Written by Andrew Lorelli Supplemental Needs Trusts (“SNTs”, also called Special Needs Trusts) are a common estate planning tool. SNTs are for people who receive means-tested government benefits, as well as those who also may be the beneficiaries of an estate or the recipient of settlement funds after a lawsuit. SNTs are designed to allow [...]
A death file is either a physical or digital file that contains everything that a loved one would need after your passing. What should be in your death file? Well there are the obvious documents, like your last will and testament, any trust documents, beneficiary designations, etc. But what else is important? You should have [...]
Irresponsible Child: Difficulties with estate planning Estate planning is a commonly overlooked tool that can give you peace of mind and help your children after your passing. Parents want what is best for their children: to live happily, healthily, and hopefully to be more successful than their parents before them. Sometimes, however, you might understand [...]
Family Situations Can Change Often Time flies by faster than you think, but this is not merely an observation about life. The fact of the matter is, what works for you and your family today may not make sense tomorrow, or in a few years from now. Maintaining and updating your estate plan very important, [...]
It’s almost unbelievable that this Friday will be the first day of Fall! Although these unusually warm September days make it difficult to believe pumpkin-spice season is already here, chilled Autumn days will be blowing in quickly. Many of us will start settling in with heavy blankets and hot chocolate, and breaking bread over comforting [...]
Fund Your Trust. Fill Your Crust! Creating a trust is much like baking a pie. Whether you’ve bought a pre-made crust or made your own, there is still some prep in readying it for filling. “Creating” a trust is the same as preparing a crust – you’ve given shape and form to the trust, but [...]
In Trusts We Trust: A Lesson In History The Uniform Trust Code (UTC) was coordinated by legal practitioners across the country to standardize and simplify state trust code in 2000, and was last amended in 2010. Since then, many states have completely or, at least, partially adopted the UTC. Estates and Protected Individuals Code (commonly [...]
Special Needs Trust Definitions For most of my clients, discussing whether a Special Needs Trust is the appropriate strategy for them requires a basic understanding of some terms. The following are the Special Needs Trust Definitions of the most common terms used. Beneficiary The beneficiary is the person whose benefits the Special Needs Trust is [...]
