By Minnesota law, a Minnesota resident can direct by a written list how remaining items of tangible personal property should be distributed to and among friends and family following death. Unlike a Will or a Revocable Trust (also called a Living Trust), such a written list does not need to be notarized or witnessed, but […]
If you don’t already work with a personal financial advisor or financial coach, you may have never completed a personal financial statement. From a recordkeeping perspective, creating and maintaining a personal financial statement summarizing your current assets and liabilities is a tremendously important estate planning matter. In creating a list of assets and liabilities in […]
A Family Vision Statement can be any non-legal written direction made by a “senior generation” (e.g., mom and dad) to the named beneficiaries of the senior generation’s legal estate plan detailing how an inheritance should be used following death. The Statement is directed towards whomever is receiving the inheritance, whether children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, siblings […]
At your death, any asset owned in your individual name and that does not pass either by (1) joint ownership with rights of survivorship, (2) by beneficiary designation or (3) by a revocable trust becomes owned by your “estate.” Your estate is an intangible legal entity, like a partnership or a corporation, which becomes the […]
Certain types of jointly-owned (co-owned) assets automatically pass to the surviving co-owner at death as a “right of survivorship.” For example, most of my married clients purchased their residence as “joint tenants with right of survivorship.” As a legal attribute of this kind of ownership, the ownership on the property is automatically transferred to the […]
Many of our married clients have children that are not the children of both the husband and wife. Knowing many of these families personally, I know the joy that the parents have in treating both their own children, as well as their step-children, as equal members of the household. While many of our married clients […]
You can choose to benefit a child or other beneficiary through one of two means: (1) through an “outright” gift, or (2) to an ongoing “testamentary trust” for the benefit of the child or other beneficiary. We assist our clients understand the pros and cons of each approach, as it is critically important to understand […]