Siminou Law Lawyers Can Help You Create and Change Estate Plans

A good estate plan is usually designed to help you with multiple contingencies, and it does not necessarily have to be updated regularly. However, if there have been any major life changes since you have last prepared your estate plan, it would be advised and wise for you to have it reviewed by Siminou Law Lawyers. Major life changes that could warrant you making a reconsideration in your estate plan could include marriage, divorce, birth, or the purchase or sale of real estate property, whether commercial or residential.

iStock_000001722122XSmall — Siminou Law Lawyers Can Help You Create and Change Estate Plans

Planning

Lawyers are experienced estate planners who can guide you through the complicated process quickly and efficiently, with explanation every step of the way so you understand it all. We listen to your desires, evaluate your needs, and make recommendations appropriate for your circumstances. You can contact us to schedule an appointment and get to know the process better. If you need to create an estate plan, it is helpful to ask for an estate planning questionnaire, so we can get to know your situation personally and guide you down the path of appropriate steps just for you. Whether or not an impaired and handicapped individual can create an estate plan depends largely on their level and type of impairment and disability. If the person is making decisions about managing their affairs before their death, the impaired individual needs to be able to appreciate the potential consequences of his actions. The best way to determine whether or not an individual is capable of creating an estate plan is for the impaired person to privately consult a Siminou Law Lawyer, along with a medical professional, who can tell the physical and mental accuracy of their capabilities to understand the steps of the estate process. When you get married, both you and your spouse should each create a new will. Most states have laws that award a percentage of your estate to your spouse upon your death, including those states that recognize gay marriage. However, if you want to devise your will differently, you should specify this in your will. Furthermore, adding your spouse to your will may change the percentage of your estate, or of a specific asset, that another beneficiary or heir was previously written to receive. Changing a will should reflect this new proportion as you see fit.

Helping Others

Many people will prepare estate plans which allow trusted individuals to take charge of their affairs when they are no longer able to do so. Most living trusts contain provisions for the appointment of a successor trustee in the event of incapacity. Likewise, a power of attorney is commonly used in estate planning purposes that Siminou Law Lawyers deal with, and authorizes an attorney-in-fact (or an agent) to act only when the person who signed is incapacitated, but not before they are deceased. The specifics about whether you can exercise legal control over your loved one’s affairs after incapacity, and how you are allowed to exercise that authority, all depends on the terms of their particular estate planning document. For instance, some estate planning documents require a medical opinion from two doctors on when the level of incapacity would become as such. Other estate planning documents require that the drafter be deemed incompetent by the court of law. The parties can also use a resignation and appointment procedure, if the elderly person who signed will consent to it. Much of your property passes by law to beneficiaries, despite what your will says. Property such as retirement proceeds, life insurance proceeds, joint bank accounts, payable-on-death bank accounts, and stocks registered with a transfer-on-death form all pass directly to a specified beneficiary. If you change your mind about who the beneficiary should be, change the names using the forms on which you named the original beneficiaries. Do not change the named beneficiaries through your will, for it will have no effect.

Add Your Name to Family Assets to Help

Adding a party on an asset generally gives the new person some level of power and control over the asset. For instance, once on a bank account, the new individual has the power to transfer or remove all of the assets. Placing a friend or family member on the asset will make the basset vulnerable to the friend or family member’s creditors. Siminou Law Lawyers have encountered a number of grievous situations where families make asset transfers, only to receive the bad news later that they have been penalized by the taxation authorities for that person. Make sure you only add parties on that you know you can trust and who will not get penalized with your new assets. If you don’t personally know the person’s credit situation or their money situation, ask them to perform a credit check and make it known of all debts and collections accounts before you have them sign. A lawyer can draw up a document for you for them to legally sign and have notarized, stating that you will hold them legally responsible if they are to withhold any information debts and taxations that cause a loss of assets. This can be a devastating thing for a family who loses important assets because of a party added onto them in estate planning. Living trusts are also not affected by the terms of your will. If you decide to change the terms of your living trust, add an amendment to the original trust document. Then, transfer property in or out of the trustee’s name, accordingly. You do not need to worry about having to revoke a trust and create an original one, like when changing a will.