can feel good that your affairs will be managed by someone who you trust to act in your best interests.

Why Should You Have a Will or Trust?

At a minimum, you should have a will that dictates where assets held in your estate will go after you pass. A trust allows you to hold assets outside of your estate, which means that they wouldn’t be subject to probate. Furthermore, the value of property owned by a trust wouldn’t be included when determining your final state or federal estate tax liability.

Beneficiary Designations Contribute to the Importance of Estate Planning

Typically, financial accounts such as a retirement or brokerage account are transferred per the terms of a beneficiary designation. It is important to understand that anything written on such a document overrides anything that you write in your will. Therefore, it is important to review your beneficiary designations at least once a year to ensure that assets don’t accidentally go to a former spouse or estranged child.

An Attorney May Help You Create an Estate Plan

An estate planning lawyer in Las Vegas may be able to help you create a will or trust that meets your needs and conforms to state law. He or she may also review any plan documents that have already been drafted and executed. However, it is important to note that you can create, review or edit an estate plan on your own at any time.

5 Things You and Your Attorney Can Do Now to Speed Up Probate Later

It’s safe to say that most people want the best for their family after they’ve passed on. From financial stability to legal hurdles, all of these issues can be taken care of right now if the proper requirements are met. One of those legal hurdles includes the probate process. This is where the state will determine who exactly gets the assets you held in life. The process has been known to be notoriously long in duration and expensive. The following includes five things you and your attorney can do now to speed up the process.

1. Ask Your Probate Attorney About Beneficiary Designations

One of the most common misconceptions about probate is that it only deals with the division of real estate property. However, other assets such as 401K plans and IRAs are also included. An attorney may be able to help you figure out how to add beneficiaries to the various assets mentioned above. This will reduce the amount of confusion if the assets go into probate.

2. Creating a Revocable Living Trust

A great way to remove confusion and reduce the probability of legal challenges, a revocable living trust is recommended. This will allow you to name the specific people you want to have your assets, thus reducing or eliminating altogether the probate process.

3. Give Away Assets Before Death

If there are a large number of assets present at the time of your death, it may lead to a longer probate process. A good way to reduce the number of assets being disputed you may simply give away your assets to family members before you pass away. This will allow the asset to be removed from the probate process.

4. Joint Ownership

As stated above, you may give away property before your death and thus reduce the number of items in probate. However, nobody knows exactly when they will pass away. A great way to going around this issue is to have joint ownership with your spouse. This will allow them to gain control at the time of your passing and thus are able to begin working with a probate attorney in Las Vegas to reduce the number of assets on hand.

5. Creating a POD Account

A POD account or pay-on-death allows your bank account to be transferred to a beneficiary at the time of your death. This means you are choosing the person who is going to be in charge of your financial assets in the event of a legal challenge by the rest of the family.

Living Trusts FAQ

If you want peace of mind about your assets, consider a living trust. A living trust is a legal document that outlines what you want done with your assets upon your death. You name a trustee to hold the assets in the trust until then, and the trustee carries out your wishes. Here are some common FAQs about living trusts.

Do You Need a Trust Administration Attorney?

You might not need a living trust administration lawyer in Las Vegas if you feel comfortable using online templates and filing them yourself. If you have questions or need information on complex estates, consulting a living trust administration attorney could be helpful.

What Are the Benefits of Living Trusts?

When a decedent dies and has a will, it commonly has to go through probate court to divide assets. It can take several months to settle probate, and it often cuts into what the beneficiaries get from lawyer fees. You also have someone to manage your living trusts if you can’t because of illness.

Are Your Assets Protected Against Creditors?

Assets do not get protected from creditors under living trusts because you are the owner, and it can be changed. This means a creditor can place a claim on your property. However, property placed in trusts cannot be easily traced, so the creditor may not search for it.

Do You Still Need a Will?

You need a will for any assets not named as part of the trust. If you buy property shortly before your death, it may not become part of the trust. A will lets you include this property as well as naming a guardian for minor children.

Do You Still Have to Pay Estate Taxes?

Simple probate-avoidance trusts usually do not reduce estate taxes because they keep assets out of probate. As of 2020, you won’t have to pay federal taxes on estates worth less than $11.58 million. This means most people won’t likely have to pay federal taxes.

Revocable Living Trusts vs. Irrevocable Trusts

Living trusts ensure your assets go where you wish when you are living, and a trustee oversees it according to the guidelines. Assets not named in the trust usually have to go through probate which can take several months. You may come across many different kinds of trusts, but irrevocable and revocable trusts are two primary types.

Revocable Living Trusts

Living revocable trusts in estate planning, sometimes called inter vivos, can be modified and even include out-of-state beneficiaries and trustees. The main benefits are you have someone acting on your behalf if you can’t, and any generated income from assets still goes to you. The assets pass directly to the beneficiaries.

Since you still own the property, it is subjected to taxes, creditor liens and lawsuit judgments. However, since trusts records are commonly not public, the creditor may have a harder time finding assets.

Irrevocable Trusts

Irrevocable trusts cannot be amended once you place assets or funds into them. Unlike a revocable trust, you don’t have any legal rights over the trust.

The main advantage of irrevocable trusts is since all ownership has been removed, you help the beneficiary avoid estate taxes from income the assets earn. However, if you serve as trustee, you don’t get the tax benefits. It also protects your assets from creditors and lowers your net worth to increase chances of qualifying for government benefits.

Other Considerations

You have to ensure any new assets acquired you wish to include in the revocable trust goes into them to avoid probate. Setting up trusts and managing them by a trustee other than yourself does not come free. Beneficiaries can still challenge a revocable trust.

You should also understand tax implications, such as gift tax and estate tax for property transfers. This makes hiring an estate planning lawyer in Las Vegas a sensible investment to prevent surprises.

The Pros and Cons of an Electronic Will

Creating an electronic will may be an excellent idea if you have few assets that will be held in your estate upon your death. It might also be effective for those who don’t want to spend a lot of time or money creating an estate plan.

Why You Should Create an Electronic Will

Keeping a copy of your will on a secure server reduces the chances that it will be lost or stolen. It also minimizes the chances that it can be duplicated or altered without your knowledge. After you pass, opening a probate proceeding may involve little more than your estate representative emailing the document to a judge.

The Potential Downfalls of Such a Document

It is important to note that it might not be in your best interest to create a computerized will if you have a complicated estate. This is because you will likely need to spend time talking with a probate attorney in Las Vegas about how to structure your plan in a manner that meets your needs. Furthermore, complications may arise if you attempt to disinherit a family member or other beneficiary named in the document.

The Elements of a Valid Last Will and Testament

Regardless of whether you create a physical or computerized will, it needs to conform to state law to be recognized as valid. Typically, this means that the document will need to be dated and contain your signature. It may also need to contain the signature of at least one witness. In most cases, the notary or attorney who reviews the document will provide an official signature or valid seal of approval.