Trusts are often associated with the rich. However, the uber-wealthy are not the only people who can benefit from using trusts. There is no minimum asset level or net worth required to set up a trust, and you can put any amount of money into a trust.
Out of sight, out of mind isn't just an everyday adage—it's one of the reasons why people 50 and over fail to write a will, update a previous one, or make other estate planning decisions.
Creating a list of digital accounts and instructions on how to gain access to them is now akin to having a traditional will or a trust in estate planning.
Life estates can provide effective means to create joint ownership of property, avoid probate and transfer property after death without incurring gift taxes.
Most family members may not have a clue what we have floating out in cyberspace. Accessing or deleting accounts can be tricky for family members, if they don’t have your login credentials.
My mother passed, and she was an administrator of my grandfather’s estate and the inheritances. The estate accumulated quite a bit of back taxes over the years. Will the IRS put a lien on that estate as well as hers to retrieve funds?
In estate planning, the use of trusts to manage the distribution of assets is becoming increasingly more common. However, for many people, the idea of setting up a trust during his or her lifetime is overwhelming and perhaps even unnecessary.
