Archive for the ‘Living Will’ Category
What is the most important part of getting a Family Will drafted, or a Living Will or a Living Trust or a Health Care Proxy?
In Life’s Events, do you have specific information about what to do:
1…When someone has died ?
2…When someone becomes disabled ?
3…When you get married ?
4…When you move ?
5…When you have chilodren ?
6…When you buy insurance ?
7…When you buy your first Home or condo ?
8…When you plan to do your Estate Plan ?
9…When you seperate from your wife ?
10…When you get divorced ?
11…When you remarry a spouse with added children
12…When you have drafted your first Will ?
13…When you make the necessary changes to your Wills when your lifstyles change ?
THE MISSING INGREDIENT INVARIABLY, IS THE EFFORT TO HAVE REGISTERED THE LOCATION OF YOUR WILLS AND OTHER IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS WITH A WORLDS WILLS LOCATIONS REGISTRY, SO THEY CAN BE READILY FOUND WHEN NEEDED.
Even when a legal professional has helped you to finalize your Will’s, it is your responsibility to know where that document and other important papers will be stored. !
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AND UNNECESSARILY !
LEAD……FOLLOW…….OR GET OUT OF THE WAY !. CAUSING A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES TO FAIL MISERABLY FOR INACTION.
The above statement of fact should be posted on the home fridge door because it is the logical location for all family members to see regularily.’
This bold statement is an attitude adjustment reminder for individuals to re-focus their priorities.
We all know that most individuals and families have planned and know what each week-end’s activities are going to be. Sometimes two to three months ahead, yet fail miserably about the necessary planning of their financial future, their children’s future and the written instructions for family to ensure they get the most out of their networth.
Too many families lose too much of their estate value by overlooking the importance of re-focusing their attention frequently about where they are now,…..and ..where they want to be.?
It is called Estate Planning!. The most important lifetime event for any individual and family. !
Always leaving that event until later is a cop-out of the responsibilities to oneself and family. Particularily when children are involved!.
Fortunatly, Mothers of the World are taking the initiative away from too busy partners and proceeding to put their own and their families future wishes and plans on paper.
Congratulations to them for they recognize the pitfalls of failing to complete a Family Will, a Living Will or a Living Trust.
They remember also, to have the locations of their Wills and other important papers, registered with a worlds wills locations registry, so they can be readily retrieved by family members or friends when needed.
It seems their motto is “ While I’m in charge, it will be done. !”
They recognize that too much value of their estate can be lost due to no planning.
MOTHERS….The Heroes of every houshold. !
Family Wills
Have long term marriage and relationships grown stale by many, and why should it affect their Wills ?
The constant responsibilities to each other and parenting, can allow boredom to interfere with those initial passions.
Good inter-partner conversation, diminishing enthusiasm for sneaking time alone, and emotional divisions lead to infrequent displays of affection.
When children arrive on the scene, it adds to the interference of affection, as it now adds other dimensions of affection for them.
More time and greater effort is now needed to both parent effectively, and try to maintain that spark of the romantic relationship.
To avoid this affectionate interference takes good planning ( mostly by the spouse) to plot good space and time together alone on a weekly basis, never letting anything upset that schedule.
Rejuvenating and encouraging that romantic spark, quite often leads to the discussions of how to protect each others material interests from illness, disabilities and unforeseen accidents causing death.
That heightened affection for protecting each other and the future of their offspring, initiates greater interest in setting up written instructions as to what each other anticipates or expects in their immediate future. A WILL, a Living WILL, or at least a Health Care Proxy., now starts to become a reality for them.
To assist the many parents in this regard, this blog helps direct them to seek the help of qualified professionals (lawyers, notaries, trust officers) for their informational comfort and finalizing a Family Will.
It also reminds them to register the location of where that Will (and other important documents) are gouing to be kept, so they can be easily found when needed.
After all, any WILLS that cannot be found are lost forever in archives.
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TAKE THE TIME TODAY TO SIT DOWN AND WRITE OUT A HAND WRITTEN SET OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR FAMILY IN CASE SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YOU BEFORE YOU GET A CHANCE TO GET A FAMILY WILL DRAFTED BY YOUR LEGAL PROFESSIONAL!.
Researchers say “ Too many with the best intentions, sometimes don’t get another chance to see another day “
As another estate planning option, is the Living Trust, and it brings up this question ! “ Will my Living Trust avoid income taxes ?
The answer is no. The purpose of creating your Revocable Living Trust is to avoid living probate, death probate, and reduce or eliminate federal estate taxes.
If you’re the Trustee of your living trust, you will file your income tax as you always did before the trust existed. There are no new returns to file and no new liabilities are created.
As this blog always recommends, see as many legal professionals as you can to get your best counsel for the planning of your estate.
Living Wills
What can I do with my assets ?
As the trustee of your own Living Trust…….you can do anything you want with the Trust assets!.
When you set up your living trust you are transferring the Title of All your assets from you as an individual, to yourself as the Trustee of your Trust.!
You then must manage the property for the benefit of YOURSELF AS THE BENEFICIARY. !
That means that you have COMPLETE CONTROL over all the assets of your trust. !
At you discretion, you can spend, save, invest, or give your assets away. ! There are no restrictions.
This Living Trust concept as opposed to Family Wills, requires considerable investigation of all facets of legal law so that individuals can get the best grasp of how all family members are to be protected.
Every family unit will have different situations to deal with, thusly, getting the best legal advice you can get will be most benificial at all times!
CAN I ACT AS MY OWN TRUSTEE ?
YES. If you are competent to handle your financial affairs now, there is no legal reason why you can’t be the trustee of your own Living Trust.
If you are married, you and your spouse can act as co-trustees.
However, as always, this blog strongly recommends that you get your legal counsel from a lawyer, notary, insurance advisor, financial planner , trust officer’s at banks and credit unions etc, so you can thoroughly understand what will be the most effective estate plan for you and your family.
If you already have a Family Will, or if you alone have a Will, and your spouse also has a Will, good legal counsel can give you the proper guidance as to how to design your estate plan.
The AAEPA is the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, and the NAELA is the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys.
Attorneys who are members of the above organizations can offer an extremely wide range of benefits to their clients. They can provide their clients with access to a nationwide network of qualified attorneys who can assist them with out-of-state transfers of title, provide help should they move to another USA State, or simply offer a referral to an out-of-state friend or family member who needs estate planning help.
The Academy and the Association provides its members with substantial legal, technical, and practice management support to insure they provide high quality estate planning services to their clients.
The American Bar Association and the American Law Societies, as well as the Canadian Law Societies and the Canadian Bar Associations offer similar support to Canadian Lawyers.
Advocis is the national association in Canada for all the Canadian Financial planners.
This blog assumes the position that all individuals contemplating Health Care Proxy’s, Living Wills, Living Trusts , Family Wills and Wills for individuals should only do so with guidance of some of these individuals. It would not be uncommon to have an accountant, tax advisor, insurance agent as consultants as you prepare the in formation for the final draft OF ANY, OR ALL OF THESE DOCUMENTS.
Then, the very last step in the process of getting these valueable documents completed, is to then go on-line with a Worlds Wills Locations Registry and register where you are going to keep these important papers so they can be easily found when needed.
If these documents cannot be found when needed ( even after expensive legal searches), THEY WILL BE LOST FOREVER !
Living Trust’s are now earning a rightful place with many people who are investigating how to be certain they end up with more of their estate value.
Living Trust’s can:
(A)…Eliminate a Living Probate :
( B)…Avoids a Death Probate:
(C)…Provides Privacy:
(D)…Can Reduce or Eliminate Federal Estate Taxes:( in the USA)
(E)…Allows you to Restrict How Your Estate is Managed and Spent Even After Your Death:
(F)…Can Protect Children From Their Creditors and EX-Spouses:
(G)…Can Insure Your Wishes Are Carried Out, and are not Subject to Attacks:
(H)…Can Protect Children From Earlier Marriages:
(I)…Can Give You Unbelievable Peace Of Mind:
(J)…While Costing More To Prepare, It Can Save You Considerably More Of Your Estate In The Long Run.
(K)…You Can Amend Or Revoke a Living Trust At Anytime.!
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Not every attorney nor legal professional is fully trained in TAX and TRUST LAW, so it is important to seek out firms which limits it’s practice to the creation of proper Living Trusts.
Directions for assistance are freely offered in several of these blogs, however, it does not offer legal, tax, financial or investments information. These blogs suggest individuals take the time to contact a lawyer, notary, trust officer, financial planner, insurance agent or credit union trust officer.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the printed research material used is correct, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
This blog urges individuals to consult with a personal accountant, a personal tax advisor and any of the above legal professional’s when they plan to draft their estate plans and Wills.
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The main part these blogs play is URGING everyone with a will (when drafted), is to register on-line the location of where their WILLS can be found when needed with a WORLDS WILLS LOCATIONS REGISTRY.
Many legal professionals agree, that registering that location with an on-line computer registry, could be even more important than the WILL itself because if a WILL cannot be readily found when needed,…..it becomes a useless document.!
Will planning
THIS IS THE BEGINING OF A NEW DAY !
MY SUPER SPIRIT HAS GIVEN ME THIS DAY TO USE AS I WISH. I CAN WASTE IT, OR USE IT FOR GOOD, BUT WHAT I DO TODAY IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE I AM EXCHANGING A DAY OF MY LIFE FOR IT.
WHEN TOMORROW COMES, THIS DAY WILL HAVE GONE FOREVER, LEAVING IN IT’S PLACE SOMETHING I HAVE TRADED FOR IT.
I WANT IT TO BE GAIN – NOT SORROW, GOOD – NOT EVIL, SUCCESS – NOT FAILURE IN ORDER THAT I SHALL NOT REGRET THE PRICE I HAVE PAID FOR IT !
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MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTION WAS TO SIT WITH MY WIFE AND FAMILY, TO TAKE INVENTORY OF OUR ASSETS AND POSSESSIONS, IN PREPARATION TO ACCUMALATE THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS AND PRIVATE PAPERS TO PROVIDE TO THE LEGAL ADVISOR OUR WHOLE FAMILY AGREE’S UPON TO FINALIZE OUR LIVING WILL AND FAMILY WILL.
I HAVE ADMITTED TO MY FAMILY THAT AS PARENTS WE HAVE BEEN NEGLIGENT IN DELAYING THIS MUCH NEEDED DOCUMENT PROPERLY DRAFTED FOR THEIR FUTURE’S.
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THE WORLDS WILLS LOCATIONS REGISTRY CONFIRMS THAT MANY, MANY HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS ALL TO FREQUENTLY MAKE THESE WELL INTENTIONED PROMISES,………….BUT IN THE END, IF THE MOTHERS OF THE WORLD DO NOT START THIS PROCESS,………….IT WILL NOT GET DONE !
REMEMBER THAT OLD SAYING ? ….IF YOU WANT TO GET ANYTHING DONE,…..GIVE IT TO THE BUSIEST PERSON IN THE HOUSE, ……WHICH IS ALWAYS MOTHER.S !