Will and Property

[Sunset]

How will your executor pay for insurance, utilities, maintenance, taxes, etc. on the real estate while the estate is settled?

Good question, I have a bank account that has no TOD/POD on it, and if both of us die, the executor can use that money.
Since my TOD/POD is to DW, if she is also dead at the same time, then all my stuff goes to estate, and executor has a pile to use.

If DW is alive, she has enough to cover it, plus gets some TOD/POD.

 

[Finance Dave]

One other thing I just thought of....

I live in Indiana, and they recently passed a law that gives vehicle owners the right to add a POD beneficiary to their car title. We just went in this year and had this set up for all 4 of our cars....avoiding probate on these or any other legal wrangling. Check with your BMV to see if your state has this. Some states also allow a vehicle to be titled in two names (spouses)....so you have two choices that end up being the same amount of work....

1) Title in both names. Then when one person dies, the other goes to BMV and has deceased person's name removed.

2) Put in one name, then upon death the survivor goes to BMV and either has POD changed (depending on which person died) or has the title put into their name with a new POD beneficiary.

 

[kgtest]

I didn't read all responses so I'm sorry if duplicated.

We just went through our estate docs for the 3rd time....we are 57/61. We struggled with many of the same things. My pieces of advice are:

1) In the will just make the bequest...i.e. "I bequest my musclecar to Joe" or "I bequest my wedding ring to Phyllis". Then, you can have a separate letter that is not part of the actual will that your executor will have access to that can "explain" things more. For example, it might say "Joe, you helped me work on that car every weekend for 2 years, and I appreciated that. I want you to have it. But if you don't have room to store it or money to insure it, just sell it or do what you want with it."

2) Make some sort of allowance for pets. We have a Sheltie and no family who likes dogs. We found a person who rescues Sheltie's and got verbal agreement he would take her. We put his info in the will, and bequeathed him a few thousand dollars for care for the animal.

3) Put as much property as you can into beneficiary status...as beneficiaries take precedence over dispositions in a will and make it easier for everyone. This is mostly your bank accounts, IRAs, etc.

4) Leave many other documents for your executor.
a) list of passwords to key accounts/websites.
b) Locations of key documents...do you have a PO box? Safe combination? Etc.
c) Funeral instructions
d) List of accounts (we used an Excel spreadsheet) showing balances as of xx/xx/xx,
contact names for each company, account numbers, etc.
e) If you own any businesses, make sure your operating agreement spells out what
to do in the event of your death. I own rental properties in an LLC...and I want
my wife to be able to make decisions such as sell them should I die...so I put this
in the operating agreement.
f) Obituary
g) Key contacts (who do you want to know that you've died?)


I'm sure I forgot a few, but you get the idea. Our info is all in a binder that has a clear label stating "If I die" on the spine, and I showed my executor (my brother) where it's at so he can easily find it. Of course I also gave my brother a copy. My physician has a copy of our health care proxies also. Make sure you list who has your documents so that when you update them 10 years from now you can collect them from anyone...avoid wrong copies floating around.

Good luck and thank goodness you are doing this now....it has given us tremendous peace of mind.

Thanks! That operating agreement for the rentals is key for us!

 

[kgtest]

Overwhelmingly the takeaway, is don't delay, and document everything as literal as possible! I think this list above is a good "punch list" So where we are at is
1. I like the extra documentation as to WHY you made the decision...good call, need to update!
No need for 2 (no pets but will need to take into account when we do)
3. We already have this covered, I am super diligent about Beneficiaries as I knowingly had been lacking the will thinking...ahh my life and finance situation doesn't call, but clearly it does...I have things worth documenting!
4. Surprisingly the only thing I hadn't already had documented and taken care of was 4e. We need to put together an operating agreement for S corp and LLC. One will just be dissolved with accounts already setup with beneficiaries the other is a bit more complex and will change over time.

I want my ashes scattered in a couple different places, I put that in writing. I want certain foods at my funeral...because hell I was smart enough to plan for it so it's one final testament to my diligence! Yes, I picked certain types of my favorite candies to be on display. Even THIS might change over time.

 

[rk911]

It isn't. Really the complicated part was asking someone to take that huge responsibility of both being trustee and also caregiver etc...

Property is fairly simple but I wanted others input. In all intents and purposes our will, will be updated throughout time as circumstances change...

We are having a third kid, so it's really pusing me to just get the first one done, notarized and official.

Of course the whole purpose is to avoid probate, the time and money that comes with that. Right now even without a will, we are "somewhat" protected in terms of financial liabilities, but the PoA etc needs to be filed soon! In reality that is just me and DW for eachother...and our kids. So once we have a name for third baby!

im illinois, and i assume in most or all states, a trust avoids probate. just one more hurdle that is eliminated.

my answer referred to the issue of property. but in our case designating a trustee and successor trustees *was* easy. we have no kids, i have a sister and a nephew, my wife has a brother. final successor trustee is the law firm. our will (a pour-thru will), revocable trust, property and medical POA are all in place.

 

[gayl]

At all banks and brokerage accounts possible, I assign TOD/POD (Transfer on Death, or Pay on Death). This keeps these things out of a WILL, so no probate needed.

physical property like buildings, land, are in the WILL, and will need to be probated.

Fortunately in California homes can also have a TOD if divided equally. The state doesn't get involved if personal property value is under 150k. When mom died we decided it was under that so no issue after consulting Sonoma County. We all just picked. I later discovered it was probably over that when my brother discovered my dad's hoard of old gold & silver coins. But we just divide that too (2 of us gave our share to a nephew who collected them when raised by dad and he was left out of Fidelity & house)

 

[ncbill]

Hustled over to the bank with their POA once my recently-deceased relative got their terminal diagnosis last fall...emptied their safe deposit box...very little there...they had been quietly selling what they had over the years just to make ends meet...gave what was left to the beneficiaries to let them fight it out.

Same with everything in the house...started emptying it out immediately after diagnosis...made the family come up and get what they wanted, ended up donating nearly all of the rest...your stuff isn't worth what you think it is.

Sold what few investments they had left (no taxes owed, income too low)...moved the proceeds & their house into the trust their attorney setup not long after they were diagnosed (note: I was named as a co-trustee, not successor)

Once the house sells (hopefully this year) will cut checks to the beneficiaries then file first (& probably last) trust return early next year.

Never opened an estate.

 

[Cobra9777]

Texas allows TOD on real estate and vehicles. Accounts at financial institutions all have beneficiary and/or TOD/POD designations. That covers 99.9% of net worth. Easy.

As for the rest of our junk, we have a will that specifies which of our two kids we'd like to have certain things. Reality is they probably don't even want our old crap. So the will has no practical purpose. We're fine if they sell anything of value and donate the rest.

DFIL died last year. DMIL wanted everything gone. The family got together and divided up a few things, mainly some memorabilia and similar stuff that just didn't seem right to throw away (even though nobody really wanted it). The rest (mostly clothes, shoes, and some other personal effects) went to a local charity in the back of my Suburban. He had a will but we never once looked at it. Everything of value transferred seamlessly to DMIL in a couple of days.

 

[lemming]

I need to get rid of two items in my home. Both are things that my father gave to me.
Then I want to say all personal property is to be dumped or make a phone call to ACTS (our local charity ) for whatever they will pick up. I don't have anyone in the area that would want to tackle the remains of a home. Maybe Servpro offers a prepaid haulaway
I have seen townhomes here that stay empty for years because there is no one to clear them out.

 

[The HalfBreed]

At all banks and brokerage accounts possible, I assign TOD/POD (Transfer on Death, or Pay on Death). This keeps these things out of a WILL, so no probate needed.

physical property like buildings, land, are in the WILL, and will need to be probated.

I do the same with ToD and PoD. 3 children, 2 own homes (both in NJ), 1 daughter just out of college living with me (Chicago suburb) til......... I'll give my home, belongings and car to her. My son can take my Honda Goldwing if I still own it.
Depending on who acts up, I can change my PoD / ToD without affecting my will. Daughter here in IL can use my Life Insurance for what she needs to here. She'll be doing my final estate.

 

[replyguy]

I told my son to take what he wants, then give my brother and sisters anything they want
and donate/dump the rest. No yard or estate sale of anything left.

I don't want random people bargaining over my crap even if I am dead.

 

[catii]

Some useful info here. Thanks!

 

[meleana]

What about revocable living trusts with an incapacity clause? Especially for your house since your partner could pass? And- what if your TOD or POD beneficiary passes? You can't have a secondary beneficiary with those.

 

[gwraigty]

What about revocable living trusts with an incapacity clause? Especially for your house since your partner could pass? And- what if your TOD or POD beneficiary passes? You can't have a secondary beneficiary with those.

Generally speaking, you can have contingent TOD/POD beneficiaries named, in case the primary beneficiary passes. All of the financial firms we've worked with allow this. In my state, you can also name contingent TOD beneficiaries for real property.