RunningBum
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2007
- Messages
- 13,236
I'm divorced with one adult daughter to whom I'd like to leave most, but not all, of my estate. Much of my wealth is in accounts where I have her designated as the sole beneficiary, or a transfer on death registration with her named.
What I'd like to do with my entire estate is to leave the bulk to her, but something like 5% to each of my siblings, or their heirs if they aren't around. I don't want to leave a fixed dollar amount to them, because if for some reason my estate dwindles, I could wind up leaving more to them than my daughter. Or if it takes off and inflation runs wild, I could be leaving them just a token amount.
The money that bypasses probate because of the TOD or beneficiary designation and goes directly to her--is that considered part of the estate for this purpose? I hope it does, because it would be a headache to figure out what % to leave the others. It seems that it must, but this question has been nagging me for awhile and I haven't found the answer.
I also don't want to update my will every year, like an asset allocation adjustment, based on how much I have and in which accounts it is in.
I read the NOLO estate planning book and it talks about POD/TOD but doesn't answer this question.
What I'd like to do with my entire estate is to leave the bulk to her, but something like 5% to each of my siblings, or their heirs if they aren't around. I don't want to leave a fixed dollar amount to them, because if for some reason my estate dwindles, I could wind up leaving more to them than my daughter. Or if it takes off and inflation runs wild, I could be leaving them just a token amount.
The money that bypasses probate because of the TOD or beneficiary designation and goes directly to her--is that considered part of the estate for this purpose? I hope it does, because it would be a headache to figure out what % to leave the others. It seems that it must, but this question has been nagging me for awhile and I haven't found the answer.
I also don't want to update my will every year, like an asset allocation adjustment, based on how much I have and in which accounts it is in.
I read the NOLO estate planning book and it talks about POD/TOD but doesn't answer this question.