Angel Latterell Law

Estate Planning Attorney in Seattle, Washington

206-678-0117

Pet Trusts in Estate Planning: Caring for Your Furry Family When You Are Gone

by

The law treats our fur family as property – so you cannot leave anything to your pet because according to the state they are themselves personal property.  As a result, in order to make sure someone is legally obligated to take care of your furry family members after you die you need to work with an experienced estate planning attorney to create a pet trust.  This way you can establish a legal guardian and a fund of money with a trustee to make sure that your family pet has everything it needs if something happens to you, and does not end up at an overcrowded shelter or rescue agency. So without further ado, let’s talk about how to set up a pet trust and how to take care of our furry family members after you are gone.

The Story of My Dog, Princess Charlotte!

Here is my little furry friend – Princess Charlotte.  I adopted her in 2019, after she was found wandering alone in the woods in the fall of 2018 after the fires in Northern California.  She managed on her own for at least a month or maybe more before she was found and picked up and fostered by Forever Home Dog Rescue.  I always say she had a “Call of the Wild” moment as she managed to survive, completely alone, for at least a month alone in the wilderness.  It was likely because of her cuteness, or her ability to eat anything she finds in a trash can very quickly – that allowed her to survive. Either way she is a tough little cookie.

I found her picture online on a list of dogs waiting to be adopted, and I couldn’t get her face out of my mind.  Even though the picture they had of her on the adoption website was awful. Her eyes were bulging and her tongue was sticking out. But I knew she was the little puppy for me, especially because I couldn’t stop thinking about her.  The name the rescue agency gave her was Charlotte, but when I took her home I added Princess because she thinks she rules the roost – and she couldn’t be Queen as someone has to be Alpha over the chihuahua.  And despite the garbage eating habit, she is pretty royal in her demeanor.

I have so much gratitude for her little furry presence in my life, and despite the occasional outburst at a stranger human or dogs on TV she is really quiet and calm. She loves road trips, and flies really well in her space backpack on airplanes. I can take her anywhere I go.

 

From Rescue Chihuahua to Trust Fund Puppy

As I don’t have children, Princess Charlotte is my only heir, but because she is a dog and dogs are considered a chattel “tangible personal property” under the law she can’t inherit from me if I die. In fact, if I died without an estate plan in place naming a guardian for her, she could end up back at a shelter in need of a second rescue.  This is because under legal inheritance rules property cannot inherit property.  (This used to be the case for women too, we could not own real estate because we were considered property of our husbands or fathers. Luckily, the law has changed, and women can apply for mortgages and own their own property since 1974 across the nation.)  So even though I treat her as a child, she is not a child under the law – she is property. Despite all the news stories you may have read about some eccentric person leaving everything to their pet and disinheriting their family – in all of those cases, the pet in that story ended up getting nothing and may have even been destroyed. 

This is a very sad and preventable outcome that if the individual had just consulted an estate planning attorney, could have been stopped.  They could have still disinherited their family (if that’s really what they wanted to do) and made sure their pet got everything they needed to be taken care of right if they had just created a Trust.

In order to make sure that my little fur baby is taken care of if something happens to me I had to create what is called a Pet Trust inside my own Living Revocable Trust.

The Pet Trust does two things legally – first it creates a fiduciary duty i.e. “a legal responsibility” for someone to take care of your furry family after you are gone.  Second – it creates a container so that you can leave money for your family pet to have all of their food, medical and other needs & expenses met for the rest of their life. Upon their death whatever is left over can go to their guardian or back into your trust to be distributed the same way as the other things that were there to your human family.

 

Pet Trusts Can Be Established for Any Kind of Pet

Pet Trusts can be established for any kind of pet – dogs and cats are very common ones that I create, but I just wrote a trust for a set of three ferrets, and you should MOST CERTAINLY have a pet trust if you have a turtle or tropical birds because they have such a long life they often out live their owners and end up in need of rescue.  But what is most important is that by working with an estate planning attorney to create a Pet Trust you make sure that there is a legal responsibility and money for someone to take care of your pet when you are gone.  Pets have no legal rights without you advocating for them. So it is our responsibility to make sure that they have someone to watch over them when we are gone.  A Pet Trust is the only legal guarantee that will ensure that this is going to happen.

 

Pet Trusts Ensure that Your Furry Family is Taken Care of After You are Gone

The beautiful thing about a pet trust is that not only do you now have someone who is legally responsible for your pet (with that fancy fiduciary duty I described above), but the pet trust can also state HOW you want your pet taken care of after you are gone.

Maybe you have a very special kind of dog who needs a certain type of food or exercise regime.  That can be stated in the pet trust!  Maybe you have a parrot, and some parrots live to be 150 years old, so you can state not only who is going to care for the parrot after you, but you can have instructions on how the parrot will be taken care of just in case they out live the person you designate to be their trustee and guardian, and because its a Trust it outlives any person you designate. Furthermore, the language of the trust makes sure that the guardian has instructions on how to care for your furry or winged family member in a humane and thoughtful manner.  Every pet trust I write includes language that limits the ability to use euthanasia except in the case of significant illness.  So no one’s family pet can be destroyed because of household changes or other human inconvenience.

 

Pet Trusts are Limited Only by Your Own Creativity

As an example of the length a Pet Trust can go to I share the story of The Gunthor Trust.  There was once a Netflix documentary series about this trust and the extent to which the dog (actually a line of dogs all named Gunthor) was to be taken care of.  The trust went so far as to designate the dog’s requirements for homes and entertainment, and because it was funded by a Countess who had millions of dollars the Gunthor Trust actually bought Madonna’s Miami mansion, technically, for the dog.  Some argue that the trust is a hoax and a tax avoidance strategy – and it may be, I don’t judge, I just know that they set up a really great Pet Trust that is doing its job of making sure the line of dogs known as Gunthor are always living their best life.  And this is why it is essential to work with an experienced estate planning attorney when setting up your pet trust, because you want to make sure your pet is taken care of when you are gone to the same standards it is taken care of while you are alive.  And an experienced estate planning attorney can make sure the right language is in your pet trust to make that so.

I appreciate the story of The Gunthor Trust, not because I think the average person wants or needs to leave millions of dollars to their dog, but because it shows that these type of trusts, set up correctly, are only limited by your own creativity, and anyone can make sure that their fur family is taken care of after they are dead.  The sad thing is that because 70% of families have pets but less than 25% of families have an estate plan – I know that most of our furry family members are left at the mercy of random people’s charity if something happens to their owner.  This means that instead of being a Trust Fund Puppy like my Princess Charlotte, most well loved fur babies may turn out to be in need of rescue or worse.  Not every state has no kill shelter rules, and even in Washington and Seattle the shelters are overcrowded because people are just not adopting at the rate they once were.

 

It is Essential to Have an Estate Plan to Make Sure Your Pet is Taken Care of if You Die

Speaking to everyone, young or old, if you have a pet, you have a dependent and you need to create an estate plan to make sure that your dependent is taken care of and does not end up in a shelter or worse.  I know there are a lot of people reading this and saying, Angel, I don’t have anything to put in the Trust for myself.  I’m young, I rent in Seattle, I ride a bike to work, it’s just me and the dog–why should I create an estate plan?

For exactly that.  It is just you and the dog! And who is going to take care of your puppy or your kitten if you are in an accident bike commuting? Your fur family should be your motivator in this case because they depend on you to take care of them, and if you do not come home they cannot make a phone call to have someone pick them up.  An estate plan will not only make sure that your pet is taken care of in case of emergency but it will make sure that you have a plan in place in case of emergency. As every adult over 18 needs to have an estate plan, and especially if you own a pet.

The good news is that you can easily set up an estate plan with a pet trust and designated pet guardian just in case something happens to you.  All you have to do is call an estate planning attorney who will lead you through the process and make it as simple as possible for you.  And as I have a Trust Fund puppy of my own, I will help you out just like I helped my own furry family.  So don’t delay, click the link below to book with my office today so we can make sure your pet family members are taken care of, no matter what.

Estate Planning For Your Special Needs Child in Washington

by

Planning for your special needs child can be very confusing.  There are multiple different types of trusts and accounts that can be set up for an adult or child with disabilities while you are alive and well, and they all have different names, and different legal terms and conditions for how to access and where the money goes if something happens to them.  As accessing government benefits for a person with disabilities can be a full time job within itself the whole thing can just get overwhelming, and then nothing gets done.  However, you do not need to be left in this wilderness alone – by working with an experienced estate planning attorney you can set up a simple special needs trust that activates upon your death ensuring your child (adult or minor) is taken care of if something happens to you, but does not make them ineligible for the vital government benefits they may need. So without further ado let’s walk through this together.

 

The Difference between First Party and Third Party Special Needs Trusts

The first thing we need to decipher is the types of trusts that exist for individuals with special needs.  Without going down a rabbit hole of the various names and functions of the trusts we are going to divide them into two categories – first party and third party – to make this super simple to understand.

 

Third Party Trusts are Set Up by Parents/Family Members for the Special Needs Individual in their Estate Plan

Third party trusts are set up by another person for the benefit of a special needs individual in their estate plan.  These are the family scenarios where I work hand-in-hand with you.

So for example, a family has three children and one is severely disabled and will never live independently, even as an adult.  The child is dependent on government programs that provide caregivers, equipment and other aid, and will be their entire life.  The parents have lots of life insurance, property and other assets and want to make sure their 3 children are all taken care of and each get an equal share of this after they are gone – but they don’t want to make their special needs child ineligible for the benefits they depend upon to live.  The parents would set up a 3rd party special needs trust for their child with disabilities so that upon their death this child can still receive inheritance from the parents and will have a fund to supplement their life with fun activities and nice things but also not lose their government supplied benefits that support them.  

Now, here is the biggest difference between a third party and a first party trust – when a third party special needs trust is set up for a disabled child, upon that child’s death the money in that third party special needs trust does not have to go to the government to pay anything back.

 

It is Essential for Parents of Children with Special Needs to Set-up a Third Party Trust in their Estate Plan for their Child Who Receives Government Benefits

If a child with special needs inherits money from their parents that gift i.e. inheritance could turn into a curse. Most government programs that provide stability, services, therapies, and support systems to children and adults experiencing disabilities are income and asset contingent. This means if they have assets over $1000 they lose all eligibility for the services they depend on.

For example, my nephew is a high functioning adult on the autism spectrum. He is part of a work training program, and a behavioral therapy program that provides him amazing opportunities to interact with people and places that support him to have the most normal and independent experience possible as a young adult.

But if he were to inherit money from his mother, all of these benefits would cease immediately – disrupting his life completely, and sending him into a spiral of bureaucratic necessities that he is not equipped to deal with on his own.  On top of this, if his benefits are taken away – he would lose all ability to navigate the system and reclaim these benefits.

And this is why his mother has an estate plan that creates a third party special needs trust for her son if she were to pass away. It ensures that anything she leaves him goes into the trust and doesn’t affect his eligibility for the programs he depends upon.  The proceeds in the third party special needs trust can be used by the trustee to provide my nephew with fun life experiences, pay for his rent or maintain his home, and ensure that all his supplemental needs are met for the rest of his life.  And then, upon his death it can be distributed as my nephew chooses to his own family or organizations that are important to him.

 

Act Now, Because It is Impossible to Set up a Third Party Trust After Someone Dies

Time and time again my office gets phone calls trying to quickly set up a Special Needs Trust after the death of someone’s parents.  The adult child with special needs is going to inherit significant assets from their parents that will make them ineligible to continue receiving government aid. Don’t Let This Happen To You! The individual is in crisis mode because they are facing the possibility of losing all of their benefits that they depend on for stability in their life.  The unfortunate reality is that it is impossible to set up a third party special needs trust after someone dies. It is officially too late. I cannot help you.

The special needs adult will have to go through a period of time ineligible for benefits as a First Party Special Needs trust is set-up for them.  And first party trusts are complicated to administrate, complicated and expensive to create, and complicated to manage. They cannot be done in 24 hours, and you need a very specialized attorney to create them, and a trustee to administrate them.  Finally, the money in the trust does not stay with the family after the special needs individual dies, as the requirements of first party trusts always include some type of government reimbursement mechanism.  In short, a first party trust is not the best solution – and sometimes it isn’t an available solution at all.

 

Parents of Children with Disabilities MUST Have an Estate Plan Including a Special Needs Trust

This is why it is ESSENTIAL for any parent of a child with special needs to create a comprehensive estate plan with an experienced estate planning attorney and establish a third party special needs trust for their child in their estate plan. You must work with an attorney to set up this type of trust and ensure that everything is set up correctly so that your special needs child’s future isn’t endangered when they lose you. Remember, your procrastination could cost them everything they depend on in their future if you die without a special needs trust in place for them.

If you need help navigating this confusing area and want to make sure your child with disabilities is taken care of no matter what happens to you please book an appointment with my office today by clicking the link below.

Benefits of Working With An Estate Planning Attorney Vs. Doing It Yourself (DIY) Online

by

It may seem cheap, quick and easy to get your estate plan done using an online do-it-yourself legal document creation service. But the downside of these DIY services is that there is NO ONE to guide you and guarantee that you have accurate, complete or even semi-functional legal estate documents in place.  (Which means what you print may not even be worth the cost of that printer ink!)

Legal Zoom does not lose their license if you do not fill out their form and sign it correctly.  Without an experienced estate planning attorney to guide you through the process of creating a comprehensive estate plan, the likelihood of having an actual complete and functional plan in case of emergency is slim to none. So without further ado let’s talk about why this is the case.

 

Doing It Online: No Guarantee your Plan is Complete

I get it.  Who wants to go to an attorney to do anything?  They are expensive, they are inconvenient, they speak in a different language and they seem to make things more confusing than they need to be. Online legal Do-it-Yourself services seem really accessible, super inexpensive, and you don’t even have to leave your desk to get-er-done. It really does look easy, cheap and inexpensive to do it this way.  It may even be faster.

The downside however, is that you get what you pay for. You get legal forms that you are left alone to fill out. And you have to guess which forms to download to create a complete estate plan. And if you are most people, you do not know all the documents that are included in a complete estate plan and you do not know how to fill them out accurately and completely.  Last but not least, no one actually ever signs these documents in the way that is required by the state they live in to make them legally viable documents.  The result then from these DIY services is an incomplete, and not legally recognized plan. They are not worth the ink you used to print them.

 

A DIY Service Only Provides you FORMS…. not Legal Advice

A do-it-yourself (DIY) service does not lose their law license if you fill out the forms wrong or fail to sign them correctly. It does not get sued for malpractice if you fail to choose all the forms you need for your unique family circumstance to ensure you have a comprehensive plan. You are instead left alone in a world of confusing lawyer language – we call it “legalese,” with no one to translate, and make sure you understand correctly.  As a result, when doing it yourself you miss important details, you misunderstand what the form is asking for, and your plan doesn’t have everything it needs to do its job for you when the time comes.

Finally, online DIY services do not give you detailed instructions on how to finalize your estate plan.  It does not tell you how and when to sign your documents and all of the other things you need to do besides filling out the forms to create a complete estate plan.  Other instructions missing include; how to fund your trust, beneficiary designations, creating a legally binding pet trust/pet legal guardian, appointing short term guardians for your children, and making sure your house is protected. The list goes on. Because all you are paying for is a fillable PDF.  You are not getting instructions on how to create an actual legally binding estate plan, and the DIY Service is not liable to you or your family if you fail to use the forms the way they intended. They are not liable if people forget to sign their documents or if when they do sign them, you don’t sign them properly. At the end of the day you bought a form, not an estate plan, so there is no guarantee that you have an actual legally binding estate plan in place.

 

Working With An Attorney: Ensures You are Buying a Legally Binding Estate Plan

The first benefit of working with an experienced Estate Planning attorney is that you have an advocate who will translate the language of the law for you.  We call that especially confusing legal language “Legalese.”  You are not left alone having to guess if you are filling out forms correctly, or what forms you need.  At Latterell Law we listen to you, in your own words, to understand what you want, and then we translate your goals into the legal documents and other tools you need. We do not confuse you with legal language, or force you to figure it out for yourself, we translate the legalese for you making sure you have a functional and legally binding estate plan that works when you need it.

Most people do not even know where to start when creating an estate plan. You are in a foreign land, without a map and you do not speak the language.  When you work with an experienced attorney they act as a tour guide for you. In my firm we give you a simple place to start, and we guide you step-by-step through the process to make sure we have left no stone unturned, no place in your life unexamined, so that we have the right people in the right place doing the right things in your legal documents, and that we have done all the other necessary steps necessary to make sure your comprehensive plan does what it is intended to do when the time comes.

Hands on Consultation to Make Sure Your Plan Works When You Need It Most

Finally, there are things you need to do after you sign your legal documents to ensure that your estate plan works as intended. What is UNIQUE about my firm is that we are not just going to give you your legal documents and send you on your way.  We are going to hold your hand until you have completed all the other practical and administrative steps necessary to complete your plan. This step is often missed, even by attorneys, but is most certainly not provided by DIY legal form providers.  At Latterell Law we provide unlimited consultation to ensure you have a plan that does what it is supposed to do, and that you understand how to use it.  And then we sit down with you every three years to make sure your estate plan is always up to date.  And this is all included in one flat rate. You pay us once and you get our support for life and beyond (because we’ll help your family after you are gone too).

DIY legal services may look cheap and easy but at the end of the day they do not work. It is garbage in, garbage out.  If you do not know how to read the language or fill out all of the correct forms DIY form providers are a waste of time and money, providing a false sense of security.

Instead of risking leaving your loved ones in a world of hurt when you die because your plan is incomplete or not even legally binding – you can hire an experienced estate planning attorney who will listen to you, speak your language, and make the process of creating a comprehensive estate plan easy to navigate. Hiring an attorney will guarantee you have a complete and legally binding plan in place.  It is an investment in peace of mind to ensure that your plan will work when you need it most.

If you would like to get started on the path to creating a comprehensive estate plan that will work for you when the time comes, use the link below to book a call with us today.

How to Appoint Long and Short Term Guardians For Your Children

by

Most parents of young children think – “I need a will so that I can tell the state who should parent my children if I die.”  But a guardian nomination in a will can only do part of the job, as it does not actually appoint parental substitutes to act in case of emergency. 

Here I will explain what you need to do to ensure you have appointed long and short term guardians for your children in case you die or in case of emergency. So without further ado..

 

A Will Nominates Long Term Guardians Only

When an actor or actress is nominated for an Oscar – they do not automatically receive the award right? The academy votes as to who actually receives the award.  You can think of your guardian nomination in your will as very similar.  

You have nominated someone you think should become the long term guardian of your children if you are dead.  However, the court, the Probate Court judge has the last say, and may have to make the decision among others who choose to nominate themselves. This creates the possibility of a lengthy court battle and conflict among family with your children hanging in the balance.  

This process can also take months and sometimes years, to complete.  What happens if you are in an accident and do not come home from work?  Who takes care of your children in that emergency situation?  The police are not going to watch your children for the weeks or months it takes for the court to figure out who should be the children’s guardians.  Your children will go into foster care if there isn’t an appropriate blood relative immediately findable or available during an emergency situation. 

 

Guardian Appointments are Necessary for Emergency Situations

The solution is to do more than just nominate long term guardians in your will. Instead we create an entire emergency response plan with a comprehensive set of documents that includes short and long term guardian appointments. 

First, as part of your official legal estate plan we have signed and witnessed appointments of short term and long term guardians.  These are individuals you choose while you are alive and well, and you authorize them to act as you with a set of legal documents.  This way you and your children know who to call in case of emergency.  And those individuals have copies of all the important paperwork necessary for them to show to first responders, social workers, and the police.

A comprehensive plan for emergency also includes an emergency phone tree, instructions for caregivers (nannies, babysitters), medical powers of attorney for the kiddos, doctors lists, and a set of  comprehensive instructions for the short and long term guardians so they can act as a surrogate parent immediately without having to wait for court approval. 

With this process you can ensure the right people are taking care of your children and that they do not end up as wards of the state while strangers make decisions about who they stay with. You decide, and you make sure your children are with people they know, and that you know will take care of them as you want them to be. This prevents the possibility of needless suffering for your children. How horrible would it be for them to lose you and have to go into temporary foster care? Exactly why it is so important to stipulate guardians and create a comprehensive emergency response plan. 

 

Make Sure Your Children Are Taken Care of In Case Of An Emergency

It is necessary to do more than talk to people and nominate them to be long term guardians of your children.  A guardianship nomination in a will does not do the job in case of emergency.  You want to work with an experienced estate planning attorney to create short and long term guardianship appointments, as well as to create all the other necessary paperwork to ensure your children do not end up wards of the state.  Completing a comprehensive guardianship and emergency response plan ensures that they will always be with people they know and love, even in the worst case scenario.  

To get started creating your comprehensive guardianship and emergency response plan you can book a consultation with our law firm today by clicking the link below.

The difference between a Will and a Living Trust

by

What is the difference between a Will and Trust?  And why do I need one or the other?  This is the most frequently asked question I get from clients and potential clients. The short answer is –  you need both, because they do two different things for a comprehensive estate plan.

 

Wills: Your Last Testimony

A will (i.e. a Last Will and Testament) is a legal document that tells both your beneficiaries and the government in the state you live in how your assets are going to be distributed after your death. In other words, a Will is a letter to a judge that says – these are the people who get my stuff, and how much of your stuff they are supposed to get. 

Another way you can look at it is a Will is an instructional document for a judge to read and approve in Probate Court. Probate Court is where your stuff, known as your estate, is distributed by the government after you die. And a will is your “testimony” after death for the judge to use in that courtroom to properly distribute your things according to your wishes. Everyone who dies, who owns anything of any kind must go through probate court after they die.

If you die without a will the probate court judge will determine how your things are distributed using a state statute. So it is always better to have a will than not, so your testimony exists for the judge after you are dead.

In most cases, Probate court takes about 9 to 12 months or longer to distribute your property, and your beneficiaries have to wait that entire time before they receive their inheritance. And this is one of the reasons Living Trusts exist – because a Living Trust creates a means of distributing your property to beneficiaries without Probate court involvement.

 

Living Trusts: Instructions to Carry Out your Wishes

You can think of a Living Trust like a contract that creates a treasure chest. This treasure chest is going to hold all your assets while you are alive and after your death. The Living Trust gives a trusted person (the Trustee) a key to this treasure chest, and a set of instructions, so they can distribute all of your assets after you die according to your specific wishes. This allows you to bypass the Probate Court, because you no longer need a judge to distribute your things – because your Living Trust does this for you.

This means it will only take a few weeks to 2 months for your assets to be distributed by your appointed trusted person to your beneficiaries. Everything will be all laid out, and no one will have to go to court or hire an attorney after you die – saving your estate and beneficiaries time, energy and money.

In summary – a Will is final testimony to a judge so a court can distribute your property when you die.   A Living Trust is a contract document that appoints a person you know and trust to distribute your things so you do not need the courts involvement.

 

Two Important Parts of a Complete Estate Plan

Even though the purpose of these two documents is different.  You want both a Will and a Living Trust as part of a comprehensive estate plan. The Living Trust ensures your beneficiaries do not have to wait to receive their inheritance, or have to hire a lawyer or deal with a confusing court system after you die.  Your Will exists as a “just in case” so your testimony exists after death to tell the judge that you want the Living Trust to control distribution of your assets.

Working with an experienced estate planning attorney will help you create this comprehensive estate plan.  Book a call today using the button below.

How To Involve Your Family In Your Estate Plan

by

When deciding your estate plan, there are many things you have to think about. Choosing the right plan, executing and organizing the documents, and meeting with your attorney are all part of the job of planning what will happen to your estate. But one thing that is integral to the process is often the one reason you want to plan in the first place: your family. Even though you’re in the director’s chair it can still be a difficult conversation to broach. At the same time knowing how to talk to your family about your estate plan can be an important step in creating the plan itself, so it has its benefits too.

Everyone has a different reality when it comes to planning their estate with their family. You may be thinking of doing what most do, leaving everything to your spouse and children, or your situation may be a little more nuanced and complex than that. Regardless of what you have in mind for your estate, involving your family in the decision making process can be a tricky thing. It’s important to really consider if, and how you want to involve your family when you are working with your estate planning attorney to plan for your future.

First, Do You WANT to Involve Your Family in Your Estate Plan?

First things first, ask yourself if you want your family to be involved. It is completely okay if you don’t, and a lot of people choose not to have their family involved in the decision making process. Ultimately, this is a process that only involves your assets: you have complete control over where they go and how they get there, and you have a right to hold that conversation how you would like to. If that means it remains a private conversation between you and your estate planning attorney, that is completely okay, regardless of your distribution decisions.

Sometimes, people may choose to avoid conversations with family members because of the choices they are making with their estate. Conversations regarding what you choose to leave behind, if anything, for your family members can be difficult. You have the ability to choose to keep your family uninformed of your decisions regarding your estate. If you decide that, the process and decisions made can remain completely confidential between you and your estate planning attorney until the time comes when your family members need to be notified.

Strategies for Involving Your Family in Your Estate Plan

If you want to involve your family, there are absolutely ways that you can do so. One way is to bring them right into the room and involve them in the conversation with your estate planning attorney. Doing this allows everyone to have a say, and to be able to give their opinion on what they think should be done with your estate. Hopefully, at the end of the day, you can make a decision that has all of your family members support. Even if not everyone is on board with the decision you make, it might be important for you to hear the opinions of your loved ones about what should be done with your estate.

When involving your family members’ input and opinions, it is vital to remember that, in decisions regarding your estate, you have the final say. You can listen and take as many ideas as you want from family members, but what happens to your assets is ultimately your decision. You can also decide just how involved you want your family to be. Whether you want your loved ones there for the entire process, or only there to hear out their opinions, you are in control of the situation. You decide who is there, for how long, and you choose what to listen to.

Wrapping Up

Family can be one of the most important things in our lives. Your family might even be the driving force in deciding to create an estate plan for your assets. If you choose to involve your family in your estate planning process, there are ways to ensure your family is able to give their input. You can decide together, and execute the plan as a team.

If you decide not to include your family, remember that you still have the guidance and advice of your attorney to help you. Even if you choose to make these decisions without familial input, you are not alone in this process. You have complete control over what you decide to do, and you have the final say on what happens to your assets.

Should I Have A Will Or A Trust In My Estate Plan?

by

There are many different ways to prepare for your future with your estate planning attorney. There are many different types of documents, plans, and decisions that you have to make when deciding how you want to distribute your estate. When looking at the options and deciding what estate plan is best for your situation, you may find yourself wondering: what is the difference between a will and a trust? How do I decide which is best for me?

There isn’t just one type of will or one type of trust. It depends upon your personal situation, so it could look different for everyone. However, there are a few key differences that you want to make sure you take note of when you are making your decision.

Wills, And Avoiding Probate

One of the biggest differences between a will and a trust is that a will in Washington does not avoid probate. A will can settle a dispute as to how an estate will be distributed, but it will still have to go through the lengthy and often expensive probate process.

A trust, on the other hand, avoids the probate process, which can be especially beneficial if you choose to title your home, vehicles, or other assets into a trust.

Trusts, And Nomination of a Guardian

Another huge difference is how a person can nominate a guardian for any minor children they have. A trust cannot nominate a guardian in any way. If you have children of minor age, it is important that you use a will to name their guardian in the case of unexpected events.

A trust can rename your assets with a designation to your children, but your trust cannot establish a guardian for your children.

Wills And Trusts Working in Tandem

A person will often need both a will and a trust. These two documents work hand in hand in distributing your estate, nominating a guardian, and establishing control of your assets. Anyone who owns a home in Washington may want to have a trust to title their home in. If you have a trust, you will also need a pour over will that works together with your trust. Most people have a will and a trust in their estate plan.

Wrapping Up

Everyone’s estate plan will be different, depending on their personal needs and circumstances. Although decision making regarding your estate plan can be confusing and daunting, remember that your estate planning attorney is there to help you remember the differences between each document, and help you decide the best solution for your situation. Schedule a callback by clicking the link below to talk more with me about what plan might be best for you!