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Roger Billings, Estate Planning Attorney -
Recent Posts
- Is a Conservatorship Right for Your Family? Part 1: Disadvantages
- Responding to Probate Court Petitions
- The Election’s Impact on Estate Planning
- Does it Count as Book Burning When it is a Book of Legal Citation Formats?
- Courts Increasing Scrutiny of Conservatorships
- Getting a Conservatorship Protected Their Mother
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Tag Archives: Trust Funding
What is a Pour-Over Will? – Estate Planning Basics
It is time to get back to basics. A Living Trust takes the place of a Will. The Trust specifies how the estate is going to be disposed and who has the responsibility for carrying out its instructions. See … Continue reading
Posted in Estate Planning, Estate Planning Basics, Living Trusts, Probate, Trust Funding, Wills
Tagged Basics, Estate Planning, Pour-Over Wills, Probate, Suspenders, Trust Funding, Wills
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Not All Deeds Are Created Equal: An Estate Planning Vocabulary Tip
“Great acts are made up of small deeds.” Lao Tzu In the legal world, the word “deed” is confusing. Used by itself, it usually refers to a document transferring title to real estate. There are different types of such … Continue reading
Posted in Estate Planning, Living Trusts, Real Estate, Trust Funding
Tagged Estate Planning, Property Deeds, Real Estate, Trust Funding
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Steve Jobs Died Without Owing Estate Tax: A New Urban Legend?
After the death of Steve Jobs last week, opinions started circulating that he was so smart that he even knew how to avoid paying estate taxes better than anyone else. Jobs was smart and he seems to have done … Continue reading
Posted in Celebrity Probates, Charitable Giving, Estate Planning, Federal Estate Taxes, Living Trusts, Trust Funding
Tagged Celebrity Probates, Charitable Giving, Estate Tax, Steve Jobs, Trust Funding, Unlimited Spousal Exemption
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Hidden Perils of Refinancing
Be informed when refinancing a home in a living trust. The secret is out. Refinancing contains hidden perils for homes in revocable trusts. Recently I received a call from a client who fortunately had the good sense to question what … Continue reading
Posted in Estate Planning, Law, Living Trusts, Probate, Real Estate, Trust Funding
Tagged Estate Planning, Living Trust, Probate, Property Deeds, Real Estate, Trust Funding, Updates
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Part 2 of How to Fund a Living Trust
Funding a trust with retirement accounts, life insurance policies, securities and mutual funds requires some explanation on how best to deal with these assets. IRAs, 401ks and related retirement accounts have built-in estate planning, because they allow you to designate … Continue reading
Posted in Estate Planning, Living Trusts, Probate, Retirement, Trust Funding
Tagged 401k, Estate Planning, IRA, life insurance, Mutual Funds, Roth IRAs, Stocks, Trust Funding
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How to Fund a Living Trust, Part 1
Funding a living trust refers to transferring assets into the trust. If a trust is a box then funding the trust means putting assets into the box. For assets that are titled, such as real estate, accounts, stocks and bonds, … Continue reading
Posted in Estate Planning, Living Trusts, Probate, Real Estate, Trust Funding
Tagged automobiles, Bank accounts, Estate Planning, life insurance, Probate, Property Deeds, Real Estate, Retirement Accounts, Trust Funding
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Unfunded Trusts: Pitfalls for the Unwary
Funding the Trust is an essential but often overlooked step towards avoiding a lengthy and expensive probate. Creating a trust instrument, with all of the appropriate instructions, provisos and expressions of intent, is worse than useless if no step is … Continue reading
Posted in Estate Planning, Living Trusts, Probate, Trust Funding
Tagged Dispute Avoidance, Living Trust, Probate, Trust Funding, Wills
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