I'm an admitted tightwad and not a lawyer, just to get that out there and take this for what it's worth.

I have had to clean up some messes left by others (as an executor)and one that was done simply and correctly.
First, this area of law is state specific. In other words, somebody here that had the same situation as you with a perfect outcome but lives in a different state is not your situation. Or maybe is.
Get a competent lawyer, and not someones best friend or relative that's a lawyer but maybe not so good at what they do. Wills, Estates and Trusts sounds like right specialty, but other lawyers here can say with more authority.
Kids? This is too important to do it wrong. Does not have to be expensive but does need to be right.
First, while you are living you need to assign someone as health car power of attorney (and a back up in case they pass before you do or are unavailable)to make decisions if you can't for yourself. Normally a spouse or adult child or other trusted relative.
Trust, also very state specific. If you are not very high net worth or live in certain states, this may actually be a hindrance and big money/time waster.
For us regular folks, titling homes, bank and retirement accounts, and other large assets can keep them out of probate, protect them from creditors, and be much better tax-wise.

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

quote:

Originally posted by dan5689:
My last attorney cost me 10 thousand dollars. He was on the dole. Killed himself at lake texhoma.

That’s useful.

You’re an idiot......

And to the OP.....

-Rob

Bold are one in the same.

Starting with an ad hominem and then offering advice is not as useful as reading is fundamental counselor.

<bigger roll eyes> </bigger roll eyes>

STEP 1: GET A LAWERY, Find one who specializes in living trusts.

Do not use legal Zoom etc.. Yes, they are cheap you get what you pay for!!!



Setting up a Living Trust is the best thing for you to do. I set one up for myself about 4 years ago.

You can use it to designate all of your assets and what assets you would like to go to what benefactors.

My Home, 401K, and other investments are all "owned" by my trust and are all designated to go to specific people and non-profits upon my death.

My family members have no control over the distribution of the assets nor do they have to determine how to sell my home etc...

Additionally, I was able to designate a person who has medical authority for me should I be incapacitated and unable to make medical decisions myself. (I'm not married thus this takes the responsibility off of my family, this avoids them having to go through the misery of making medical decisions)


the lawyer can help you identify a person or entity to execute your estate.

The best part about the trust is that there is no probate court in the process. Thus no delays in executing your wishes and settling your estate.

Do not get a trust company, that is a whole different deal and can be a big mess.

I'll check back here if you have questions. I can share who I used but the lawyer needs to local to you. You can review the website of mine to see what you should be looking for.

Note: I went through a near-death experience and was incapacitated for 20 days and didn't function well for another 2-3 months, thus the reason I set mine up.

We just had a meeting with an estate-planning attorney. He commented that that last amendment that was done was brief; that it did not provide for many contingencies that are usually part of a trust or amendment. I haven't looked at the details of that amendment since, but I do think this is one reason to have the living trust and will done by a specialist: between now and my and my wife's death a lot of things could change that are not now foreseeable.

Estate-planning attorneys have seen all kinds of unusual circumstances, all kinds of shenanigans. It's their job to be sure the trust is watertight and proof against future surprises as much as possible.

Particularly where it concerns passing on care of children; passing significant amounts of money to children and grandchildren: a few thousand dollars is cheap insurance.

quote:

Originally posted by SOTAR:
STEP 1:

Do not use legal Zoom etc.. Yes, they are cheap you get what you pay for!!! !!!



.

Beg to differ. I know what you meant but still no. The whole trust-in-box thing is travesty and the producers of these things apparently charge by the pound. If you produce it yourself, on such as zoom, you are risking your whole estate on what you think they might have meant and that the definitions you got from google are really what you think they mean and the gibberish that seems to be locked into everyone of them has a reason to be there.

On the larger question, yep, get a lawyer that has special knowledge in trusts and estates.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigolicious:

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

quote:

Originally posted by dan5689:
My last attorney cost me 10 thousand dollars. He was on the dole. Killed himself at lake texhoma.

That’s useful.

You’re an idiot......

And to the OP.....

-Rob

Bold are one in the same.

Starting with an ad hominem and then offering advice is not as useful as reading is fundamental counselor.

<bigger roll eyes> </bigger roll eyes>

No kidding. That was my fuckup.

Apologies to dan5689 and thanks to Sigolicious for calling me on it. I'm typically a bit more circumspect than that.

My advice is sound about not using LegalZoom, etc., for anything more complicated than a per stirpes distribution of estate assets.

To answer thumper's question, there's no way in hell I'd use one of them to draft a guardianship plan for kids.

Just my $0.02, and I'm not an E&T attorney. I just know enough to know when you should retain one.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:


My advice is sound about not using LegalZoom, etc., for anything more complicated than a per stirpes distribution of estate assets.

To answer thumper's question, there's no way in hell I'd use one of them to draft a guardianship plan for kids.

.....

Back when I was in a litigation-focused practice, I used to love those internet-lawyer and internet "legal" document services. I made a whole lot of money off folks who used those services and documents, fucked things up beyond all recognition or hope (usually because of benign ignorance of the law, which is understandable with how state-specific and, at times, nonsensical, the laws of estates and trusts often is), and ended up in a situation where they could do nothing but pay a lawyer - me - to try to fix their fuckup or, more often than not, their deceased relative's fuckup. The typical result? The estate wound up getting dissipated or distributed in a way that was not even close to what the deceased would have wanted.

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

quote:

Originally posted by dan5689:
My last attorney cost me 10 thousand dollars. He was on the dole. Killed himself at lake texhoma.

That’s useful.

You’re an idiot if you paid an E&T attorney $10K to do anything short of full on no-holds-barred multi-year probate litigation. Unless you’re uber-wealthy.

And to the OP, looks like you already made the right choice, but for the love of God and your estate, please do NOT use a “document in a box” service like Legal Zoom for what you’re talking about.

-Rob

Get a lawyer. Self help like Legal Zoom is as likely to fuck it up and thwart your intention. You don't know enough to know what legal mechanism to use, and Lega Zoom doesn't help you choose. Find a trusts and estate lawyer and do it right. Or don't, and risk your estate having to pay a lawyer more money to sort out the mess.

I’ve seen contracts, clearly not written by native speakers/and disastrously structured, from those generic contract places. (If I was a more predatory a-hole, I could have done real damage…. Maybe I should have, to teach that part of the business community a lesson, but i have more fun ways to make a living)

There are times and places for forms. I still do not think the laity should fill them out.

For the Brethren, all we risk is a fee - the clients who fill out their own forms, are the ones risking everything.