Articles Posted in Estate Planning

Deciding on and naming your Beneficiaries is an important part of your financial and Estate Planning. When I sit down with clients, many are surprised to learn that there are opportunities to name Beneficiaries both inside and outside of their Estate Planning. The purpose of this post is to describe in basic terms the 4 things you should know about choosing Beneficiaries.

1. First, you need to know the basics about Beneficiaries. Beneficiaries named in your Estate Planning usually occurs in your Last Will and Testament or in a Trust that you may have created. These Beneficiaries will receive the specific assets you designate from your estate. However, there are other Beneficiaries that you need to be aware of because you are able to name Beneficiaries for a broad range of assets, including retirement plans, annuities, life insurance policies and bank accounts. All of these assets fall outside of your Estate Planning and are not covered by your Last Will and Testament. Rather, these types of assets are controlled by the contract you signed with the company that holds these assets, accounts and contracts. On these contracts you can name different types of Beneficiaries such as individuals, charities, and/or trusts. Whether you can name young children under the age of majority — age 18 or 21, depending on the state in which you live – depends on the law in the state in which you live.

When you name a Beneficiary, in your Last Will and Testament, typically, a probate will need to occur before the property or assets you designate can be transferred. However, your retirement plans, annuities, life insurance policies and bank accounts can pass directly to your named Beneficiaries and won’t have to go through probate. In addition, even if you’ve put in you Last Will and Testament, that you want your retirement plans, annuities, life insurance policies and bank accounts to go to a specific person, the contract you have with the Company that holds that contract, and the Beneficiaries that you name in that contract, will override bequests you’ve made in your will. Understanding these differences will help you in naming your Beneficiaries in each of these documents.

A Personal Representative is an individual selected by you and identified in your Last Will and Testament. The role of a Personal Representative is to administer your estate and distribute your assets according to your wishes upon your death. It sounds easy, but often it is not.

When you pass, the first step for you Personal Representative is to get appointed by the Court. Once appointed your Personal Representative has, what is often, the difficult task of identifying and locating all of your assets. This includes bank accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance, real property, burial plots, vehicles, personal property and all other asset that you may have owned during your life. Identifying your assets often require the Personal Representative to search extensively through documents located at your house and to go through mail that is still being sent to your address. However, sometimes this is not enough to lead the Personal Representative to your assets. In today’s technological age, many people access their accounts online, eliminating the need for paper documents to be sent directly to their houses. This creates a problem for a Personal Representative as he or she may not become aware of certain assets that you may have had before your death.

Organizing and creating a list of your assets can be very beneficial to your Personal Representative. Nobody knows what assets you own better then yourself. By putting together a list of your assets with usernames and passwords when applicable, you will save your Personal Representative hours worth of time and effort that would otherwise be spent on searching for those assets. Once you have created a list of your assets, it is important to store them in a safe place and let your named Personal Representative or other individual that you trust know how to gain access to your list.

Losing a loved one is difficult. Grieving with your loss while trying to navigate the probate process alone is more than most people can cope with. For this reason, most people hire an attorney to help them through probate which is the collection and management of all assets; paying debts or taxes owed against the estate; and distributing property to your loved one’s heirs. Once you found that attorney to help you through the probate process, how do you prepare for your first meeting?

The tips listed below will help you get organized and will give you and some confidence going into that first meeting. To start with, seek to receive eight to ten (8-10) certified copies of the death certificate. Death certificates are used in planning and carrying out the probate process in many ways from providing a copy to the Court to forwarding copies to account holders and life insurance providers. If possible, bring at least one copy of the death certificate to your first meeting with your probate attorney.

The next step is also very important. You need to determine if there is an existing written Will, or written Estate Plan. Providing these documents to your probate attorney will help in the determination of whether probate is required or can be avoided. For instance, if there is a trust, probate might not be necessary.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Do I need a will?” 　While we are young, all of us tend to think that we are invincible. 　We feel strong, healthy and full of life. 　Because of this, we put off the thoughts of death and Estate Planning. 　This is stuff only old people think about right? 　The reality is that none of us is truly invincible and everyone needs an Estate Plan.

If you die without an Estate Plan that means your belongings will given to other people through the laws of “Intestacy” or through the government’s default Estate Plan. Intestacy laws will distribute your belongings in a way that is different than what you would plan. 　I discuss this in a previous blog and recommend that you read that as well. 　While understanding the laws of Intestacy is important it isn’t the focus of this section. 　Here I want to focus on children.

For young people with children, having an Estate Plan is vital. 　The reason for this is because, like your belongings, if you don’t create an Estate Plan where you name guardians for your children, the government will do it for you.

From grade school through college, most Americans learned the about the nation’s most famous historical figures, but a vast, new trove of documents, including wills and probate records, contains information not found in most history books. 　These 　records of America’s most famous citizens are now just a mouse click away thanks to Ancestry.com. 　A Utah based company, Ancestry.com, has digitized the wills and probate records of about 100 million Americans dating from the Colonial era to the beginning of the 21st century.

It’s a vast and invaluable resource for ordinary Americans who through the internet can now dig even further into their family roots. Looking at a will is like pulling a thread on family history. Wealth, possessions, family relationships can be followed down the generations for millions of U.S. citizens ranging from obscure relatives to famous historical figures.

According to Jennifer Utley, senior manager of research at Ancestry.com’s Utah headquarters “What you find in probate records and wills are the rich stories about what mattered enough to pass down and a wealth of information about family history. 　They paint a more beautiful picture of people’s lives.”