WHATS YOUR 
ESTATE PLAN?

The Signature Problem
 

• Assets in your name require your signature to be transferred in and out of your estate. When you become incapacitated or when you die, you are unable to sign the required documents needed to make such transfers. Your assets get stuck in legal limbo.

 

Probate = the State’s way of solving the Signature Problem
 

• Probate is the court process where a judge appoints someone to be your Personal Representative (aka Executor). This person then has authority to sign on your behalf, thus solving the Signature Problem.

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• Probate is also the court process where your assets are liquidated, final expenses paid and then your remaining estate is transferred to your heirs. The question is, how does the court know who to appoint, what to do with your assets or who should inherit assets and money from your estate?
 

Last Will & Testament
 

• Everyone has a Last Will & Testament that they probably are not aware of. It is called State statute. If you die without a written Will (aka dying intestate), the probate court will look to State intestacy statutes to make decisions about what to do with your estate’s assets and money. Thus, at the very minimum, you need to execute a written Last Will & Testament to give the judge your wishes instead of relying on the State Legislature to do it for you!

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Do I want to avoid probate?
 

• Probate is not fun. It takes a lot of time, costs a lot of money, and there is no privacy. We have never heard anyone who went through the probate process exclaim that they couldn’t wait to go through
probate again. So yes, you want avoid probate if you can.

 

Living Trust = the easier way to solve the Signature Problem and avoid probate.
 

• A Living Trust is a living, legal entity. When you follow State law in setting up a Trust, it can legally own property. Think of a Trust as an empty box that you can put your property in for safekeeping. This is similar to setting up an LLC or Corporation, but instead of running a business, a Trust owns the property you give to it.
 

• During your life you serve as the Grantor, or the person who grants ownership of property to your Trust (aka you put property into and take it out of your box). You also serve as the Trustee of your Trust. That means you get to manage the affair of your Trust – just like you manage your personal affairs, now you will continue doing so as Trustee over the property in your trust. You are also the Beneficiary of your Trust. This means you get to benefit and use the assets you have put into your Trust.