A will and a trust are separate legal documents that typically share a common goal of facilitating a unified estate plan. While these two items ideally work in tandem, since they are separate documents, they sometimes run in conflict with one another--either accidentally or intentionally.
I have a house with a mortgage that I purchased a little over a year ago. At the closing, I asked if I could put my daughter on the deed with me. However, the mortgage company wouldn’t allow it. I don’t want her to have to go through probate, because this is my only asset. Is there a way I can leave the house to her, so she can sell it and pay off the mortgage?
Estate planning is a systematic process, which involves getting your personal and financial goods for the time, if you pass away or become mentally ill. It is also known as last will, and almost everyone does this planning for their family.
Even a close family can have quarrels and confrontations, but these conflicts tend to be more prominent within a blended family.
A trust fund is an account that gives a person control over who will receive their assets during their lifetime and/or at their death.
Everyone’s heard the stories of celebrities who died without a proper estate plan in place. It’s been a hot topic in the last few years with Prince and Aretha Franklin serving as unfortunate faces of the phenomenon. However, it’s not just freewheeling entertainers.
We are programmed to contribute the “max” to our retirement accounts and we disregard, or do not understand, the pitfalls of an improperly filled-out beneficiary forms.
A bypass trust could help your estate planning, depending on your financial goals.
Trusts fall into one of two main categories. The first category is composed of those that are established while the grantor (one who establishes the trust) is alive and are termed inter vivos (while living) trusts.
Dealing with the death of a parent is challenging but selling their home can be fraught with land mines, particularly if they die without a will.
