As an executor or trustee, your job is to distribute your deceased loved one’s money and property according to the terms of their will or trust. Sometimes, beneficiaries are difficult to find. This might be due to family conflict, or simply losing touch. What should you, as the fiduciary, do if you can’t locate the beneficiary of a will or trust?
Being an executor demands foresight, organization, and attention to detail to make sure all beneficiaries get what they're supposed to. If you're feeling the weight of this task, here are some tips to help ease the burden.
When a family member passes away, the last thing you want to be dealing with is paperwork. In an ideal situation, the legal concerns are so well handled in advance that you can grieve in peace. Setting up a revocable living trust is often the best option to avoid probate. Let's explore why that is.
Every trust has at least one grantor, also known as the trustmaker. This is the person who creates the trust. So, the terms grantor trust and nongrantor trust can get confusing. Its helpful to understand that neither of these terms refer to the existence or nonexistence of the trustmaker. Instead, these terms have to do with the trust’s income tax liability.
If you are among the minority of US adults who have prepared a will, living trust, advance directives, and other end-of-life documents, you may think that your estate plan is finished. But you may want to reconsider. An estate plan is a living set of documents meant to be regularly reviewed and updated as life changes happen.
Choosing your estate planning attorney is important. Due to its personal and emotional process, it's important to ask your attorney questions before you hire them, and make sure they are the right person for the job.
Around half of all marriages end in divorce. If you’re like most people, you want to keep your child’s inheritance safe from ex-spouses, future creditors, and more. If you want to keep your child’s future spouse from inheriting what you leave them, consider using these estate planning strategies.
Under Ohio law, a trustee has a duty to communicate with beneficiaries. A trustee's responsibilities may include giving beneficiaries a copy of the trust document, providing information about the anticipated timeframe of trust administration, and preparing an annual accounting form. Unfortunately, some trustees don't do this, leaving beneficiaries in the dark. If your trustee is unresponsive to your requests for information, you can examine the contact method, get an attorney involved, a file a petition with the court.
Life insurance has helped many people provide for their loved ones in the way they had envisioned. Many different types of people can benefit from having adequate life insurance coverage, including business owners, parents, and caregivers.
If you're an art collector or art maker, your work deserves to be preserved and protected. A sound estate plan, crafted by an experienced estate planning attorney, can help you do just that. The process begins by cataloging your artwork, appraising your artwork, and accounted for it in your estate planning documents.
