m2dougherty
Confused about dryer sheets
My DH and I retired two years ago. We have done pretty well with our retirement savings and asset allocation. We have both now reached the age of 66 and are taking our social security along with my pension which covers most of our needs.
My dad passed away last year and I inherited a large amount of money from him. Including our home which is paid for we are worth about three and a half million. We have no children.
We have a truck and a fifth wheel trailer for our traveling adventures and we also have a new boat to enjoy for day trips.
The situation that is giving us fits at the moment is setting up our estate planning. We have an estate planning lawyer. We have our hippa forms and health care proxies done. We are hammering out our POA. We trust each other without reservation. The problem is in deciding how much power to give to someone else in case we are both incapacitated or one of us incapacitated after the death of the other. Our attorney believes in giving broad powers so that there is no need to go to court in the event of a need to alter some investment or other. We are not sure we like this idea and are talking with her about a narrower POA.
We also like our home state of MA and are not willing to move to save estate taxes. Our attorney has suggested setting up revocable living trusts for the two of and also putting our house in a trust so that all of our assets pass outside of probate. Having a trust for each of us enables us to take advantage of the allowed one million dollar deduction per estate. Otherwise when one of us passes there is no tax owed until the second one dies but then there is only one million dollar exemption allowed.
We are trying to decide whether we want the bother of fussing with trusts and all to enable our relatives to receive the maximum in inheritance. It would be our siblings and their children who would benefit.
It is tricky to discuss these things with friends and family as we are not all that willing to have them know how much we have. I have been reading past posts here about estate matters. I would value your advice as to how much leeway any of you have given to alternative POA people.
My dad passed away last year and I inherited a large amount of money from him. Including our home which is paid for we are worth about three and a half million. We have no children.
We have a truck and a fifth wheel trailer for our traveling adventures and we also have a new boat to enjoy for day trips.
The situation that is giving us fits at the moment is setting up our estate planning. We have an estate planning lawyer. We have our hippa forms and health care proxies done. We are hammering out our POA. We trust each other without reservation. The problem is in deciding how much power to give to someone else in case we are both incapacitated or one of us incapacitated after the death of the other. Our attorney believes in giving broad powers so that there is no need to go to court in the event of a need to alter some investment or other. We are not sure we like this idea and are talking with her about a narrower POA.
We also like our home state of MA and are not willing to move to save estate taxes. Our attorney has suggested setting up revocable living trusts for the two of and also putting our house in a trust so that all of our assets pass outside of probate. Having a trust for each of us enables us to take advantage of the allowed one million dollar deduction per estate. Otherwise when one of us passes there is no tax owed until the second one dies but then there is only one million dollar exemption allowed.
We are trying to decide whether we want the bother of fussing with trusts and all to enable our relatives to receive the maximum in inheritance. It would be our siblings and their children who would benefit.
It is tricky to discuss these things with friends and family as we are not all that willing to have them know how much we have. I have been reading past posts here about estate matters. I would value your advice as to how much leeway any of you have given to alternative POA people.