Some state laws are complex and hard to understand, and you may not know enough specifics to offer the correct information about your situation or verify that AI has properly generated or created your will or trust. Additionally, your final documents may contain wording, formatting, and grammatical errors that make them unenforceable.
Category Archives: Assets
In September 2022, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, a $3 billion clothing company, transferred the voting stock of the company to a purpose trust designed to further his lifelong goal of fighting the environmental crisis. In a message from Chouinard on Patagonia’s website, he explained that his desire was for the company to continue to pursue its stated purpose: “We’re in business to save our home planet.”
To mix things up to distribute assets, once everyone has had an opportunity to make their first selection, the person who drew the largest number can start the second round, continuing in reverse sequential order. For the third round, the person who drew number 1 can start, and the selections continue in sequential order.
When to start planning for your estate depends on your goals and the size and complexity of your estate. If your estate involves business interests, multiple properties, significant investments, or complex family dynamics, creating a comprehensive plan may require more time.
When crafting your estate plan, it is important to understand what you have and who you want to leave it to. But you may also want to speak with your beneficiaries before creating your plan to find out if the person you plan to give an item to wants the item, particularly if the item has storage or maintenance requirements that the person will be responsible for.
Christmas and birthday gifts can leave lasting impressions on your grandchildren, but you may want to provide them with a gift that can assist them in building a savings account, furthering their education, or purchasing their first home, to name just a few. We hope this information will assist you in analyzing the important details of making a gift that can often be overlooked.
When someone dies, the outstanding debt fails to disappear. In fact, debt survives the death of the creditor. At that point, the amount owed transfers to the creditor’s estate. In fact, a debt owed to the estate is considered an estate asset. The estate is entitled to collect the debt as part of the probate process.
A husband may move out of the home he shared with his wife and have limited or no contact with her or their children. An abused child who lives with a relative may avoid contact with their parent. A parent may choose not to associate with a child who has committed crimes or abused their trust. These types of situations are unfortunate and occur more often than we would like. Limited contact, or even the absence of any contact, fails to majorly impact the legal right of an estranged spouse or child to inherit from their family member. This is especially true if no estate plan expresses an intention to disinherit them.
When one spouse is the “money person” in the relationship, it can create issues in both life and death. To avoid unnecessary stress, couples need to ensure that they are on the same page. For day-to-day finances, this can mean regular check-ins about charges, expenditures, and budgeting. About estate planning, couples should keep each other informed about the location of important documents such as the following:
Payable on death and transfer on death sound ominous; and while the topic of death is always somewhat gloomy, POD and TOD are estate planning terms that financial account holders should be familiar with.