There are several common phrases and words often referenced in a trust document to describe the purposes for discretionary distributions. These usually fall under the category of standard of living, emergencies, welfare, support and maintenance, education and health. When the creator of the trust has included provisions for the trustee to make their own calls about what applies for trust distribution, it’s helpful Read More
Should You Establish a Trust in New Hampshire?
There are many estate planning tools out there and you must decide what’s going to work for your individual plans. The two most common tools are a will and a trust, which function individually as well as together. When you have not used these tools before, you’ll likely want the help of an experienced estate planning lawyer to give you further details about these so that you know what to expect and how to Read More
What Other Documents Might My Personal Representative Need?
When you pass away the will is the basic document in your estate plan that helps make things easy for this person but it's not the only document that your executor might need. If you can be organized and work with an estate planning lawyer to discuss the specifics of your situation, you will make it that much easier for your executor to know where to look to find this important information. Most executors will not Read More
Common Will and Trust Provisions for Fiduciaries
When you create your will or a trust, you’ll be able to appoint who you choose in the most important role of fiduciary. For a will, this would be your executor or personal representative. For a trust, it would be your trustee. You can also discuss with your attorney the possibility of using specific terms within the respective document to give your agents additional authority. One of the great things about creating Read More
Medicaid Planning: Will it Work For You?
Concerns about the cost of nursing homes are common questions brought up by many elder law clients in their first meeting with an attorney. It can be very difficult to make the decision to move a loved one or yourself to a long term care facility but you can't do this without considering the possible financial consequences. Misunderstandings or mistakes made around this financial process can expose you and your Read More
Should I Make My Trust Easy to Change?
Before sitting down to work with an estate planning attorney, you have an important choice to make: to make your trust easy to change or not. This is the primary distinction between a revocable and an irrevocable trust. Although the term trust accurately describes both of these, they accomplish different purposes based on the fact that you can update one but not the other. There are many good reasons that you might Read More
What Is the Difference Between Intestate and Probate?
When you pass away without a will, you are said to have died intestate. This means there is no documented plan for what will happen to your assets. In these cases each state has specific rules about who will receive your assets and how those will be divided. This is a leading reason why it's important to set aside a time to meet with an attorney to create a will. There's plenty of confusion between the concepts of Read More
Advantages of Using a Revocable Living Trust for Asset Transfer
There are many different advantages to using a revocable living trust as part of your estate planning. If an accident or an illness leaves you incapacitated but still alive, your successor trustee is able to handle your financial affairs without the need for appointing a conservator or a guardian by the court. Another major benefit to using a revocable living trust is that if the beneficiaries of your trust are Read More
What Qualities Should I Consider in Naming Someone as Trustee?
One of the most important distinctions between a revokable and an irrevocable trust, concerns who will be appointed as the successor or initial trustee. If you are putting together an irrevocable trust, naming yourself as a trustee would defeat the primary purpose of this estate planning strategy. Naming a successor trustee of a revokable trust or a primary trustee of an irrevocable trust, however, requires careful Read More
New Study Shows That Those With Higher Wealth Also Live Longer
A recent study published in the JAMA Health Forum found that out of 5,000 participants, those who had a much higher net worth at midlife had a much lower risk of dying in the 24 years that followed. The study also was particularly interesting in that it included siblings and twins and identified the same results. The purpose of the study was to evaluate midlife in the United States. Although it was determined that Read More
