Preserving Your Legacy For Future Generations
Imagine a scenario where you're unable to manage your own affairs due to unforeseen circumstances like COVID-19 or a severe accident. Do you have the necessary documents in place to ensure your trusted designee can handle your daily financial matters? Having these documents in place with your financial institutions is just as crucial. It ensures your chosen person can access your money, providing the necessary support to manage your affairs. If you've answered "no" to either of these questions, it's worth considering that you and your family could greatly benefit from estate planning documents. Let's explore how these documents can help you protect your legacy and avoid potential complications.
A Will:
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May need to be updated every 3-5 years.
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Contains no provisions for incapacitation.
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It is public knowledge.
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Can be easily obtained by anyone after you pass away from the county clerk upon paying a small fee .
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100% of the time results in probate.
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Can be contested in court and is easy to litigate against.
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Could take up to 36 months to probate.
A Revocable living Trust
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Contains durable powers of attorney documents and a pour-over will, which don’t require regular updating.
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Contains provisions for incapacitation, so that someone you handpick can manage your day-to-day affairs or settle your estate; it bypasses the need for court involvement through a guardianship and conservatorship hearing.
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Bypasses the probate process.
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It is 100% private.
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For individuals to gain access to your private documents, they would need to litigate against every single person listed in the trust – including you, your beneficiaries, successor trustee, etc.
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Provides tax advantages.
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Can be settled in as few as 60 days, taking less time than a traditional will.
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Doesn’t have to go through probate in multiple states.
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Minimizes emotional stress for the family.
The Benefits of an Estate Plan
*Attorney-designed, state-specific plans
Most people have either had an experience with probate or haven’t. If you have, you know it’s a long, drawn out process which is expensive and can get ugly. We teach our clients how to avoid probate entirely to keep what they’ve worked so hard for in their families.
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Eliminates the need for your estate to go through probate
Most people have either had an experience with probate or haven’t. If you have, you know it’s a long, drawn out process which is expensive and can get ugly. We teach our clients how to avoid probate entirely to keep what they’ve worked so hard for in their families.
What is probate?
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Takes less time to settle your estate
It can take up to 36 months to settle an estate through probate. In comparison, an estate plan can generally be settled in as few as 60 days, allowing distribution of assets to occur within a matter of weeks – not years – for loved ones.
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Provides maximum privacy
Once the probate process is started, your estate becomes public knowledge and can be challenged. In most states, someone can pay a small fee at the county clerk’s office and obtain a copy of your will to contest in court. With a revocable living trust, your affairs are 100% private unless the challenger sues every single person, including the successor trustee and beneficiaries, listed in the trust, which is unfeasible for most individuals due to the time and expense involved.
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Minimizes emotional stress for the family
Capital gains taxes can make or break a family after a loved one passes away. Due to what’s called a stepped-up basis, your heirs can inherit a large asset, such as a house or ranch. and pay taxes on it based upon the price you purchased it at, not the value it’s worth the day they receive ownership of it.
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Prevents court control from assets at incapacitation and death
Because your hand-picked successor trustee can step in as soon as something happens, there is no need for court involvement. Plans are all outlined on paper, which means everyone already understands what’s going to go on with your assets and who is going to care for you when you cannot.
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Eliminates the need to go through probate in multiple states
If you own land in more than one state, your estate will have to be settled and go through probate in multiple states. On the other hand, if those assets are titled into the name of your trust, the hassle of going through probate in multiple states is eliminated. Most people don’t understand just how powerful that ability is.
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Minimizes emotional stress for the family
When people have to go through the probate process after someone has died, they don’t have time to mourn. The probate process is in their face every day and family members can become impatient, causing a tug-of-war.
On the other hand, when an estate is pre-probated, which is done by executing estate planning documents, all of your wishes are clearly outlined and there is no back-and-forth. This clarity allows family members vital time they need to grieve and mourn rather than concerning themselves with in-family battles and attorney fees.
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Eliminates the need to go through guardianship and conservatorship hearings
Your successor trustee can immediately step in and provide for your loved ones and children. As a result, there is no need for time-consuming and expensive guardianship and conservatorship hearings. The aspect of guardianship and conservatorship can be separate from the successor trustee you name, but the trustee will work with those individuals to make sure your minor children are taken care of.
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Saves Money
In the state of Texas, probate is lasting upwards of 36 months and costing families 12-18% of the asset pool. That’s a lot of money and time wasted, which is completely avoidable.
On the other hand, if you pre-probate your estate, at most your family might pay out 1-2% of the asset pool to offset any costs they incur to settle the estate. While it’s not very common, the expense can occur.
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More control over how your loved ones inherit and when
With an estate plan, assets can be distributed right away or stay in the trust until a time you determine. You can also add requirements, for example, such as after beneficiaries graduate college, pass a drug exam, or they may receive inheritance on a delayed basis, which can be based on age.
With a probatable case, lump sums can be distributed and dumped into the laps of loved ones who have addictions or young family members who may not spend their inheritance in the wisest of ways. For this reason, provisions included in your estate plan are very powerful.
Case Study
It is not uncommon for the probate process to last years. For example, one of our clients has been going through probate for 3 ½ years, which has cost the family over $365,000 due to court involvement and the attorneys “hitting the tennis ball” back-and-forth, so to speak. The nonsense is a result of the deceased not taking into account asset distribution to children from previous marriages. Because those offspring were not named directly, they were effectively “cut out” of the will. The deceased didn’t mean to cut them out of the asset pool, but it happened. Isn’t that silly? With a living trust, you can call out those beneficiaries with specific names, determine a percentage of assets that should be left to them and guarantee that, after passing, your wishes are fulfilled through the documents you took the time to prepare.
Frequently Asked Questions
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