Planning is needed to take care of your present and future needs. A properly executed estate plan will provide you with the flexibility to take care of your current financial and medical needs while also ensuring that your assets are passed to family members and other parties as you direct at some point in time in the future. There is no need to sacrifice your current quality of life for sake of preparing for the future. An estate plan can also ensure that decisions are made with your assets to benefit you in the event you are no longer fully able to attend to your own needs and make your own financial and medical decisions.
Trusts and Wills
The most integral part of any estate plan is a trust. A trust is set up by a grantor or grantors in the case of a married couple. Usually the grantors of a trust appoint themselves as trustees of their trust and then designate someone else a successor trustee to carry out the administration or disposition of the trust assets when the grantors pass away. Additionally, a successor trustee may actually administer the trust assets for the benefit of the grantors in the event the grantors become incapacitated and can no longer manage their own affairs.
A trust conveys title of the grantors’ assets to the trustees of the trust. As mentioned before, usually the trustees of a grantor trust are the grantors themselves. For example, when real estate is transferred into a trust, the grantors will execute a deed transferring the real estate to themselves as trustees of their trust. This feature of trusts allows for the real estate to then pass to the successor trustee upon the death of the grantors. The successor trustee is then obligated under the terms of the trust to either administer, convey, or distribute property of the trust according to the trust terms set up by the grantors when the trust is established.
In conjunction with a full estate plan, a will acts as a backstop to the trust. A will in this context is known as a “pour-over will” because any assets that were not placed in a trust “pours over” into the trust by operation of the will.
While drafting and executing a will is better than doing nothing at all, it cannot perform the same functions as a trust because your assets are not transferred to yourself as trustee and in turn to a successor trustee. A will by itself still requires a probate to be initiated and the court to appoint an executor.
Probate
Losing a loved one is a difficult experience. Probates can add even more stress to an already trying event. Let me navigate you through this process of administering the estate, resolving claims and distributing assets without delay and unnecessary expense.
Property Transfers
Your assets need to be properly conveyed for you to receive the full benefit of your estate plan. Oftentimes, an estate plan was established before you bought your current home or before you acquired other assets. Your estate plan should be periodically reviewed and property needs to be transferred into your trust whenever you move or other substantial changes occur in your life.
The Law Offices of Thomas Richards
Thomas H. Richards, Attorney-at-Law has law offices in St. George and practices primarily in Southern Utah. Mr. Richards also maintains an office in Orem, Utah for his increasing client base in the northern part of the state. He provides estate planning and probate services to clients throughout Southern Utah and Utah and Salt Lake Counties.
Mr. Richards obtained his law degree from BYU in 2004 and an LLM in Tax from NYU in 2005. While in law school, Mr. Richards served as a Senior Editor on the BYU Law Review. Mr. Richards became licensed in the Nevada state and federal courts in 2005 and in the Utah state and federal courts in 2006.
Mr. Richards was born and raised in Central California. Prior to law school Mr. Richards served an LDS Church mission to Frankfurt Germany. Thereafter he earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Management Finance from BYU in 2001. Mr. Richards is married with three children. While his children consume most of his time outside of work, Mr. Richards enjoys working on remodeling projects on his house and developing new carpentry and woodworking skills.
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