A Few Considerations in Making Your Will or Trust
Tips Gleaned from My Experiences and Observations
At eighty, I have some opinions about wills and trusts. I share these, hoping they stimulate you to review yours with fresh interest.
#1. Different states handle estates differently.
State laws change, too, so staying current on your state’s processes is essential.
#2. Hire a competent estate attorney.
Most of us do not have the time, interest, or expertise to stay current, so we must hire a competent estate attorney to advise us.
#3. Competent estate attorneys are hard to find and expensive.
Good luck with this! All matters of law today are highly specialized. Stay away from a lawyer who handles multiple areas.
#4. Educate yourself about critical aspects of your situation.
Even hiring a specialist to advise us, we need to learn as much as possible about all aspects of probate and trust administration [1] that might affect the disposition of our assets upon our deaths.
Fortunately, today, we have the Internet to help us find relevant information.
#5. Designate a competent executor and successor executors.
Choosing reliable, competent people to administer our probate or trust is paramount. The executor and named successor executors must be 100% honest.
#6. Be patient and dig deep.
Learning about probate processes and trust administration is challenging because of our own emotions and the esoterica surrounding the laws. In my experience, the attorneys I have consulted have been reluctant to divulge relevant information. Some are greedy and put their financial interests ahead of their clients.
#7. Keep bequests simple.
The more complicated our directions, the longer and more expensive it will be for our executors to administer our trusts.
Now comes the hard part — for most of us!
Deciding who will receive real estate, liquid assets, and personal possessions can be long and arduous.
Lucky you if you know precisely how you wish to distribute your assets upon your death.
The rest of us have multiple considerations demanding our attention. Here, again, researching resources on the Internet offers valuable advice. Consult both Google and Bing to search for a range of suggestions.
Each of us has unique circumstances, so we must focus our searches on what matters to us. Because there are many complex possibilities, finding a knowledgeable book that speaks to our specific situation is difficult.
Do talk with trusted friends, family, and advisors. These may add more confusion, but they can identify issues to consider.
We must clarify our values and how we want our will to reflect them.
How do we feel about leaving hard feelings?
Making decisions about personal belongings can be as tricky as deciding how to handle real estate and cash. As a result, emotions can run high — both yours and potential heirs’.
The most critical and challenging part is communicating your wishes to your heirs and those who wish to inherit from you. Springing secrets upon your heirs as they are grieving your death is not advised. Hard feelings may last lifetimes.
Conversations can be difficult and awkward, but talking about the realities we face and the choices we make will be helpful in the end. This does not mean that we ought to divulge every detail of our thinking.
Finally, circumstances change, and we must redo the process.
Writing your will or trust is often not a matter of one-and-done. Rewriting a will or revising a trust can be more problematic and perplexing than creating the document in the first place.
Every adult with assets likely needs a will, and anyone with significant investments may also need a trust. Therefore, it is best to learn the basics and create the documents you need to control how your possessions will be distributed upon your death. The more you know, the greater will be your peace of mind.
[1] What is Trust Administration from Findlaw
Trust administration is the management of the assets that exist within a trust1. A trust is created when an individual places their assets into the care of a third party for the benefit of someone else12. Trust administration starts when the creator of the trust passes away13. The trust administrator, who can be a person or an entity, makes financial decisions on behalf of the creator according to their wishes34. The trust administrator also has a legal duty to the trust beneficiaries that includes proper administration of trust assets2. Trust administration is not a court ordered process5. It involves the settlement of the trust and the distribution of the assets to the beneficiaries45. Trust administration is a complicated legal process that must be followed precisely4.
While the Internet offers endless possibilities, I found these articles helpful:
Determining Who Should Inherit Your Wealth
Who Should Inherit Your Wealth
10 Things You Should Know About Writing a Will — Assets, Inheritance
Suggestions regarding talking to heirs:
Inheritance Etiquette, Talking to Your Family About Money and Wills
The Unequal Inheritance: It Can Work, or It Can ‘Destroy Relationships’ — The New York Times
