Why Making a Will Is An Important Task for Your Family And You

All our lives we work hard to ensure that our family never has to face a difficult time ever but we promptly forget all about them at the end. We are talking about preparing wills or last testaments that people almost always don't prepare or unnecessarily delay due to a psychological block. The psychological block is our inherent fear of death which is aggravated during the making of a will. The preparation of a will is almost an indication of our own mortality and that is something none of us want to accept.

But whether we accept it or not, our mortality is the only truth and we must keep the responsibility of taking care of our family with us. A will could save our family from a host of troubles out of which some could be huge hassles that will need a lot of time and resources to solve. Say, for example, the most common form of trouble that comes from the non-preparation of a will is property disputes. Normal property disputes could siphon off huge amounts of time and resources. Plus there is no guarantee that the problem will be solved within a stipulated time. Property disputes are known to stretch for years and some even extend till the death of the supposed beneficiary. This means there are chances that your family might never get to enjoy the property that rightfully belongs to them.

Does that statement depress you? But that's simply the beginning as there will be more and more problems associated with the non-existence of a will.

The next problem that could occur is the proper division of the property and in case of common ownership of a property- the lack of a trust fund. These are legal wrangles that could again put pressure on your family or dear one's resources.

Making a will is the best form of property management as the methods of division is expressly mentioned in the will. Without the existence of a will, there are chances that the beneficiaries or dependents will have a tough fight in their hands to ensure their right on the property. Then there are properties which have common ownership and for those, you need to create a trust fund. But that's again not possible without the presence of a will or testament.

Make a will immediately as this will not only guarantee the peace and security of your loved ones but also give you the strength to accept your own impending mortality.

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Once I Sign a Durable Power of Attorney, Can I Change My Mind?

Once I Sign a Durable Power of Attorney, Can I Change My Mind?

The Advantages of Making a Will Which Can Serve As a Catalyst for Preparing It

Like most legal documents, the importance of a will increases with its acceptance amongst authorities. Making a Will is a complete legal procedure and its advantages are many which make the preparation imperative on the part of the owner. But the legal responsibility for making a Will shouldn't be taken in a negative light and procrastinated about. Instead the very advantages of making a Will could be the single greatest catalyst for the preparation of a Will by the owner of the assets. Below are a few of the major advantages of making a Will that could be the catalyst for the owner to prepare it.

Also we would like to state that people rarely find making a Will to be a pleasant task. Preparing a Will is a metaphor for our own mortality which people don't want to face. But as they say- No one is immortal or escapes death and taxes! Who knows? You could compromise with your own mortal end during the preparation and come out with a better view on life.

The advantages of making a Will are:

No dispute between dependents: There can be no chance of any conflict or dispute between the several dependents of the property if a will is already made. The will perfectly sums up what is left to whom and that itself diffuses any chance of conflict plus the division is also ensured by law of the land. Without a Will, inheritance disputes often run into years and decades which are not a viable option.

Lack of ambiguity: A Will is a legal document that clearly states the division of the property and that in itself clearly puts out the lack of ambiguity.

Property Management: The property can now be easily managed or divided according to the directions given in the Will and that leads to a better sense of property management.

Appointment of Executor/Guardian or Trustee: Will often appoints a responsible person as a Executor or a Trustee who acts as the overseer of the property. This also is important when the beneficiary is a minor or of unsound mind and cannot look after the assets.

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Living Trust Definition - What is a Living Trust?

The best living trust definition is a written legal document which substitutes for a will as your primary estate planning vehicle. When you have a trust you transfer your assets such as your home, financial accounts and personal property to the trust. In addition, you change the beneficiary or contingent beneficiary of retirement accounts and life insurance to the trust. These assets are then administered for your benefit during your lifetime, and either continue to be held or transferred to your beneficiaries when you die.

The creator, also called the grantor, of the trust, usually names him or herself as the initial trustee in charge of managing the assets. This allows the grantor to remain in control of the assets during his or her lifetime. For all practical purposes under this living trust definition, nothing changes in the way the grantor manages or controls the assets after they are put in trust. The only difference is the named owner.

A successor trustee is named in the document, usually a family member or friend but sometimes an institution such as a bank or trust company. This successor trustee then will manage the trust assets for benefit of the grantor if the grantor becomes disabled and for the contingent beneficiaries after the grantor dies.

This living trust definition is for the revocable living trust. It is also sometimes referred to as a revocable inter vivos or a grantor trust. It may be revoked or amended at any time by the grantors as long as they are still competent.

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Estate Planning - More Than Just A Legal Will

When people think of Estate Planning, they generally think of legal wills. Estate planning is not just a will, although it does involve writing one. Rather, it's a series of legal steps that involves allowing your beneficiaries to avoid probate and minimize the taxes incurred, and for you to write a living will in which you nominate trusted associates who would assume power of attorney and executor status should you be incapacitated or die. Estate planning also allows you more direct control over how your assets will be treated when you're gone.

One of the most important parts of any estate plan are measures to avoid too much of the estate's worth being lost to taxes. In the United State and abroad, dying can attract a number of specific taxes from both State and Federal governments, like death tax and estate tax. The simplest way to minimize estate tax is to name recipients of funds or assets from your estate in your legal will, specifying that a certain amount should be given as a gift. Provided your lifetime tax-free gift threshold of $1 million is not exceeded, these portions cannot attract any taxation.

An important part of any estate plan is the inclusion of a living will. A living will is not usually considered a legally binding document, however, it is given consideration if you are ever incapacitated and left unable to carry out your legal rights, or make decisions. While the living will itself may not carry much weight, you can nominate someone to assume your enduring power of attorney (EPA). If you are unable to exercise the living will as a legally binding decision, your enduring power of attorney can only be challenged by a court.

The will itself is the most important part of any estate plan. If you should die without writing a will, the specific laws of your state will determine how your assets will be divided following probate. Additionally, with no prior planning of where the assets should go on the event of your death, your estate is likely to be taxed the maximum possible amount. Where no will is present, the spouse is likely to keep one third of the value of the estate with the remainder to be distributed evenly among children.

An estate plan enables you to stipulate, for instance, that if your children receive an inheritance, the property is given to them personally and not, for example, to the child's spouse. Should your child ever divorce, then the value of any inheritance received would not have to be shared in any divorce settlement, as it would not be a shared asset of that marriage.

One of the more important aspects of estate planning is the protection it can provide your assets. Typically, after a person passes away their family sells the assets that were left to them and divides the proceeds among themselves. If, however, you have a company or significant property holdings, you may wish to prevent the breakup of any of these assets, judging them to have more value whole compared with their value after being broken up.

Estate planning allows very specific instructions for how such assets should be treated if you wish to prevent this asset division from happening. For example, you can specify in your will that you require that your business be run by a family trust whose members and membership requirements you specify. It is not uncommon for people to wish to leave behind some legacy when they've gone, and the establishment of a family trust to ensure your assets are managed properly by a family member is a good way of ensuring it.

Another common request made is for a trust fund to be established as a scholarship fund or similar. Again, with a proper estate plan, it is possible for a benefactor to specify who a scholarship fund is for, and who is allowed to sit on any board or committee it relies on to pick a recipient.

Estate planning is the method by which specific instructions may be given in advance on how to manage your affairs should you become incapacitated or die. Estate planning represents the best way of protecting your assets from the whims of financially irresponsible relatives, excessive government taxation, and dissolution of your assets by the normal laws of succession in the state or country concerned.

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Legal Document Preparation - By The People

Rene talks about how By The People Document Preparation Service in Fairfield CA can help people with uncontested legal matters in an inexpensive way. See more at http://www.bythepeopleca.com, or call 707-428-9871

How to Properly Use a Power of Attorney

A power of attorney is a legal document that authorizes one person to act on behalf of another in the legal or business dealings of the person authorizing the other. This type of document has a lot of relevance when, for example, somebody needs to execute some business or legal matter but is unable to do so for whatever reason. In the absence of the person, another person may be authorized to execute the matter through the use of a power of attorney, which in common law systems or in civil law systems, authorizes another person to act on behalf of the person so authorizing the other. The person authorizing is known as the "principal" and the person authorized is called the "agent". The agent may, on behalf of the principal, do such lawful acts such as signing the principal's name on documents.

An agent is a fiduciary for the principal and, as this is an important relationship between principal and agent, the law requires that the agent be a person of impeccable integrity who shall always act honestly and in the best interests of the principal. In case a contract exists between the agent and the principal for remuneration or another form of monetary payment being made to the agent, such contract may be separate and in writing to that effect. However, the power of attorney may also be verbal, though many an institution, bank, hospital as well as the Internal Revenue Service of the USA requires a written power of attorney to be submitted by the agent before it is honored.

The "Equal Dignity Rule" is the principle of law that has the same requirements as the agent as it does to the principal. Suppose that the agent has a power of attorney that authorizes him or her to sign the sales deed of the principal's house and that such sales deed should be notarized by law. The power of attorney does not absolve the agent from the necessity of having the sales deed notarized. His or her signature to the sales deed must also be notarized.

There are two types of powers of attorney. One is the "special power of attorney" and the other, "limited power of attorney." The power of attorney may be specific to some special instance or it may be general and encompasses whatever the court specifies to be its scope. The document will lapse when the grantor (principal) dies. In case the principal should become incapacitated due to some physical or mental illness, his power of attorney will be revoked, under the common law. There is an exception. In case the principal had in the document specifically stated that the agent may continue to act on his behalf even if the principal became incapacitated, then the power of attorney would continue to enjoy legal sanction.

In some of the States in the USA, there is a "springing power of attorney" which kicks in only in case the grantor (principal) becomes incapacitated or some future act or circumstance occurs. Unless the agreement has been made irrevocable, the agreement may be revoked by the principal by informing the agent that he is revoking the power of attorney.

Making use of standardized power of attorney forms helps in framing a legally sound and mutually beneficial relationship for principal and agent. With the ease of use and ready availability of such forms, it is highly recommended that they be utilized when thinking of granting a power of attorney to someone. However, care should be taken not to let unscrupulous persons defraud innocent persons such as the elderly through ill-conceived agreements.

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Wills and Trusts - What Are the Differences?

Both of these legal documents offer a way to distribute estate assets when a person dies but each is different in a variety of ways.

Wills

With a will, it is cheaper to prepare but it can be expensive to probate. In many jurisdictions, according to estate law, this is a legally binding document, which will allow you to give your assets to a designated beneficiary or beneficiaries. Unfortunately, this usually does not happen until after the person of the will dies. A will executor carries out the distribution of their assets. After the creator dies, the will must go through probate. During probate, the court will decide if the will is valid. Then the court will supervise the distribution of the assets. This can be a costly process because the assets can be subjected to estate taxes. When this is the case, an estate lawyer's services may be required.

With a will, one of the drawbacks is that they become public record after the creator's death so everything about the will is public knowledge. In order to manage the distribution of assets, there will be a conservatorship or a power of attorney.

Trusts

A trust is more expensive to prepare but when there is a trust, it will usually allow the beneficiaries to avoid any probate costs. After having a trust written it can take effect any time during a person's lifetime using a trustor to convey assets to the trustee to hold for the beneficiaries. When the creator dies, the probate is avoided. This is because the assets were transferred during the lifetime of the trustor. The trust will continue to function even after the trustor dies.

With a trust, it will usually remain private and allow the beneficiaries of the trust to maintain confidentially about the specific terms of the trust. Generally having a trust can provide more tax benefits. In some jurisdictions, they will allow for a certain amount of the trust assets to be passed on to the beneficiaries without requiring them to pay gift and estate taxes. Depending on any applicable trust laws, the tax perks available will vary from one jurisdiction to another jurisdiction.

In managing a trust, it can be done by a trustee or a trustor but will depend on how the trust has been set up. If the trustor manages the trust then he will usually specify who will manage it once he has died.

In conclusion

Looking at all the facts it appears that it is best if a trust is set up to distribute the assets instead of using a will. If you are uncertain talk to an estate attorney for legal advice as to which one you should set up for your particular situation.

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Estate Planning : Have You Been Named in the Will?

If you are a beneficiary in a will, you will most likely receive notice after the will is entered in probate court. Learn what to do if you have been named in a will from an estate planning and probate lawyer in this free video on estate law.

Advance Medical Directive: The Basics

Advance medical directives are legal documents designed to outline a person's wishes and preferences in regard to medical treatments, interventions and other health care related issues. Policies may vary from state to state, but regardless of location, advance directives should always be included with each individual's personal medical records.

Advanced directives typically fall into three categories:

• Do Not Resuscitate Order: This legal document, also known as DNR, is extremely valuable for determining end-of-life issues. A DNR order, however, is not legal until signed by the patient, a witness and a physician. It should also be dated correctly and clearly state whether the patient wants to be resuscitated or not if their heart stops beating.


• Living Will: This written document stipulates what kinds of medical treatment the patient recommends should they become incapacitated. It can be either general or very specific depending on the person and how adamant they are about their end-of-life care issues. The usual items outlined in a living will include: whether they wish to be on life support, receive tube feedings, length of time (if any) that they will stay on breathing machines, the individual that will make decisions on their behalf, etc.


• Durable Power of Attorney: This type of advance directive allows an individual the opportunity to designate someone, or a number of individuals, to act on their behalf for specific affairs. A durable power of attorney, or DPOA, has the ability to make bank transactions, sign social security checks, apply for disability, or even write checks to pay utility bills while an individual is medically incapacitated. Once the document is signed, the DPOA has legal priority even over next of kin.

When Should a Directive be Created?

You will see an advanced medical directive used for several different situations-such as when someone is having a major surgery, diagnosed with a life-threatening illness or is even becoming a single parent. Advance medical directives are extremely beneficial if an individual is unable to make his or her own medical decisions. Whatever the reason, all advance medical directives should be signed by an attorney and be notarized.

How to Obtain an Advance Medical Directive

Luckily, there are many ways that someone can obtain an advance medical directive. Many companies have booklets available, social workers and nurses usually have them on hand, and hospitals and attorneys also have copies of directives. It is worth the effort to ask for an advance medical directive as it will be invaluable during a medical dilemma.

By having previously documented personal wishes and preferences, the burden of making tough decisions for family's and physicians' is lessened. Not to mention, the patient's autonomy and dignity will more likely be preserved by following their own choices regardless of mental or physical capacity.

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