We have a trust set up in order to essentially bypass probate and convey all of our belongings, etc., to our children upon our passing. However, I would warn anyone considering a trust that they can be expensive and complex to set up. Our probate attorney typically doesn’t recommend them unless you’ve got more than $500k in assets. We didn’t when ours was set up, but it’s how we wanted things done, so we bit the bullet and spent the money for peace of mind.
To give you an idea, our probate attorney charges about $2k to do a husband and wife’s wills, durable power of attorney, and all the related paperwork. He has a 25 page form you have to fill out in advance of him doing any of the work, and you meet at least once after the form is turned in to review everything. Don’t rely on a “do it yourself” will or something like that, as it’s not worth the potential headaches it could cause for your heirs. We’re comfortable that things will go as we want them to when we’re gone. -D > On Nov 14, 2020, at 6:55 PM, Scott Ritchey via Mercedes > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > Thank you all for your kind thoughts. > Peter, good idea on the trust. My mother did that and it might make sense > for me too. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mercedes On Behalf Of Peter Frederick via Mercedes > Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2020 4:53 PM > To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Cc: Peter Frederick <psf...@earthlink.net> > Subject: Re: [MBZ] OT: A Life Lesson > > So sorry to hear about your wife's passing. It's never fun. My Mom is > almost 97, so it's only a matter of time. > > I recommend talking to an estate attorney once you have things settled. It > is far better to have a trust set up than to go through probate, to say > nothing of less expensive. There are also advantages if you need home > health care in the future. A friend of mine had one heck of a time when her > father passed away (an estate attorney who didn't set up his own....) and > got everything put the way she wanted it. When she unexpectedly passed away > 5 years ago everything went fine other than the fact that we all lost her. > > Peter > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
