Trusts and Wills FAQ

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A Will lays out your desires after your death with all transfers happening then, subject to interpretation and scrutiny in a public forum (local courts through a probate proceeding), and can be easily challenged by anyone, without your ability to dispute those challenges.

A Trust lays out your desires before your death or incapacity, with the transfers happening (to the Trust) during your lifetime in a private setting, at your direction, where you have the ability to dispute challenges, if any. 

A Trust is a far better plan.

Legal documentation of your wants and desires should you become incapacitated or die. 

It should include, at a minimum, a revocable living trust with a pour over will, durable (health care) power of attorney, financial power of attorney, direction to all your banks, brokerages, and insurance companies for transfer or payments upon death, and considerations for the care of minor or disabled children.

You do, and everyone else. Whatever your financial situation, you need an Estate Plan.

Your local court will apply the law of the State. Everything becomes a public record. Anyone can challenge these proceedings. It is feasible that nothing will go the way you hope it would if you lack an estate plan when you become unable to care for yourself, or pass on.

Anyone who is going to eventually die, and has a single asset worth a dollar or more, should have a Trust as part of their Estate Plan. If you are immortal and completely broke, Trusts are probably not appropriate.

You might run across these terms in dealing with your banking, brokerage, or insurance dealings. POD means Payable on Death, TOD means Transfer on Death. What's the difference? With POD, the account is cashed out, or liquidated, and paid to whomever you designate. With TOD the actual account is transferred, intact. The difference matters because the liquidation of say a brokerage account, means that all the stocks, bond, etc. are sold to transfer cash. This can be an extremely expensive taxable event, where simply transferring the account, with all it's securities intact, will probably not trigger a taxable event. TOD is usually the way to go, unless the account is already cash, where POD may not trigger a taxable event. 

Warning! When transferring accounts to minor children, different rules apply, especially with cash payments, such as life insurance policies. Never make a minor child the sole beneficiary of an insurance policy. Contact us to learn more (702) 202-9595.