Testamentary trusts are included in your will to take effect after your death. Common options include the spousal trust, trusts set up for minor children or grandchildren, providing for family members with special needs, discretionary trusts for children who are spendthrifts and gifts for charities. Here are some examples:
The Spousal Trust
In this situation, you set [...]
There are a number of creative ways that you can use a living trust. Common uses would be for a family trust, estate freeze, managing retirement needs, avoiding probate, ensuring confidentiality, and structuring a divorce settlement. Here are some examples.
The Family Trust
A family trust is a very useful device for holding investments or other assets [...]
You have probably heard of family trusts, private trusts, or corporate trusts. You may also have heard of offshore trusts or international trusts. There is a mystique about trusts as well as a lot of confusion about what they are and when they should be considered. Many people think trusts are just for the rich [...]
There are several types of PAs as discussed following.
General Power of Attorney
This document gives authority to someone else to look after all your affairs, generally of a financial nature. You would have the option of giving all the powers right now, but protecting yourself by not giving a copy of the original document to the [...]
What Is a Power of Attorney (PA)?
Many lawyers draft a PA at the same time that they prepare a will. A PA designates a person or a trust company to take over your affairs if, for example, you can no longer handle them because of illness or incapacitation, referred to as an enduring power of [...]
Anticipate Who Might Contest Your Will
Think of who might challenge the content of your will. It would be primarily people who feel that you should have included them but didn’t, or did include them but did not give them much, or you had restrictions on the access to or timing of receipt, or nature of [...]
To reinforce the necessity to obtain a legal consultation before completing or re-doing a will, just look at some of the many reasons legal advice is specifically required because of the complex legal issues and options involved:
you are separated from your spouse but not divorced
you are divorced and want to re-marry
you are divorced and paying [...]
There are many areas of potential legal liability exposure that an executor could face. Here is an overview of some of them:
Slow Distribution of the Estate
There is generally no absolute time period by which the estate must be distributed. The executor usually has a year of grace, known as “the executor’s year,” in which to [...]
There are numerous duties that an executor or an administrator has to perform. It can be an onerous task, requiring time, skill, commitment and human relations ability. It is important to have an understanding of how the probate process works. It is relevant whether you are considering selecting an executor or have been asked to [...]
A “living will” is designed for those who are concerned with the quality of life when death is near. It is a written statement of your wishes to the people who are most likely to have control over your care, such as your family and your doctor. In order to ensure that your wishes are [...]
