Neglecting Estate Obligations While Avoiding Probate

19 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by Robert Dowling in Planning Tips

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Assets, Avoiding Probate, Belligerent Beneficiaries, Claims against The Estate, Common Estates, Creditors, Debts, Estate Obligations, Estate Plan, Estate Planning Strategy, Estate Property, Executor, Inheritors, Notice To Creditors, Taxes, Unintended Consequences

Avoiding probate as a strategy and fulfilling your estate obligations can work together if planned properly. Although avoiding probate is a preferred estate planning strategy, the strategy will fail if your plan overlooks taxes and debts. Therefore, while planning, you must account for all taxes and debts of the estate or unintended consequences may result.

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How a Future Executor Should Prepare for an Estate Administration

10 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by Robert Dowling in Probate

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Abatement, Ademption, Assets, Beneficiaries, Common Estates, decedent, Distributing Property, Embedded Mistakes, estate, Estate Administration, Estate Attorney, Estate Documents, Estate Plan, Estate Planning, Executor, Financial Arrangements, Future Executor, Lawyer, Legal Arrangements, Opt-Out, Real Estate Agent, Tax Professional, Taxes, testator, Unintended Consequences, Will

prepare for an estate administration

Essentially, a future executor should prepare for an estate administration while the testator is still alive. By reviewing the estate plan with the testator, the future executor will understand the wishes of the testator. Additionally, depending on the level of knowledge the future executor possesses on estate planning, correcting embedded mistakes in the estate plan is possible. Regardless, at the very minimum, knowing the basic details of the estate plan and the wishes of the testator may be enough. If the future executor has a higher understanding of estate planning, then perhaps an extensive review is possible. Either way, preparing for an estate administration with the testator is an important step towards a smooth estate administration.

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Appointing Multiple Executors to Handle Your Estate

11 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by Robert Dowling in Planning Tips

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Appointing Multiple Executors, Closing the Estate, Co-Executor, Common Estate, Common Estates, Complex Common Estate, estate, Estate Administration, Estate Business, Estate Planning, Executor, Out-of-State Executor, Planning, probate, Probate Court, probate process, Spouse, Surviving Spouse, Tax Professional, Taxes, Unintended Consequences

In common estates, appointing multiple executors happens regularly. There are many reasons for this occurrence such as sparing feelings of family or lack of confidence in the surviving spouse. Regardless of the reason, using multiple executors can be beneficial to an estate or disastrous to an estate. There are valid reasons to use multiple executors for a common estate, but not many. Unfortunately, those planning their estates tend to overlook essential factors in selecting executors. As a result, they appoint executors for the wrong reasons causing unintended consequences for the estate. So, before appointing multiple executors, those planning their estates must consider the essential factors in selecting executors.

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The Need to Properly List Beneficiaries on a Life Insurance Policy

23 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by Robert Dowling in Beneficiaries

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Alternate Beneficiaries, Beneficiaries, Beneficiary, Community Property, Community Property States, Custodian, Deceased Beneficiary, Descendants, estate, Government Assistance, Guardian, Inherit, Inheritance, Life Insurance Policy, Minor Children, Per Capita, Per Stirpes, Policy Owner, Shared Funds, Special Needs, Special Needs Benefciairy, Special Needs Trust, Supplemental Trust, Trust, Trustee, Uniform Transfer to Minors Act, Unintended Consequences, Will

Typically, people who need to provide for others after death will purchase a life insurance policy. Although there are many types of life insurance policies, the common thread between them are beneficiary designations. In simple terms, once the policy owner perishes, the listed beneficiary will receive the proceeds from the policy. However, listing beneficiaries on a life insurance policy needs careful attention for reasons mentioned in the article List Your Beneficiaries Wisely in Your Estate Plan. Otherwise, after death, unintended consequences may occur. So, to avoid unintended consequences, properly listing beneficiaries on a life insurance policy is essential.

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Considerations for Choosing Your Beneficiaries

25 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by Robert Dowling in Beneficiaries

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Alternate Beneficiary, Assets, Beneficiaries, Designated Beneficiaries, Divorce, estate, Estate Plan, Estate Size, Life Circumstances, Marital Status, Married With Children, Primary Beneficiary, Residuary Beneficiaries, Single Never Married, Unintended Consequences, Will

Another important step in building your estate plan is choosing your beneficiaries. As mentioned in the article How Estate Size Will Influence Your Estate Plan, the estate size will influence the size of your beneficiary pool. Accordingly, along with estate size, here are a few more basic considerations for choosing your beneficiaries:

Consider your marital status.
Designated beneficiaries on assets.
Using additional types of beneficiaries along with the primary beneficiary.

Although there are many intricate considerations concerning beneficiaries, these basic considerations are more typical of a common estate.

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How Estate Size Will Influence Your Estate Plan

15 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by Robert Dowling in Planning Tips

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Abatement, Abatement Process, Asset Management, Beneficiary, Bequests, Debts, Earned Income After Death, estate, Estate Income Taxes, Estate Obligations, Estate Plan. Common Estate, Estate Planning, Estate Size, Estate Taxes, Expenses, Large Beneficiary Pool, Net Worth, Order of Payment, probate, Probate Avoidance Strategy, Probate Court, Retirement Accounts, Simplified Probate Process, Small Estate, Tax Planning, Tax Professional, Unintended Consequences, Well-Funded Estate, Will

To properly plan your estate, it’s important to understand how your estate size will influence your estate plan. As explained in the article The First Step to Estate Planning: Estimate Your Net Worth, your net worth will determine your estate size. By calculating your net worth, some important questions will come into focus regarding your estate plan:

Are there enough assets to cover your debts and other estate obligations?

If there are enough assets to cover the estate obligations, are the remaining assets enough to cover bequests?

Do I need to plan for estate taxes or estate income taxes?

Do I need to plan for abatement?

Obviously, these are just a few basic questions as life circumstances can make estate planning much more complicated. However, the answers to these questions will influence how you begin to properly plan for your estate.

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Tag Archives: Unintended Consequences

Neglecting Estate Obligations While Avoiding Probate

How a Future Executor Should Prepare for an Estate Administration

Appointing Multiple Executors to Handle Your Estate

The Need to Properly List Beneficiaries on a Life Insurance Policy

Considerations for Choosing Your Beneficiaries

How Estate Size Will Influence Your Estate Plan