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In Estate Planning you need to determine who you want to get what from your estate, and who will handle all those matters if you ever become incapacitated or die. Sometimes it can create discord to appoint an immediate family member as your power of attorney (POA) unless it is your spouse. It can also have the opposite effect if you decide on someone who is not a family member. Give it quite a bit of thought before you decide. Discuss it with family members if you think it will help. You may also want to get some direction from friends and neighbors. You could make an appointment to get feedback from an estate attorney. Estate attorneys typically provide the first consul for free. Just make sure you’re armed with specific direction before any estate documents are created.
Several Pieces Of The Estate Planning Puzzle Include The Following:
• Estate Attorney – Although, you can do it yourself, you may want to hire an estate attorney to assist you in your estate planning. Estate attorneys should be well-versed on the federal and state laws that govern estates. This is especially advantageous when you don’t have the time to research it and do it yourself.
• Power of Attorney (POA) – Who will you designate as your POA? This will be the person you will include in your will to conduct the affairs of your estate after you become incapacitated and after your death. You’ll want to weigh this heavily before deciding. You may want to appoint two different POAs – one to address your health and one to address your financial affairs should you become incapacitated.
• Living Will – You need to complete one and sign it in the presence of a notary. This will dictate your wishes should you become too ill to determine the course of your own health.
• A Will – Your will determines how your property will be disbursed upon your death. It may also include provisions from your living will.
• Payment on Death (POD) – Contact your banks and securities holdings companies to complete a POD for each of your accounts. This will simplify the transfer of all assets in these accounts to go directly to your beneficiaries, bypassing the probate process.
• Transfer on Death (TOD) – Contact your mortgage company and other secured loans holders to complete a TOD. The TOD will facilitate the transfer of ownership from you to your beneficiaries upon your death eliminating the need for the assets to go through a lengthy and expensive probate process.
• Insurance Policies – Make sure you have 1st and 2nd beneficiaries designated on all your life insurance policies.
• Retirement Savings – Be sure to designate 1st and 2nd beneficiaries on your retirement savings programs.
• Business Interests – You’ll need to designate a TOD on any business interests or holdings you have to ensure a smooth transition of assets to your beneficiaries upon your death.
• A Trust – Depending on your resources, you may want to create a trust to protect your assets. Creating a trust bypasses the probate process after your death. It directly transfers your assets from the trust to your beneficiaries.
Get Help From an Estate Planning Lawyer to Create a Valid Will
If you earn and spend, there must be some personal possessions. In case you die without a will, these would be distributed according to the rules and regulations of your state. Moreover, this does not include your material possessions only, it also includes any minor children you have. You need to consult an estate planning lawyer to deal with the matter. It is, therefore, essential to plan about what would happen to your assets in case of your death. Statistics show that only approximately 30-35% Tremonton Utah has a will. You need to think about estate planning to ensure the security of your loved ones when you are not there to take care of them.
What needs to be mentioned in a will? Here is a quick checklist of it.
1. Your full name and date of birth
2. The names, dates of birth and addresses of the individuals who would inherit the assets
3. The details of your assets and liabilities
4. The details of who gets what
5. The name of the executor/administrator of the will
The next thing to consider is what comes under the category of your assets. All material possessions are distributed by the will. This includes real estate properties, motor vehicles, cash, bank accounts, safe deposits, jewelry, furniture, heirlooms, and so on. Whatever seems worthy is suitable to be included in your will. An added advantage of creating a will is that you can ensure the future of your minor children with its help. It is quite simple; all you need to do is mention the name of the individual who would be appointed as a guardian for the child in the case of your death. You could also leave some portion of your property for the child’s upbringing. Another common question is why opt for an estate planning lawyer when you can do the task on your own. You can draft your will according to your wishes. However, without the help of a good legal professional it may have flaws like errors and omissions. Such a will won’t be acceptable to the state and would never serve its purpose.
You can distribute all you possess as per your wishes with the help of a will. Most states would allow this. However, the state authorities would not permit giving effect to something like destruction of your property in case something happens to you. Your estate planning lawyer would be able to help you understand the best possible way to make a valid will. You can opt for any of the proficient Tremonton Utah Estate Planning Lawyers to help you deal with the process. He/she would be able to draft the document in the right legal way, check for errors and omissions, file it and see that it attains the status of a valid will.
What is an Executor in Estate Planning?
Estate planning is the process of accumulating and disposing of wealth before the death of an individual or married couple. The most important goal of estate planning is to make sure that the greatest amount of the estate is passed to the estate owner’s intended beneficiaries while paying the least amount of taxes. An executor in the will, normally is the lawyer or someone who you trust will carry out your intentions in the will after you die. Since you have named someone as your will executor, in general the executor will gather up all your assets and after paying all your debts, he or she will distribute the remaining assets to the beneficiaries.
1. Paying funeral expenses: Funeral expenses are usually paid out from the assets of the deceased, although sometimes the executor considers the wishes of the deceased person’s relatives.
2. Paying all other debts: The executor is also responsible to pay off all the debts of the deceased person including all credit cards and charge cards, personal loan, and other debts.
3. Notify all beneficiaries who are named in the will.
4. Submit the necessary probate documents to the court to get probate before he or she can handle the deceased’s estate.
5. Notify the government pension office, if the deceased person received pension payment before his or her death.
6. File the income tax for the deceased person and pay all income tax if owed and get a tax clearance.
7. Distribute remaining assets to estate beneficiaries.
Estate Planning Tips – Five Things to Ease the Process
Estate planning is never an easy conversation to have whether you’re planning ahead for yourself or assisting a loved one in the process. Knowing how and where to get started is the first step. Here are five tips to ease the process.
1. Keep organized files. One of the best ways to make the pre-need planning process easier for you and your family is to organize and clearly label your files, including your will, assets, taxes, burial wishes, information pertaining to life insurance and bank account details. These items can be stored in a deposit box for safekeeping.
2. Keep it simple. There are many estate planning software options that will help you to organize your information. These software packages will guide you through initial preparations and legal documents. Planning software allows you to stay organized and prevent you and your loved ones from feeling overwhelmed with all of the details.
3. Have the tough conversations. The next important step-albeit a difficult one-is to discuss your wishes with your spouse, children and other loved ones. You’ll also need to choose an executor. Once your decisions are organized and accessible, your loved ones will have a road map for your wishes.
4. Write out all details. In addition to the “administrative” tasks surrounding details like insurance and finances, it’s important to outline your burial wishes. Traditional burial planning will entail details about burial plot location and casket choice. Cremation planning may involve choosing a final resting place for ashes and urn selection. In either case, consider details like the funeral home, type of ceremony, whether there will be visitation, obituary information or memorial contributions.
5. Remember your virtual life. Though an online presence may not be the first thing we think of addressing in pre-need planning, the web is increasingly a public place-and a lot of personal information may be stored in various accounts. Make note ahead of time about how to delete or remove social media and web-based email accounts. Also note details for cell phone, insurance and credit card online bills, online bank accounts and any sites that store personal photos and videos.
What A Personal Property Memorandum Can Do For Your Estate Plan
When you make a will as part of your estate plan there is a portion that is reserved for specific bequests or items that you want to give to a person. Instead of listing all of your personal property one by one in your will there is a manner that will allow you to give items away to specific people in a much easier way.
A Personal Property Memorandum that is available in most states is a document that is separate from a will that is referenced in a will that allows the maker of the will to dispose of tangible personal property in a matter and time they later wish. This means that when you make your will all you have to say is that there will be a PPM and it will be acceptable. Tangible personal property is property that you can touch such as household items as furniture, but not property with a title, such as a car, or intangible physical items such as a stock certificate or cash. The Personal Property Memorandum can be in your own handwriting or typed as long as it is signed and dated. You can change or update the memorandum at any later time without the need of an attorney or notary public. All household tangible property that a married couple own automatically pass to the surviving spouse in some states, so it is only necessary to include items on the memorandum that would not go to the spouse, such as a family heirloom to a child. For an unmarried person all household tangible property would pass in the residuary of the will, or all assets not listed as a specific bequest in the will, so it would only be necessary to name items not going to the person listed as the beneficiary of the residuary under the will. You can gift items before you die, but after death items in the house cannot be gifted unless as directed under the will or personal property memorandum. Just because an item was designated verbally, such as a child should get my antique vase, has no effect unless it is included in the will or memorandum. It is important to give away items that have a high sentimental value to a specific person before you die or in a memorandum because these are the items that cause the most family fights even when the items have a small monetary value.

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It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Legal problems come to everyone. Whether it’s your son who gets in a car wreck, your uncle who loses his job and needs to file for bankruptcy, your sister’s brother who’s getting divorced, or a grandparent that passes away without a will -all of us have legal issues and questions that arise. So when you have a law question, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you!