By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney
The law doesn’t do this for you automatically. Rather, the presumption under many different laws is that you want your assets and property to be distributed to you immediate family members such as your spouse and children. However, the law does allow you to disinherit a specific person when you use certain language in your Last Will and Testament. Here are 3 things you should know about disinheriting family members.
Can I Disinherit a Child?
By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney
I’ve been involved in a Estate Planning as an attorney now for over 17 years. Rarely does a week go by when I don’t have a client asked me about the estate tax. Most clients just want to know whether the estate tax is going to affect them. Estate tax is also a hot topic with clients during election years because they want to know whether there’s going to be a change that will affect them. Here are three things you need to know about the federal estate tax.
1. What is the Federal Estate Tax?
By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney
Every generation is different in how they communicate. This is the reason for the name “the silent generation”. It seems that Baby Boomers, and Generation X members, as well as later generations, are much more open and willing to discuss matters than older generations are. This has never been more true than when it comes to discussing your estate plan with your children. Keep in mind that there is no legal requirement that you share anything with your children about your Idaho Estate Plan. However, if you do plan on discussing it with your children, here are 3 tips on how you can discuss your Idaho Estate Plan with your children.
1. It is Your Idaho Estate Plan, Not an Agreement
By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney
Estate Planning offers many options for individuals and families with simple or with complex estates. Anyone who has looked into creating a living trust has probably heard the term “Pour-Over Will” but few really understand what they are or how they work. After all, if you are interested in creating a Living Trust you likely want to avoid probate and the need for a Will in the first place. Here are 3 things to know about a Pour-Over Will.
1. What a Pour-Over Will is
Many of my clients are parents of children who are minors. These parents often ask me how they can transfer property to their children if they are minors at a time when the parents die. These parents raise several serious concerns about who will take care of that property and the timing of it being distributed to the children. A Minor’s Trust is an Estate Planning mechanism that can be used to protect property given to minors and provide for a plan of distribution. Here are three important things to know about a Minor’s Trust.
1. A Minor’s Trust Can be Included in a Last Will and Testament
By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney
Idaho Estate Planning is not a static business. What I mean by this is there are always changes occurring. Because life is full of changes it is important for every person who has an Idaho Estate Plan to review it from time to time to make sure that it still accomplishes what was intended. To assist you in reviewing your Idaho Estate Plan here are 3 questions to ask yourself about your Idaho Estate Plan.
1. Are Your Appointments/Beneficiaries Still Around?
By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney
Most people don’t know that an Idaho LLC is a wonderful way to help with estate planning whenever a family business exists. LLC is the abbreviation used when talking about a limited liability company. A limited liability company is a hybrid between a Family Partnership and a formal Corporation. Essentially, it provides all the flexibility of a partnership with all the corporate protections offered by a regular corporation. Here are the three main benefits of using an Idaho LLC in your Idaho Estate Planning whenever a family business exists.
1. Ownership of Business Assets are In the LLC
By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney
During my 17 years as an Idaho Estate Planning attorney, I have helped numerous people create their Idaho Estate Plan or have answered their Idaho Estate Planning questions. While an Idaho Estate Plan created for one person may not be right for another, there appear to be a number of similar questions that always arise. Here are the three main questions that usually come up when discussing Idaho Estate Planning with clients.
1. Do I Really Need an Estate Plan?
Probate in Idaho is controlled by its statutes and is fairly straightforward. However, there are several different varieties of probates that exist according to Idaho statutes. The type of Idaho Probate that a person will need as a surviving spouse really depends on their circumstances and situation. Here are 3 types of Idaho Probates a surviving spouse should know about.
1. An Affidavit of Heirship
By Matthew P. Stucki
Confusion can arise in cases where an individual that has a Last Will and Testament makes a gift to a named beneficiary and is silent as to the intent of the gift. This confusion stems from the question as to whether the gift to the beneficiary is in addition to what he or she will inherit under the Last Will and Testament, or is the gift to be deducted from what he or she will inherit under the Last Will and Testament.
In Idaho, “property which a testator gave in his lifetime to a person is treated as a satisfaction of a devise to that person in whole or in part, only if the will provides for deduction of the lifetime gift, or the testator declares in a contemporaneous writing that the gift is to be deducted from the devise or is in satisfaction of the devise, or the devisee acknowledges in writing that the gift is in satisfaction.” Idaho Code § 15-2-612.
Idaho Law Blog