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Laws change so Legal documents should be prepared by an attorney or at the very least reviewed by an attorney. Some of the prices mentioned seem outrageous to get things done. There is an alternative option but of course to mention it would be considered advertising.
We are also a 2nd marriage, with children from both sides. We live in upstate NY and had an attorney, who specialized in wills. It cost $1500 (for Will, Living Will, POA, Medical Power of Attorney). Since two of the children from my spouse have decided not to have any relationship, we had to specify that they would not inherit anything in the Will. We have also set up accounts, created trusts (including property), beneficiaries and are gifting annually, to insure a smooth transition. Everything has been set up so well that there probably will be no need for probate. We created a codicil listing specific items (i.e. jewelry, heirlooms) which would go to specific persons.
My husband and I met and married in our 40's. We had both been previously married and had children from those unions, we have no children together. Our children are all grown and established.
We want to set up Living Wills and of course will engage an attorney to do that, but would like to have our ducks mostly in a row first.
We both have personal property that we would like to leave to our own children -- for example, personal jewelry and items that have come down to us via our families and thus should stay with our families. Do we need to itemize these things (possibly with photos for clear identification) for inclusion in a Living Will?
We want to leave furniture, other household items, real estate and personal property (vehicles) to each other of course, in the event one passes and the other still needs those things. But what is usually done after both have passed -- should we state we want all those things sold and the proceeds divided evenly among our several children?
What about choosing an Executor ... should we choose someone who is not a member of either side of our families so that the person can be totally impartial?
And what about POAs ... for example, could I choose both my husband and my son to hold POAs so that they would be "joint" or does a POA have to specify only one person?
Just looking for some ideas for now, what other people in our situation have done.
Thanks in advance for reading and considering!
Personnel property - mention in will that you have left a note on how to distribute your property that does not have a separate title.
Trust for all other property -set up now - with both as trustee now, then survivor as trustee and then a child if you think one can handle it. The trust get set up now so the survivor can not change the plan.
but remember irrevocable trusts come at a price. you effectively cut each other off from full use of the assets in the trust.
the spouse gets only the gains and 5% of the principal a year unless they can prove they need more for certain reasons.
not something my wife and i would want to do to each other.
we went with a state partnership plan for long term care insurance just so we would not have to ever shift assets to trusts when the insurance ran out.
with no look back and our states agreement to just pick up our long term care bills on extended medicaid (not the same as regular medicaid terms ) we need no trusts which effectively cut a spouse off from assets.
Last edited by mathjak107; 06-08-2015 at 02:03 AM..
Appreciate the responses, these give us both information and ideas to follow up on. Obviously we need to do some decision-making first so we know what we specifically want to do and what is not necessary to do.
but remember irrevocable trusts come at a price. you effectively cut each other off from full use of the assets in the trust.
the spouse gets only the gains and 5% of the principal a year unless they can prove they need more for certain reasons.
not something my wife and i would want to do to each other.
we went with a state partnership plan for long term care insurance just so we would not have to ever shift assets to trusts when the insurance ran out.
with no look back and our states agreement to just pick up our long term care bills on extended medicaid (not the same as regular medicaid terms ) we need no trusts which effectively cut a spouse off from assets.
The terms of the trust are the terms you want. You set down the rules and you could provide for terminating the trust or changing it if you both agree.
not quite. if it is an irrevocable trust which is the only type that makes sense for 2nd marriages you can put in the trust any amount you like, but the tax code and trust laws governs what can come out to the spouse.
these trusts that protect assets from Medicaid or a spouse changing things to their kids cutting out the kids from the deceased , have to be irrevocable.
The law permits the trust agreement to provide that the surviving spouse has the non-cumulative right to request the greater of $5,000 or 5 % of the value of the trust assets on an annual basis. In addition, the trustee may distribute funds to the spouse under specific circumstances outlined in the trust agreement usually for health matters . In this way, the surviving spouse receives limited access to the trust fund without violating the trust laws.
Last edited by mathjak107; 06-08-2015 at 01:40 PM..
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