Idaho Law Blog

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

It isn’t uncommon as an estate planning attorney to have clients come in who have previously lived in other states. The reason they come see me is they want me to review their Estate Planning and make sure that the documents they have will be valid and useful for them while they live in Idaho. This inevitably leads to discussions about the state they previously lived in. Based upon these discussions and also based upon my own research I’ve come to learn that probate in Idaho is extremely inexpensive.

Here are some basic facts that I’ve learned about probate and why I believe it is fairly inexpensive in Idaho:

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Many years ago there was a famous late night commercial about a rotisserie chicken cooker. The famous slogan that was used over and over again during the commercial to sell that item was “Set it and forget it.” While this may be a great slogan for a kitchen gadget, it really is a horrible idea when it comes to your Idaho estate planning and specifically your trust. If you have gone to the effort to create a trust there really are three things you should consider to make sure that your trust does what you want it to do.

1. Make Sure the Paperwork is Complete

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned through my nearly 20 years of experience as an estate planning attorney it is that death affects us all. It cannot permanently be avoided. This was reinforced to me personally when my aunt recently passed away. My family and I traveled to her memorial service where we were able to enjoy seeing family and friends that we haven’t visited with for some time. As I reflected on the events surrounding my aunt’s death and memorial service, there were three specific lessons that I learned from my aunt about estate planning.

1. Plan Ahead

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Many times after I’ve helped a couple complete their estate planning, they will ask me whether it is a good idea for them to have a family meeting so that they can describe their estate plan to their children. Whether they should share their estate plan with their children is a very personal decision that each individual or couple must make on their own. I don’t encourage it nor do I discourage it. However, whenever a client asks me this question, I do try to give them some advice about how to do such a meeting. Here are the three most important things I try to explain to these individuals.

1. Your Estate Plan is Your Private Property

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

I have worked as an estate planning attorney for many years. During this time, and after having assisted numerous estate planning clients, I have learned that there are really 3 problems with Idaho estate planning. (To be clear, there actually are far more than just 3 problems that exist when it comes Idaho estate planning, but I’m going to focus on what I believe are the 3 biggest problems that I see come up again and again.)

Problem #1 – Ignorance of What is Needed

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

When most people hear the term “estate planning” the first thing they think of is a Will. Perhaps this is because of movies and television shows where they have seen a will being vitally important after a person passes away. However, Estate Planning includes so much more than just creating a Last Will and Testament. Here are the three most important things that you should know about how Idaho estate planning can help you:

1. A Last Will and Testament Becomes Effective Only After You Die

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

I think everyone would agree that estate planning is a wonderful way to provide a specific gift to others when you die. Having been an Idaho estate planning attorney for nearly twenty years I have seen the impact of a person’s estate planning on the lives of their loved ones and others. Based on my experience, here are the three most important ways that your estate planning can help others.

1. Security to Minor Children

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

With nearly 20 years of experience as an Idaho estate planning attorney I have learned that estate planning is not a static process. Life can change rapidly. Because of those changes, our circumstances are different today than they may have been when we created our estate planning documents. Additionally, we can also count on the fact that more changes will come into our lives in the future. Because of this there are three questions you can ask yourself in order to make sure that your Idaho estate planning is current.

1. Have any Major Changes Happened in My Life?

By Lane V. Erickson, Idaho Estate Planning Attorney

Over the nearly two decades I have spent working as an estate planning attorney I’ve heard numerous questions from clients about how to divide their estate among their children. Most recently, the question that seems to arise is whether a client can divide their estate unequally among their children. This question has come up for many reasons. Consider the following scenarios:

• Suppose you have two adult children. One is a teacher at an elementary school. The other is a dentist. The amount of money that each of these children makes in income is quite different.