Will/Estate planning

[farmo83]

After reading the married finace thread it's time to get off my ass.

Looking for any input in filling out a will/and or setting up an estate.

My wife and I got a late start on kids, I'm 40 and my wife is 34 we have a 2.5 year old and will have another(last) one in December.

We are not rich by any means but do well for ourselves if that makes sense. We chatted with my younger sister and she's agreed to care for the girls if we get run over by a train.

Should anything happen to us we just want my sister to have access to what we have so the girls are not a burden on her. If there is anything leftover after they get out of college the girls.can have it.

What's the beat way tax wise and fiduciary wise to set something like this up.

 

[napanutt]

After reading the married finace thread it's time to get off my ass.

Looking for any input in filling out a will/and or setting up an estate.

My wife and I got a late start on kids, I'm 40 and my wife is 34 we have a 2.5 year old and will have another(last) one in December.

We are not rich by any means but do well for ourselves if that makes sense. We chatted with my younger sister and she's agreed to care for the girls if we get run over by a train.

Should anything happen to us we just want my sister to have access to what we have so the girls are not a burden on her. If there is anything leftover after they get out of college the girls.can have it.

That thread got me thinking about the same issues too.

 

[Joker]

Get a trust set up. If done properly, it's not cheap but it will keep your stuff out of probate.

 

[Done-it-again]

Get a trust set up, think ours was around 1200 a few years ago. You will feel better.

We have our set up that our girls will get installments at 18 if happens to us till 21, didn’t want them to have to all at 18. It’s just 1 of many things the attorney goes over.

 

[2Driver]

Get a professional seasoned estate attorney to get things in order. Do not fall for the fill in the blank forms others offer. Lots of ins and outs. Not as straight forward as you may think.

I read my fairly wealthy neighbors plan he paid for. It was 10” thick and not worth the paper it was written on.

 

[evantwheeler]

From what I understand, the state you live in (die in? or maybe are just residents of when you die) will dictate what paperwork is needed to protect your assets. My parents are in Washington and all they need is a will, according to their attorney & tax people. This covers the business, homestead, financial assets and multiple rental properties.

 

[rickym20]

Good move getting it done . Will definitely help prevent having to go through probate process and save a lot of unnecessary stress for anyone left to deal with it. We got ours done 4 years ago and it’s due to get updated since there have been assets that have been sold and different ones acquired along the way. Important to keep updated as much as possible too. My Dads probate lasted 4 years. Definitely don’t want my kids to go through that .

 

[BabyRay]

From what I understand, the state you live in (die in? or maybe are just residents of when you die) will dictate what paperwork is needed to protect your assets. My parents are in Washington and all they need is a will, according to their attorney & tax people. This covers the business, homestead, financial assets and multiple rental properties.

I live in Washington, and my attorney told me the same. However, we set up a trust so our estate doesn’t have be probated. This keeps everything private, for our heirs’ sake.

 

[mesquito_creek]

Do you work for a company with benefits? If so, call HR and ask if they offer “group legal”. If yes, then sign up for group legal this November during open enrollment. It was like 20 bucks a month with my company. Then in January set up a trust with one of the group legal lawfirms. Then drop group legal the following year.

It was very inexpensive for me going that route, like less than 500 bucks with the premiums and some misc fees.

 

[PlumLoco]

The hardest part of setting up our trust was considering the minor kids if we both were to die. We travel a lot together and it is possible that we could both be taken out at the same time. Our sons were 17 and 20 at the time, they legally can't do a lot and we didn't think they should be expected to manage an decent inheritance or even the house we currently live in as it has a lot of upkeep that has to be constantly monitored. We don't have any relatives that could/would/should take them in and be responsible for them but knowing that they had a paid for house to live in, we just set up a financial advisor through the lawyer doing the trust. Then we set up a time frame in which the money would become available to them in increments over 10 years. We hoped they wouldn't starve, but that they could gradually become skilled and/or accustomed to making adult monetary decisions.
The now 24 year old has been out of the house since 19 and has just now started working with Orange County as a health inspector and has moved into his own apartment in Fullerton. The 21 yr old has just moved into one of our rental houses this week. I think in another year we will no longer have to worry so much about some of this stuff.

 

[boatnam2]

I have met law at work, I think my trust was 100 bucks to do. My lawyer doing it said something to me that made sense at the time did it. I wasn't found of my daughters Husband, so he said this is power from the grave, so he doesn't get it, thank God she left loser so i don't have to worry about it.

 

[TimeBandit]

California ain't Washington. Each state is different.

Here, a "will" means probate. That means hiring A Lawyer who charges at least 2% of the gross estate to act as "executor"

Or:

Different states offer different ways to avoid probate. Here are ways of avoiding probate in California:

• Creating a Living Trust
• Setting up a Joint Ownership
• Payable-on-Death Designations for Bank Accounts
• Transfer-on-Death Registration for Securities
• Transfer-on-Death Deeds for Real Estate
• Transfer-on-Death Registration for Vehicles

 

[Aces & Eights]

Good idea to get this done “just in case”. You have the biggest issue resolved, who you can rely upon and trust to raise your kids.
I would look at NextDoor or other local resources that could recommend a good estate attorney to set this up. We did a living trust a few years ago, cost about 1400 bucks, the peace of mind is so well worth it. We live in So Cal. Good luck.

 

[Xtrmwakeboarder]

Get a trust set up. If done properly, it's not cheap but it will keep your stuff out of probate.

Correct answer

 

[wzuber]

Good idea to get this done “just in case”. You have the biggest issue resolved, who you can rely upon and trust to raise your kids.
I would look at NextDoor or other local resources that could recommend a good estate attorney to set this up. We did a living trust a few years ago, cost about 1400 bucks, the peace of mind is so well worth it. We live in So Cal. Good luck.

Yep, my parents set up a living trust and it made the whole transfer upon death very simple. With older parents it's very helpful if you can add the trustee/executor name to the bank accounts to streamline that process too if they're not listed in the trust individually.

 

[HNL2LHC]

We ended up creating a trust before my parents did. It was to ensure that our son was taken care of if anything happened to us before he was an adult. Just recently as he moves into his 30s are all restrictions removed and if anything happens to the wife and I he can have full control of the family assets. Best of luck in the process as it could span a few decades as things what and the trust is updated.

 

[Captain Dan]

As others have said. Don't be cheap. My latest update for a trust from 2005 cost us 4k. Either pay now to have it done right, or your heirs will spend more than that on lawyers on probate. Nobody wants that.

 

[jet496]

Set up a blood Revocable Trust which means only you, your wife & kids are the only ones that control anything that is in the trust. That way no ex-wifes can take anything. The ex's can however take anything that's not in the trust, which would be them buying a house, wealth they build, etc.

 

[wzuber]

A note worthy of mention here to the OP.....
The cost to set up a trust is based on the quantity of your assets so the fewer the assets the cheaper it is, multiple residences, a business, stocks, bonds etc. Will increase the fees.

 

[rickym20]

Set up a blood Revocable Trust which means only you, your wife & kids are the only ones that control anything that is in the trust. That way no ex-wifes can take anything. The ex's can however take anything that's not in the trust, which would be them buying a house, wealth they build, etc.

Never heard of that before , Thank you for mentioning it. I need to look into this cause that was a concern for the wife and I for our kids . We won’t have a big fortune left behind but would like it to stay within the family if possible.

 

[wzuber]

Never heard of that before , Thank you for mentioning it. I need to look into this cause that was a concern for the wife and I for our kids . We won’t have a big fortune left behind but would like it to stay within the family if possible.

Small, medium or large........keeping it out of the gov'ts hands and in the hands of specifically who you want it to go to is all that matters.

 

[mesquito_creek]

Once the Trust is complete you can manage it yourself and don’t have to use the lawyers. You can quick claim property into the trust yourself and when buy new things like additional property you just have the title company title the property directly into the trust from day one. You can name brokerage accounts and bank account beneficiaries yourself without any issues.

 

[185EZ]

We just got our trust done and paper work sent off to put our homes in the trust.
It woke us up when we recently went on a family vacation and if we all died then my sister would get everything. And she will not get a penny now.
It's not as simple as I thought. 2 meetings and almost 4 hours. Everything was explained page by page. Notes were put in where our daughter would have to work things out.
I think the total bill was around $2200.
We also have a packet to put in all our vehicles and boat and motorcycles in case something happens.

 

[Nosocks]

Need to do this.

Any thoughts for single no kids but a reasonably large amount of assets?

Trust or will?

Money goes to my parents if they’re alive, but to my friends with my buddy being the executor/trustee.

I have no family that I’d leave anything to, and wouldn’t want them to be able to sue to get any of it.

 

[Done-it-again]

Need to do this.

Any thoughts for single no kids but a reasonably large amount of assets?

Trust or will?

Money goes to my parents if they’re alive, but to my friends with my buddy being the executor/trustee.

I have no family that I’d leave anything to, and wouldn’t want them to be able to sue to get any of it.

Getting a trust is to keep everything you have out of probate when you die. Wills don’t do shit.

 

[DC-88]

Need to do this.

Any thoughts for single no kids but a reasonably large amount of assets?

Trust or will?

Money goes to my parents if they’re alive, but to my friends with my buddy being the executor/trustee.

I have no family that I’d leave anything to, and wouldn’t want them to be able to sue to get any of it.

Definitely Trust . I want to say 100k value is the mendoza line between will and trust / probate or not

 

[17 10 Flat]

Probate = 4% of assets, Trust varies couple mil about $4500.00. Maybe more

So 4% of 2 mil = $80,000.00

 

[mesquito_creek]

Need to do this.

Any thoughts for single no kids but a reasonably large amount of assets?

Trust or will?

Money goes to my parents if they’re alive, but to my friends with my buddy being the executor/trustee.

I have no family that I’d leave anything to, and wouldn’t want them to be able to sue to get any of it.

Think of a Trust as more than just a single trust… think of it as a package of tools.

Our trust folder includes a “Will”. That will is a back up instrument or a pour over Will.

The trust will most likely include other tools like Medical Power of attorney, Fiduciary power of attorney. DNR instructions. Guardian ship tools and instructions for minor children.

So you want a trust with all the tools included

 

[Nosocks]

Definitely Trust . I want to say 100k value is the mendoza line between will and trust / probate or not

Makes sense, this is in the 7 figure range.

My buddy does wealth management for people with 10x what I have so he can figure the money out quickly, just don’t want a bunch of fuckery for him deal with.

 

[Bobby V]

Need to do this.

Any thoughts for single no kids but a reasonably large amount of assets?

Trust or will?

Money goes to my parents if they’re alive, but to my friends with my buddy being the executor/trustee.

I have no family that I’d leave anything to, and wouldn’t want them to be able to sue to get any of it.

My FIL had a will and left my wife a condo on Waikiki and a home on the water near Diamond Head. Took about 3 years of probate to finalize everything. Covid and flying back and forth to Hawaii didn’t help. I have a trust.

 

[TimeBandit]

Probate = 4% of assets, Trust varies couple mil about $4500.00. Maybe more

So 4% of 2 mil = $80,000.00

It's a sliding scale it drops to 2% at $800,000 I believe.

Even at 2% a trust is a better deal!

 

[wzuber]

Think of a Trust as more than just a single trust… think of it as a package of tools.

Our trust folder includes a “Will”. That will is a back up instrument or a pour over Will.

The trust will most likely include other tools like Medical Power of attorney, Fiduciary power of attorney. DNR instructions. Guardian ship tools and instructions for minor children.

So you want a trust with all the tools included

Excellent explanation here.

 

[angiebaby]

One thing to consider, I'm sure your sister would do what is best for your kids, but money makes people do weird things. Here is what we did, when our kids were young, we had considerable life insurance, and the 12-acre ranch in Menifee, a business, and an aunt in need of a life-estate.

We set up my parents to be in charge of the finances. We also specified that $100K would go to the longtime friends who agreed to care for our children for either money towards a larger house or an addition to their current home. We also specified a certain monthly allowance to that couple for taking care of our children, this would have been handled by my parents. We felt by doing this, we could be sure the money would not run out before the kids were 18, and that upon turning 18, there would still be money for them to inherit. That would have also been doled out by my parents in increments at ages 18, 25, and 30. We had to balance having it not be a hardship on the person taking care of our kids, but also not a blank check to spend as they wished.

Try to get as much advice as possible and think of any scenario that you can to ensure the thoroughness of your trust. Make sure to exclude those in writing that you want to ensure do not contest it.

One thing we need to do, now that we have moved states, is to have it redone and take my parents off as the fiduciary. Our daughter is 31 and son is 28. So they are adults.

 

[paradise]

My $.02 is not all attorneys are equal. If you have something substantial or ‘special’ keep asking around until you find someone who can answer all your questions (off the cuff) and ask some good ones you hadn’t thought of.

 

[clarence]

Go with someone experienced who can identify potential issues.

Paid $7500 for my Trust, Living Will, advice.

 

[scottchbrite]

I have had the not so great fortune of being the POA and trustee of my grandparents estate (Dad side). Holy shit did that suck. They had a good irrevocable trust and it was still a lot of headache. I made sure my mom were squared away after going through that. I never did one because I didn’t have anything worth protecting at the time. 10 years later, it’s amazing how much life changed. Time to get ours done.

 

[AiiRaciing]

Is there anyone in the Corona are you guys would suggest talking to about setting up a living trust?

 

[mesquito_creek]

Most trusts, I would guess are boiler plate straight forward for 98% of us… and will cost 3-5k. And less than 1000 for anyone who can get into a group legal plan or have an attorney who is available through other business dealings.

BUT that is only through my discussions about 4-5 years ago…. I could be way off

I can also see why that cost discourages a lot of people who are self employed or don’t have a corporate benefit to help.

 

[Desert Whaler]

Thanks to everyone who replied.
I read this post to my Pops & he said it's time to have someone look at his trust to make sure it's up to date.
Thanks again.

 

[Mandelon]

Leave everything to me. I'll take care of it all.

 

[angiebaby]

Leave everything to me. I'll take care of it all.

You're a giver