A Will or Trust will allow you to direct the disposition of your assets and will allow you to appoint individuals to: carry out your wishes; act as guardians for minor children; and act as trustees to manage assets.
Will – a document that sets forth in writing how you want your estate distributed upon your death. You appoint a person (“personal representative” / “executor”) to take care of your affairs after your death. Depending on the value and type of assets that you own upon your death, your estate may go through a process called probate. The probate process accomplishes several things including: notifying creditors of your death and therefore shortening the time in which a creditor can make a claim against your estate; and authorizing your personal representative to transfer your assets and carry out your wishes. In your Will you can designate that your assets be distributed outright to beneficiaries, or you can state that assets going to certain beneficiaries (usually minors) be held in a trust upon your death and managed for a certain amount of time on behalf of those beneficiaries. Your will goes into effect only upon your death.
Trust – a document that sets forth in writing how you want your estate distributed upon your death. You appoint a person (“trustee”) to take care of your affairs during your life and upon your death. Your Trustee has the authority to manage all of the assets in your trust. Trusts can avoid probate if they are set up to do so and are funded properly. An additional benefit is the ability of your trustee to step in and assist you with your assets during your life if you are unable to manage them yourself. Just like a Will, you can specify that upon your death, assets be distributed outright to beneficiaries, or be held in trust upon your death and managed for a certain amount of time on behalf of certain beneficiaries. A trust may be your main document, but you will also need a Will to cover anything that is not covered by your Trust.
Guardian Nomination – a document that provides you the opportunity to decide who will take care of your children if you suffer an untimely death. This is the document that is changed and up-dated most frequently by our clients. Therefore, we draft it as a separate document rather than including it in a Will or Trust. This allows you to change the guardian without having to make a change to your Will of Trust. We also offer a Temporary Guardian Nomination so that you can appoint an individual to take care of your children on a temporary basis such as going on vacation and leaving your children with someone else temporarily.
Intestate Succession – the process of distributing assets if a person dies without a Will or a Trust. Without a Will or Trust, upon a person’s death, that person’s assets are disposed of according to state law. State law, called the law of intestacy, may or may not match what the decedent’s desires were as to whom should get their property or how their property should be handled.
Beneficiary Designation – this is another way to pass on specific assets by designating a joint owner or beneficiary. Examples are joint tenancy, designating a beneficiary, or designating an account payable on death to another person. These designations take priority over a Will and may be effective planning tools in certain situations, but it is important that they are coordinated with your entire estate plan.
If you have questions regarding Wills or Trusts, we are happy to meet with you for an initial consultation, free of charge. Please call 720-229-0428 to make an appointment.