Comments for Estate Planning Blog

Comment on There’s no such thing as a free consultation. by Matthew Karr

Matthew Karr — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:07:40 +0000

Good advice. I’ve been offering free consultations be have quickly realized the time drain that that can create. You give good food for thought.

Comment on The Duties of a Trustee by kent webster

kent webster — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:33:51 +0000

My mother setup a living will for my two daughters. In 12/04 my mother past away. Her accountant was name as the trustee and my aunt in ohio, was named the backup. One week later the accountant died an the firm went out of business. Since then my aunt has been the trustee. There has been no account information given to the beneficairies. I requested it for my children several times from 2005-08. I also asked for a backup trustee be named, in the event she was unable to do so. As it stands, all remains the same. We live on one of property, and I do all repairs and upkeep, But the other duplex rental isn’t being cared for at all. My aunt has made no effort to contact or visit the properties or the children, to even know their needs. The trust was setup to cover their medical and educational needs, then at a certain age be equally divided. I was sending her bills that were going unpaid and in some cases went to collections before we notice it. Since 2007, my wife and I have been paying all these bills. I have encouraged my oldest daughter, who is 18 years old now, to call her aunt. Her last call to her aunt was 12/08, when her aunt told her she would send a plane ticket to come visit. My daughter never heard from her again. In the past i have sent my daughter to visit her aunt, but my daughter feels uncomfortable with the lack of effort on my aunts part to communicate with her and her sister. She feels if it weren’t for the living trust, there would be know communication at all. What can be done. Are there any steps that can made to name another trustee and backup?

Comment on First steps towards Ladybird/Beneficiary Deeds in California by Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:04:08 +0000

you did not mention the basis of the fair market value ofa house for taxes with the beneficiary deed

Comment on What if you don’t know if you’ll want to fund the bypass trust? by Gerald L. Kane

Gerald L. Kane — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:27:15 +0000

Greg,

I completely agree. In recent years, with the exemption amount increasing, fewer and fewer clients have been needing the mandatory A/B split. The vast majority of our estate plans have been disclaimer or clayton election type plans.

However, even when the mandatory split is not needed for tax reasons, many clients have opted for a mandatory split to provide for asset protection for the surviving spouse or where the deceased spouse wants to control their half of the estate from below ground to ensure their assets get to their chosen loved ones — this is common in estates where spouses have children from prior marriages.

-Gerald Kane

Comment on Guest Post – Capital Gains Inequities Among Seniors by francine manis

francine manis — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:25:32 +0000

I don’t quite grasp the concept “step-Up-at=basic-at-first-death’ concept. What exactly does that mean, who qualifies, is there a category, form or what that allows us seniors to take advantage of this. Do you have to be inn a specific financial bracket to qualify and why hasn’t my attorney mentioned it before? Is there another way of saying the same thing but just in different words? Should could use the advice and education.Also, how does the executor of an estate know this law exist?

Comment on The Duties of a Trustee by Nan Roberts

Nan Roberts — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:45:14 +0000

I’m the successor trustee to my mother’s trust and a beneficiary along with my sisters. I live in the house (I was mymother’s companion for 17 years, and part of that as caregiver.) she died two weeks ago.

How can I keep my money and the estate money separate? I have to live. I have a personal budget that I paid into my own bank account. I also managed the household, so some of those things overlapped, because I was part of the household. I don’t understand this. My lawyer says I should figure out how much a caregiver would charge to do this stuff, and then that’s what I would be paid. Well, how the heck do I do that? He says all this stuff like it makes sense, and then I’m left trying to figure out how. My sisters live out of town, and they are supportive, except one tends to go on about protecting the estate and keeping monies separate and I need to keep track of every minute I spend on the estate business, and so on. And I’m a wreck after watching my mother die and taking care of her before that. I want a break. How on earth can I avoid a conflict of interest? My intention is to be honest and careful, but how do I do that when I don’t understand how? I”m so frustrated
thanks.

Comment on The Duties of a Trustee by jim

jim — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:04:51 +0000

my brother and i are taking care of are father trust we are both trustee my brother taking care of the paper work . he getting a check of 1,000 month for doing the paper work he also giving me the same for working on the stocks doing the cost base its takes a while just doing one many of the stocks are old some 30 years there over 30 different stocks the estate worth over 7 mil. and the a third brother he just going to get 1/3 when its over are father is still living is that 1,000 to much or not enought

Comment on The Duties of a Trustee by yolanda fletcher

yolanda fletcher — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:37:26 +0000

PLEASE READ ABOVE PARAGRAPH. I WANT TO PRESERVE FUNDS, SELL PROPERTY, MAKE PROPER DISTRIBUTION TO THE BENEFICARIES. HOLD THEIR PRINCIPAL LEGALLY. HOWEVER, AS THE SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE, I FEEL THAT I AM A BENEFICARY AS WELL, AND WANT TO BE FAIR TO MYSELF. CPA CHARGE FOR SEPARATE FILING TO BENEFICIARIES, AND I AM BEING DELIGENT AT THIS TIME OF COST, HOWEVER, MY RECORDS ON DISBURSEMENTS ARE OPEN FOR REVIEW BY THE OTHER BENEFICIARIES. THE BENEFICIARIES SEEM TO BE SATISFIED WITH MY MANAGMENT.

Comment on The Duties of a Trustee by yolanda fletcher

yolanda fletcher — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:17:55 +0000

I AM THE SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE WITH 5 BENEFICIARIES. WE HAVE LIMITED ASSETS EXCEPT THE PROPERTY. I HAVE ALL RECORDS OF DISBURSEMENTS ON FILE. BECAUSE FUNDS ARE LIMITED DO I HAVE TO FILE SEPARATE TAXES FOR THE BENEFICIARIES OR WILL MY RECORD KEEPING BE ENOUGH AND IS READY ANY TIME FOR THEIR REVIEW. I PLAN ON SELLING THE PROPERTY SOON. MY TRUST READS THAT MY HEALTH, WELFARE, AND MAINTENANCE IS PRIORITY AND I CAN REMAIN ON THE PROPERTY AS I DESIRE. PLEASE ADVISE

Comment on Planning for property tax for heirs. by Conner

Conner — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:38:07 +0000

I have a Client whose mother passed away, and the mother’s property – a residential, single-family home – was in a Living Trust. The property is located in Sacramento County, CA.

The mother had five children. One child was named Successor Trustee. All five children would like the property to be vested in the name of the eldest child, my Client.

Both my Client and I would like to know how to convey the property from the Living Trust to the eldest child WITHOUT being reassessed in the process.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.