Preparing or Tuning an Estate Plan

Process Outline – Estate Planning

Take a trip together with your spouse to contemplate the following actions and establish the basic plan:
1. Remember, in a properly planned estate a couple can give away during their lifetime or at passing over $10,000,000 without incurring any gift or estate tax.
2. Do you wish to pass assets during your life time?
  1. To Charity?
  2. To heirs?

Establish living trust:
1. Transfers assets into the trust from personal title
  1. Generally:
    1. Financial, brokerage, securities accounts
    2. Real estate
    3. Businesses
    4. Significant individual assets, e.g. artwork, collections and such
2. Spouses are the original Trustees
  1. They serve as such until unable to do so then provides for a
  2. Successor Trustee that is a close friend, attorney, CPA, agent or adult children
3. Needs thought and planning about what goes into the trust and how it is to be distributed at passing
4. Establishes named beneficiaries of the trust/ estate
  1. Generally these are the same as your heirs; usually your children or other relatives whom you wish to be your beneficiaries but could be charities
5. Requires attorney to draft, avoid internet or do it yourself versions. Can’t make any mistakes here
6. Remember a Living Trust is revocable, meaning you can change your mind, as long as you are alive. Once you have passed it becomes irrevocable.

Prepare wills for both spouses:
1. “Pour over” types:
  1. Whatever you didn’t put into the Living trust while alive now is directed there by you will
2. Executor is generally the successor Trustee
3. Need an attorney here as well

Following are key documents for each spouse:
1. Prepare Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Matters
  1. Usually in favor of spouse or the Successor Trustee
  2. Allows holder to complete transactions outside of the living trust for the benefit of a disabled spouse
  3. Need that attorney again
2. Prepare Durable Power of Attorney for Health and Medical Matters
  1. Usually in favor of spouse, qualified child or friend; sometimes the Successor Trustee; you get to select one you trusts for this
  2. Allows holder to make medical decisions for one, or both, of you in the event of disability
  3. Yes, use an attorney for this too
3. Prepare an Advance Medical Directive:
  1. Your instructions to medical professionals for end of life care; staying on or removing life support when prospects of recovery are remote or unlikely
  2. Another documents for the attorney to do
4. Here’s something you can do yourself:
  1. Prepare a “Living Will:”
    1. Necessary Elements:
      1. Your personal instructions to Trustee, Heirs, Children or others about what you want to see happen immediately after your passing and during the administration of your Trust or Estate
      2. Funeral, cremation, memorial services
      3. Information about your assets that is important to Trustee or the recipient
      4. Recommendations to Trustee about resolving conflicts between your heirs
      5. Provide information about the following, if they apply to you and your spouse:
        Locations of any of these:
        untitled assets,
        computer passwords
        safe deposit boxes
        combinations of any safes
        “hiding places”
        “buried treasure”
    2. Optional Elements:
      1. Bequest of any specific assets to particular persons or relatives not already stated in your Living Trust or Will
      2. Recommendations to heirs about their use of your assets, personal or financial futures
      3. Personal messages to Heirs, Trustee/ Executor or Others that you could not deliver during Life
      4. Statements, conclusions or commentaries about your Life that you may want to share with your Heirs:
        Contributions, successes, failures, hopes, joys, personal disappointments, regrets, etc.