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(Disclaimer: I am making this thread because I want to learn, not because I have any knowledge of this subject.) We getting older goons. We have jobs, houses, kids. Time to start thinking about dying, like in a mature adult way. People might start fighting over your carcass, who gets the scraps? Uncle Sam, lawyers, heirs, creditors, all kinds of birds show up to feast on your gooney mass. May as well give them your thoughts on the matter, maybe you can even prevent them squabbling too much. Or, the opposite, if that's your thing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stork_Derby Some basics: Power of attorney If you get incapacitated this lets people make legal decisions for you. PoA ends when you die Advanced medical directive Tell them docs to pull the dang plug, don't spend all the money keeping you as a vegetable. Estate All the poo poo you have when you die. Probate The court chaperoned process of divvying up your estate. Can take a while. Intestate You died without making a will. Your state will have statutes that determine who gets what in the probate process. Will Legal document you make that determines who gets what in the probate process. It's generally accepted that a will you downloaded off the internet is pretty much useless, or worse does things you don't want. You really do have to pay a lawyer a small fee to arrange a proper will. Trust A legal entity you create that owns your poo poo for you. Now when you die, the trust still owns the poo poo, so the poo poo doesn't need to go through probate before heirs or whoever can play with it. Maybe an alternative to a will, maybe something to use in combo. Transfer on Death etc. There's also things like life insurance, which pays to the beneficiary when you die, and isn't part of the estate/probate process. You can also make accounts ToD/PoD which maybe means they bypass probate? I dunno, go talk to a lawyer Taxes A couple points on uncle sam's share- INHERITED PROPERTY ASSUMES THE COST BASIS OF FMV AT THE TIME OF INHERITING There's a $12.06M inheritance tax exemption (that's 2022's number). As in, inheritors pay no inheritance taxes unless you're really quite rich.
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Jan 3, 2022 21:52
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Nonexistence posted:The goal is to have either nothing go through probate, or so little you can use whatever abridged administration for small estates your state has. Thanks for sharing your expertise. I had a question about this goal. If, hypothetically, a couple with one child didn't care what happened beyond the three of them, what does avoiding probate do? Is it just less time and money to settle the estate? Or, do you give less avenues for meddlesome extended family to meddle in the survivor's affairs?
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Jan 5, 2022 23:33
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Right on, thanks again Hmm, doing more of my homework, I learned I already have a trust. When I opened a brokerage account, I filled out the Transfer On Death thing. I didn't really internalized the fine print that this was a Big Decision and I should Consult My Estate Planner first. Anyway, the only other assets I have are retirement accounts and a house. I'm hearing that getting the house to skip probate is cheaper, but the privacy thing seems irrelevant since people know we own a house. Is there another reason to get a tailor made trust?
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Jan 10, 2022 19:00
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I have a reddit login but I couldn't find the tools (I don't know how to use reddit very well though) There is a financial independence thread here in case you hadn't seen it https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3560269 and I think they were posting those tools too As for ToD, I don't know if it is technically a totten trust but it sounds indistinguishable to me. Probably depends on which state you're in and whether you signed in blue or black ink
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Jan 12, 2022 02:26
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I enjoy DIY including taxes, but this seems like a job that is really bad to try and hack together on your own. You'll never know if you screwed up, but your loved ones might get an unpleasant surprise. For me I still wonder if I need a tailor made one. My net worth was zero my whole life until a few years ago, and maybe I'm still psychologically in that mindset. Also I think the only reason it isn't zero today is not buying stuff I don't need. Do I need a trust? I might be broke again tomorrow anyway! Here's TOD failing someone (though not getting married seems to have set the stage) https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/s8wcfu/financial_accounts_closed_by_sos_family_to_avoid/ quote:Financial accounts closed by SO's family to avoid paying me through probate. What can I do?
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Jan 22, 2022 01:11
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I have one from the receiving side. My aunt recently passed. Her estate is basically two houses, well all of hers and part of her parents' (she was co-owner of her parents' house with my mother and my other aunt). It sounds like she's leaving part of it to her sisters but also to me and my sibling and two cousins. So this would be co-ownership with 6 people. She also wanted them to be rental properties, not just sold. The others seem to be interested in keeping with that plan. I don't think I want to be co-owner of rental properties, especially since they will likely be disfunctionally managed. I definitely don't want to be liable for renters getting hurt through owner negligence. If I can't see a path to sell my share, should I disclaim my inheritance?
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Nov 15, 2022 20:23
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How about, could I accept, and then quit claim to my mother? I think there's a chance they could be convinced to sell, but not without a lot of haranguing and hand wringing and ... like we all could use a little more money, but I'm not hard up so I don't think the negotiation would be worth it for me.
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Nov 15, 2022 22:09
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Nonexistence posted:Your options for handing it off really depend on the language of the controlling document and state-specific laws beyond the scope of what the attorneys itt could ethically answer. Hmm, I am in Alaska, my mother is in Indiana, the deceased and the property is in Ohio. Which state do I need to find an attorney in?
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Nov 15, 2022 22:30
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I don't know, it might be a trust. The deceased didn't fully trust her sisters, so none of the fam has all the documents. The executor is an attorney. I kinda think I want to just disclaim, I'll probably ask a local lawyer if they can help me do that. This is completely typical of this family, using gifts as weapons.
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Nov 15, 2022 22:43
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Haha, wow. Um, thank you a lot kind stranger. I guess instead of holding ill will towards my aunt, I can thank her for helping me grow up, boy named sue style
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Nov 16, 2022 02:51
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Got the documents. The two houses were not in trust, so they have to go through probate. The will is a pour-over will, so they are going to go in the trust. Then the trust says "as soon as practicable after grantors death, trustee shall distribute, outright and free of trust" both the houses. Was her lawyer doing loop the loops for fun? Also it specifies per stirpes, so I guess disclaiming is pretty well out, unless the three year old wants to disclaim too
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Dec 20, 2022 02:55
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Cugel the Clever posted:Turned out that my mom just didn't communicate things properly as the point of contact immediately brought up transferring immediately to my own brokerage as an alternative when I called them. Oh, hey, my mother is saying that too. I should call directly as well, maybe save opening another account, thanks
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Sep 13, 2023 22:58
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Continuing this saga which is more e/n or how not to do things. My aunt's estate is in probate. My mother and her surviving sister are DIYing the process. I'm trying to stay out of it, I would much prefer I wasn't a beneficiary, but seems that's not up to me. So I'm following the case's docket. I noticequote:ENTRY ORDERING DELINQUENT NOTICE TO FIDUCIARY OF RECORD I did give a lawyer a retainer a while back. We haven't worked on much, kinda waiting for there to be something to work on. Not sure if this is something worth bringing up with him. I guess if they distribute assets before they're supposed to, that would be a headache? Sigh
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Nov 7, 2023 02:17
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Evil SpongeBob posted:Oh yeah, my lawyer also said that my kid should sign a health care directive when she turns 18. That way the hospital will share info with us and we can make decisions without having to go a legal route. I revile my parents' involvement in my life as much as the next goon, but I can imagine a family where the child would want this. Like a reverse Terri Schiavo, maybe the parents are the ones who will carry out her interests. And at least in this case the child can say no, lots of this stuff is out of their hands.
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Nov 27, 2023 21:33
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