What are Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes?
April 6, 2022
Beyond not making a will at all, here are the biggest mistakes that estate planning attorneys see clients make.
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Beyond not making a will at all, here are the biggest mistakes that estate planning attorneys see clients make.
If a loved one asks you to be the executor of their estate, think carefully before you take on this responsibility. While you have the option of declining the request, the person reaching out likely considers you to be responsible and detail oriented. An executor of an estate typically helps file paperwork, close accounts and distribute the assets of the deceased.
It’s true that if your child is on your deed as the owner, your home will not have to go through probate. However, this is a poor tax and asset protection strategy.
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.
A competent elder law or estate attorney can discuss and use, where appropriate, such provisions as the family exemption, benefits to prepaying inheritance tax, even where the tax return is not yet complete and a listing of itemized deductions.
Adult children typically don’t have to pay their parents’ bills. However, there are exceptions. Even when a child doesn’t have to pay directly, debt could reduce what they inherit.
Executors can use additional information in administering estates, especially if the executor is unrelated to the decedent.
Trusts are often associated with the rich, but 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.
Administration of a decedent’s estate may involve investment accounts (with stocks and bonds) held in the decedent’s name or trust.
Without a valid will, a person’s estate passes to their surviving heirs under intestate succession (i.e., ‘succession without a will’).
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