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How To Prevent Your Family’s Assets From Being Frozen in Probate

Probate is a long process that publicly sorts through your family’s assets. On average, probate can take anywhere from nine months to two years. During the first period of probate proceedings, your family’s assets will be frozen. This means that none of these assets can be withdrawn, transferred, or sold. If you family requires money to cover living costs, they will have to petition the court for a living allowance. That allowance can be denied by the court, leaving your family without access to your assets for a period of time after you die. If this scenario makes you feel uneasy, there are legal avenues available, but the solution requires action on your part.

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How To Take Care of a Mentally Disabled Child Through a Trust

A special needs trust is formed with the intent of providing for a mentally disabled beneficiary after you die. Without a trust, the property given to the child in your will would be controlled by a guardian who has the discretion to use the property as necessary for the care of the child. A special needs trust, on the other hand, is controlled by a trustee who releases property for specific situations that are enumerated in the trust document, allowing greater access generally to the property for the disabled child.

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What is an estate?

An estate consists of all the property a person owns or controls. The estate property may be in his or her sole name, held in a partnership, in a joint ownership arrangement, or through a trust. Estate property also includes all other monies that would be generated upon the person’s death, such as through life insurance.

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Why hire an estate planning attorney?

This article focuses on the considerations a person should take into account when deciding whether to hire an estate planning attorney to draft a will. Whether hiring an attorney is the right approach to creating a will depends on a number of factors such as assets, business ownership, medical matters, or whether children are involved.

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Guardianship Provisions

Ensuring that your children are well cared-for in the event of your death is usually the very first provision of a simple will. This ‘guardianship provision’ requires specific language to ensure that your children are both cared for and that they properly inherit under your will. The first part of the guardianship provision is the naming of all members for your immediate family. Naming the family members assists the children’s personal representative in finding nearby relatives and locating assets.

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How To Give Property to Children Before Death

You don’t have to wait until you pass away to give your wealth to your family. In fact, in the case of large estates, it is frequently in your best interests to take advantage of the gift tax exemption and to be generous with your children before you die. Otherwise, a large portion of your money will go to the IRS instead of your children.

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Estate Taxes & Irrevocable Trusts

Estate tax is applied to any estate worth more than a set annual amount. One way to avoid excessive estate taxes is through an irrevocable trust. Wealth placed into an irrevocable trust is not considered part of the deceased person’s estate. In other words, money placed into an irrevocable trust will not be taxed upon death.

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Spouse’s Legal Rights to a Deceased’s Spouse’s Assets

In a community property state, upon death, spouses have the right to dispose of their share of community property in whatever way they see fit. A deceased spouse can distribute both their separate property and their share of the community property in a will. In non-community property states, a spouse is not automatically entitled to half the interest in all property acquired during the marriage. This is because both spouses do not necessarily own all property acquired during the marriage. Rather, ownership is determined by whose name is on the title or by establishing which spouse’s income purchased the property, although courts seek an equitable distribution of such assets.

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