EstateCast
Four Important Discussions with Your Spouse
Letters of Instruction
Single Parents and Estate Planning
Funding Your Trust
I Signed My Trust: What Now?
Pour-Over Will: Not Your Average Will
di Robert P. Newman, Esq.
The EstateCast episode discusses four important things that spouses should know before one of them dies. These include discussing dying wishes, keeping each other informed about important documents and financial accounts, sharing important contact information, and discussing preferences for burial or cremation. The episode also touches on the topic of remarriage after death and the importance of estate planning to ensure that the surviving spouse's wishes are honored. The overall message is that estate planning is an expression of love and care for one's family and should not be neglected.
The podcast "Estate Cast" aims to educate listeners about estate planning and its benefits. This episode focuses on letters of instruction, which are informal documents that provide important information to loved ones after death. They are not legally binding and should be used alongside a will or living trust. The letter can include details about funeral arrangements, financial information, digital assets, personal items, and even care for pets. Keeping the letter updated is crucial as circumstances change. It can bring peace and comfort to family members during a difficult time. Seeking guidance from an estate planning attorney is recommended to ensure the letter aligns with the overall estate plan.
If you have a minor child(ren) who depends on you for their survival, you need to make sure that they will be cared for if you are ever unable to care for them. By creating an estate plan, you can address your minor child’s care and custody and provide instructions about how your money and property should be used for their care should something happen to you.
A living trust is a great way to make sure your assets are not tied up in probate while your family is trying to carry on with the day-to-day after you are gone. But it is useless unless funded. But how? What does funding your trust look like?
EstateCast aims to educate about estate planning. After signing a living trust, it's important to review the documents for any mistakes and have them corrected. Notify successive trustees and retitle probate assets into the trust to avoid probate. Stay in touch with your attorney for major life events that can impact your estate plan.
If you neglect or forget to transfer any accounts and property into a living trust during your lifetime, or fail to designate the trust or anyone else as a beneficiary at your death, the pour-over will ensures that those assets end up in the trust after you die.
Wills and trusts both have benefits for estate planning purposes. Each has their own regulations and requirements. And it is not accurate to say one is better than the other. Whether you need one or the other or a blend of both documents depends on your assets and life circumstances.