It’s that time of the year again: parents are getting back into a school routine with their young ones, summer vacations are in the rearview, and it’s time to gear up for sporting events, homework, and extracurricular activities. As parents, we try to leave no stone unturned when it comes to preparing these young minds for the future and making sure they have all the tools and experiences to be ready for the real world. However, we don’t apply the same hands-on approach when it comes to those tough life matters, such as preparing critical estate planning documents to protect our loved ones.
Julie D. Eisenhower is a Certified Estate Planner. Our combined experience with complex and simple estate planning, probates, trust administrations and conservatorships is what makes us stress the importance of the following:
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Fees, Fees, Fees: The average attorney fees and expenses billed to our estate planning clients is only 30% of the average amount of attorney fees and expenses incurred in probates with no Will or conservatorship cases resulting from no Power of Attorney or Advanced Care Directive.
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18 Years Old: The age when a person reaches the age of majority is the best time for them to get their estate planning started. It is critical to decide who will be in charge of making medical decisions or financial decisions for any adult in case they are incapacitated or unable to make their own decisions.
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Remarriage and Disinherited Children: This scenario has become all too common and understandably so with the statistics surrounding divorces and blended families. Stories of children of one spouse losing their entire inheritance due to poor estate planning has become the norm to some extent. Simple wills leaving entire estates to the surviving spouse and then to the children seem to work well for traditional two parent households, but unfortunately create an unplanned nightmare for many children when the surviving spouse is their step-parent. Step-parents have no legal duty to care for their step-children and step-children and are not legally recognized as the step-parent’s next of kin.
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Special Needs Trusts are Essential: Families with a child(ren) with special needs have to shelter assets in order to ensure their loved ones do not lose the benefit of life-saving government financial support as well as ensure their loved one is not at risk of being financially exploited by others. The best time to create a Special Needs Trust is when your child is diagnosed, but if you have not done so then please talk to an attorney immediately.
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Pros of a Trust: (a) it is a fiduciary agreement; (b) privacy for grantor(s), trustee(s) and beneficiary(ies); (c) generational wealth and continuation of passive income streams; and (d) avoid expensive and timely probate court proceedings.
TriAmicus Law, PLLC
217 S. Peters Rd.
(865) 217-1154
TriAmicusLaw.com
