|
We're getting to the point in life where I'm thinking it might be wise and justified to setup a trust. If we were to pass we'd have a sizable estate ($2m in investments, $4m in life insurance, $1m in real estate). Main goal would be to avoid probate. Vanguard and Fidelity are the go-to for investing but is the same true for trusts? Most of our investments are already in diversified vanguard funds. My research seemed to indicate that vanguard won't do any real estate which is annoying because I don't want to setup two trusts. Any particular companies or services I should check out? Any trust services that target financially savvy DIYers?
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2019 21:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 22:04 |
|
|
Trusts are legal entities that can own assets. Vanguard or Fidelity don't have special "trust" accounts, but some types of accounts kept with them can be owned by a trust, as can other types of property such as real estate or vehicles. An estate planning lawyer can help you determine how your trust should be set up, write and file the paperwork, and get your assets retitled into the trust. It's probably a bad idea to try to DIY your own trust unless you have expertise in that area.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2019 22:59
|
|
|
The answer that the lawyers hate is Nolo.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2019 03:11
|
|
|
Skinnymansbeerbelly posted:The answer that the lawyers hate is Nolo.
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2019 11:30
|
|
|
I'm going to throw my vote in as well for just finding an estate planning lawyer. My parents just got this done within the last 3 months and the whole process cost something like $2,000, which is peanuts for making sure your poo poo is squared away.
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2019 12:59
|
|
|
Besides the cost of probate (which I know can run pretty high at like 2% of the total estate value) what are the other problems people have with it? I mean I guess paying $20k in legal fees on your $1,000,000 inheritance is kind of annoying, but from the perspective of the dead person  Edit: tried to look up the benefits of trusts again and came across this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KCzSiGLx8, which makes me think that trusts are mainly about controlling the lives of your beneficiaries and generating fees for "professional trustees". Maybe I would understand if I had kids I guess. Droo fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Jul 11, 2019 |
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2019 17:43
|
|
|
Yep, we have kids so that definitely complicates it. If we suddenly left our planned guardians with our five (!) kids, we'd need to make sure they'd be able to take care of them. They are quite responsible with money, but I don't know I'd fully trust dropping seven million in their laps. I'd like someone to make judgement calls about what is truly needed to support the kids (i.e. bigger house, occasional trip to Disney, etc.). I also don't have a totally clear plan or idea around how the money shifts when the kids turn 18, so also something I probably need the lawyer's help with. We found a local company that looks decent and offers good digital experience with experienced lawyers so I went ahead and setup a consultation!
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2019 04:44
|
|
|
Droo posted:Besides the cost of probate (which I know can run pretty high at like 2% of the total estate value) what are the other problems people have with it? quote:Edit: tried to look up the benefits of trusts again and came across this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KCzSiGLx8, which makes me think that trusts are mainly about controlling the lives of your beneficiaries and generating fees for "professional trustees". Maybe I would understand if I had kids I guess. Yeah, we didn't trust up until we had a baby who would either go to a grandma who doesn't believe in seat belts or a grandma who believes in the power of the blood of jesus. That scared us into estate planning right quick. Guardianship is absolutely the number one most important thing for trusts if you have kids.
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2019 14:27
|
|
|
Droo posted:Besides the cost of probate (which I know can run pretty high at like 2% of the total estate value) what are the other problems people have with it? depends on the trust, but you can protect your assets such that if you're sued they can't take money from your trust. you can put your house owned by the trust as well to protect it. You can have your trust as your only beneficiary such that there is less likelihood of people committing fraud to try to get to your estate. the income on investments will be separated from your income so you aren't paying your marginal tax rate for investment gains. there are lots of reasons.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2019 12:45
|
|
|
kansas posted:We're getting to the point in life where I'm thinking it might be wise and justified to setup a trust. If we were to pass we'd have a sizable estate ($2m in investments, $4m in life insurance, $1m in real estate). Main goal would be to avoid probate. If you're employed by a major company, check out your benefits website and look for those little extra bennies nobody ever pays attention to. A lot of companies offer Group Legal Services as a benefit. These will usually pay in full for a law firm to build and draft up all the trust documents with you. See if you have that benefit before going and doing a bunch of extra work / paying $$$ for things.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2019 20:40
|
|
|
If you're in Virginia, I know a lawyer who is experienced in setting up trusts.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2019 22:21
|
|
|
Do not "savvy DIY" setting up a trust of several million split five ways. You can contact a lawyer and tell them your specific goals (I. E. "simple as possible to avoid probate court, no regard for tax liability"). They will have dealt with precisely your situation and your goal dozens of times. If you have that much money, spending a drop in the bucket now to set it up and and a drop in the bucket when you croak to make sure the paperwork is in order is well worth it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2019 16:36
|
|
|
Assuming you go with a revocable living trust, you won't have too many issues tax-wise thankfully (since you can add/pull funds out at will any "trust" income is just folded into your regular tax return unless you get incapacitated/dead), but if you go with any other type you may need to file Form 1041 for the trust each tax year so be sure you've got a preparer who can handle it if you do happen to go that way. Revocable is designed to do what you want from my understanding here so I assume you'll just be going with that, but make sure with the attorney that you don't have any requirements in that regard to be safe.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2019 23:54
|
|
|
You should hire an attorney that does estate planning if you have over 2M in assets. A paralegal cannot create a trust they just work for the lawyer. I can tell you that you'll end up dealing with the attorney more than once because you will very likely be making amendments to the trust over time.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2019 19:16
|
|
|
Trust no one, OP.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2019 19:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 22:04 |
|
|
How does one vet an estate lawyer? Are there any big red flags? Or just go with reasonably priced?
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2019 04:37
|
|
