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So far all of this is really good. One thing that I know of so far is that even a will will not escape probate. So if there is money tied up in probate because it is in a will, it could be a while before that is cleared up. That is one of the reason people use life insurance. It is even a good idea that the owner of the policy be your beneficiary. Lets say you want one of your kids to take charge on the even of both parents or the remaining parent. If you keep control of it it will become part of the estate and that goes through probate. If the policy is owned by a trust or a child or some other beneficiary it avoids probate and things can proceed on that.
My thought here is the cost of life insurance over a 20 year period level term is just under 30k for my wife and I. That will be a 100k policy for each. Now that money is tax free and available right away to pay for stuff. Another option is to take that same money invest it in a Vanguard indexed fund Roth IRA. It would also be the beginning of our estate to our one and only child. I can see flaws in that where if the unthinkable happens the money is not quite that easy to get.
I also am thinking that a programmed trust with initially 5k incrementally adding in 5k per year with instructions for the trust to pay our life policies would be a good plan. I just don't know if that action can be done. I guess it would depend on who is running the trust maybe?
ne can always have money in accounts that allow the party needed to withdraw;at least in Texas. IRas and such are very easy handled rally .Spouse especailly is no porblem before probate here.
So far all of this is really good. One thing that I know of so far is that even a will will not escape probate. So if there is money tied up in probate because it is in a will, it could be a while before that is cleared up. That is one of the reason people use life insurance. It is even a good idea that the owner of the policy be your beneficiary. Lets say you want one of your kids to take charge on the even of both parents or the remaining parent. If you keep control of it it will become part of the estate and that goes through probate. If the policy is owned by a trust or a child or some other beneficiary it avoids probate and things can proceed on that.
My thought here is the cost of life insurance over a 20 year period level term is just under 30k for my wife and I. That will be a 100k policy for each. Now that money is tax free and available right away to pay for stuff. Another option is to take that same money invest it in a Vanguard indexed fund Roth IRA. It would also be the beginning of our estate to our one and only child. I can see flaws in that where if the unthinkable happens the money is not quite that easy to get.
I also am thinking that a programmed trust with initially 5k incrementally adding in 5k per year with instructions for the trust to pay our life policies would be a good plan. I just don't know if that action can be done. I guess it would depend on who is running the trust maybe?
No probate if all accounts are in both names with the right of survivorship, including the mortgage if there is one. No hoops to jump through either. Same with pensions with survivor benefits for a spouse as the designated beneficiary.
In the event of a dual disaster, neiher of us will care!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghostly1
No probate if all accounts are in both names with the right of survivorship, including the mortgage if there is one. No hoops to jump through either. Same with pensions with survivor benefits for a spouse as the designated beneficiary.
In the event of a dual disaster, neither of us will care!
State dependent (estate / probate rules), Usually no probate if assets are held in a trust. Depending on the age / ability of your child. They can be an alternate trustee (in case of dual disaster as above).
In our case we have a team of co-trustees (kids + a 3rd party to mitigate / assure equitable distributions and proper management of trust)
There are a zillion life insurance promoters, but in some cases it makes sense (very few). When (I retired at age 49 I only went for 15 yr term to cover investment debt (commercial properties), with the anticipation I would have not outstanding debt after age 65. I could be wrong...).
Lots of scenarios, sounds like your digging and thinking ahead. That is GOOD, be sure to get very detailed instructions on your first meeting with estate attorney BEFORE making the choices. And YES, you want to have the above (advanced directive, medical and financial DPA, and a Pour over Will for each spouse to cover anything that gets left out of the trust, and for checking accts and such).
No probate if all accounts are in both names with the right of survivorship, including the mortgage if there is one. No hoops to jump through either. Same with pensions with survivor benefits for a spouse as the designated beneficiary.
In the event of a dual disaster, neiher of us will care!
I believe that probate is the jurisdiction of the state. Right now in this state I do not know the proceedures but I imagine that wills and the like have to go there. I do live in the state of Taxachusetts. Not many states more grab happy than this state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit
State dependent (estate / probate rules), Usually no probate if assets are held in a trust. Depending on the age / ability of your child. They can be an alternate trustee (in case of dual disaster as above).
In our case we have a team of co-trustees (kids + a 3rd party to mitigate / assure equitable distributions and proper management of trust)
There are a zillion life insurance promoters, but in some cases it makes sense (very few). When (I retired at age 49 I only went for 15 yr term to cover investment debt (commercial properties), with the anticipation I would have not outstanding debt after age 65. I could be wrong...).
Lots of scenarios, sounds like your digging and thinking ahead. That is GOOD, be sure to get very detailed instructions on your first meeting with estate attorney BEFORE making the choices. And YES, you want to have the above (advanced directive, medical and financial DPA, and a Pour over Will for each spouse to cover anything that gets left out of the trust, and for checking accts and such).
Yes. I plan on reading deeper into what trusts can do. AB trusts and particular functional trusts could be a good thing. Right now though I am just gathering information. I will see if I can get updated wills done and a new military spousal ID card for my DW. It will come in handy in TX this summer.
Here's what I've been doing. My spouse and kids are generally clueless about what to do when someone dies. So I've been spelling it out for them, on a CD that I will give each one of them and also printed out in a 3-ring notebook to be placed in my safe...a To-Do list on my death, in priority order; where to order my plain pine coffin and where to get me cremated; my will and deeds, etc; all my financial info; health care proxy and durable power of attorney.
I've got a LOT of work to do. I never wound up setting up my revocable trust after I moved. Without that, one's estate (including real estate property) goes into Probate. I have been dawdling on getting that done because my investments and residence may change. It will cost me about a grand to get that done. In the meantime, I do have a Will. I toyed with the idea of doing my own revocable trust but anything legal I will leave to a lawyer.
Also I had a durable power of attorney and healthcare proxy that was invalidated when I redid my Will (it was part of it) so now I have to get those done too.
Everything will eventually go onto the CD (for each family member) and into the master notebook, but I feel like I'm wading through mud to get this all completed. Oh did I mention I have worked on my obituary (it's rather long and will cost a fortune to put into two newspapers) and found the photo of when I was 39 to go with it. I'm sure my family will balk at paying for this so I have to revise the will to say no one has access to my fortune until my obit appears, word for word.
Not only that but I am going through TONS of documents and throwing out like mad, trying to decide what to toss and what to preserve on CD - family genealogy (who will care), writings (who will care ), art pieces (who will care ), etc.
You've got the bases mostly covered here at the 50K foot level. Obviously the challenge is execution of the plan as you note.
Regarding the whole DPoA / End of Life management stuff ... my advice here is, there can never be too much detail. In addition to the legalese I strongly recommend a playbook for family members, care givers, hospice nurses, et al to use. Think of all the little details about how you might want things done (or not done) as the long (or perhaps not so long) slide down the slippery slope is under way.
The littlest things can well up. For example where to put the commode. Where to take meals. Some things are hard to plan, so multiple contingencies may be needed (if X then Y).
I plan to start one of these for me and my spouse this year.
This is an excellent thread! Both of my parents have passed and parts of the estate is still in probate due to a wrongful death suit. Does anyone know how taxes work on estate distributions with something like this?
My husband and I are both retired....looking at our last move and figuring out all the topics you all are speaking of on this forum. Thank you all for your insights!
A couple of years prior to my dad passing away and we knew it would happen (heart condition), he sent all of us (4 children) a handwritten list titled "Upon my demise" - kind of like of a checklist.
The fact that it was in his own handwriting (yes, I saved it) and we all got one so no arguments - those were his wishes.
At the time, I thought it was sad he felt he had to do it but in hindsight, he made it easier on the ones left behind.
My mother did not go into that kind of detail and my FIL never will - just wish they would.
This is an excellent thread! Both of my parents have passed and parts of the estate is still in probate due to a wrongful death suit. Does anyone know how taxes work on estate distributions with something like this?
My husband and I are both retired....looking at our last move and figuring out all the topics you all are speaking of on this forum. Thank you all for your insights!
Condolences on your loss. It all matters. Estate taxes are not bad depending on your state. The worse are the lawyers. They see this as their meal ticket and it is. So you will find that will be something to contend with. In your wrongful death situation this is not foreseeable so there is no planning for it. There are things you can do for your own estate for your heirs. I believe that there is a recent change to the federal estate tax, but I could be wrong. I thought I read it somewhere. I will look to see if I can find it.
I need to find out how what I leave behind impacts my spouse (we have not remarried legally) in terms of estate taxes. Apparently if one inherits, if not related to the deceased the inheritor pays taxes on what is inherited?
CPAs out there, does anyone know?
(as an aside, I am going to be attending an estate planning class coming up next week, so maybe I can get my questions about this answered)
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), art pieces (who will care 
When my father passed away....
