Category: Estate Planning

Helping Your Senior Loved One With Finances After the Loss of a Spouse

Guest post by Marie Villeza of ElderImpact.org

The loss of a spouse is full of grief and sadness, and for your senior loved one, this process can feel like a blur. The funeral and days after are filled with kind faces, flowers and food, but once the steady traffic subsides, your loved one is left to pick up the pieces and carry on with life. An area of their life that you should pay attention to and may need to help them with is their finances. There are several financial considerations and actions that must be made following the death of a spouse, and you can help your loved one make sure they get done. Continue reading “Helping Your Senior Loved One With Finances After the Loss of a Spouse”

Wills & Trusts: Protecting Your Assets With Estate Planning

By Kameryn McCollough

Many people seek to use estate planning as a way to protect their assets against creditors. While there are ways to create protections using wills or trusts, creditors are still able to reach those assets under certain circumstances. That being said, a will or a trust is still useful to create boundaries for your beneficiaries and any creditors you or your beneficiaries may have.

Here are ways you can limit creditor access to your assets through a will or trust.

Continue reading “Wills & Trusts: Protecting Your Assets With Estate Planning”

All the Details: Funding Revocable Living Trusts

Funding your revocable living trust can be overwhelming. It is important that you properly title any assets that you want to transfer into your trust, and there are benefits and disadvantages to transferring such property. If you have questions about a type of property not discussed below, or you want help transferring your property, Andersen Law PC is happy to help.

The following is a selection from Form 1210 – Trust Funding Memorandum from the “Orange Book Forms: Colorado Estate Planning Forms” book published by Continuing Legal Education in Colorado Inc. Please note: This post addresses funding a revocable living trust for an individual. There are slight, but important differences to be aware of if you and your spouse have revocable living trusts or if you have a joint revocable trust.

Continue reading “All the Details: Funding Revocable Living Trusts”

Estate Planning Tips for Seniors

Guest post by Mike Lies of Gold Compass Real Estate

Planning for the future is a necessary step for seniors. It avoids family fights, legal fees and government possession. Estate planning can be a difficult process as there are some uncomfortable decisions that have to be made such as how assets will be distributed and to whom as well as funeral arrangements and medical wishes. The typical estate planning documents include a will and testament to specify gifts for family members, power of attorney, trusts, and health care directive.

Here are some tips for seniors when it comes to estate planning:

Continue reading “Estate Planning Tips for Seniors”

What is a Small Estate?

Guest post by Julie Nichols, JD/MSW

Probate is the legal process of what happens to someone’s property (their estate) after they die. The term also refers to the administration of that estate – the things that have to be done after a death so that ownership of all of the decedent’s property can be transferred to those who are entitled to it.

Probate proceedings are not always required (although there will always be some necessary paperwork). Sometimes ownership of assets passes automatically to pre-determined individuals.  Continue reading “What is a Small Estate?”

Estate Planning: Protect Yourself From Accidentally Remarrying Your Ex And Leaving Them Everything!

A recent Colorado case makes clear that you should revise your will and make your status with your ex very obvious or risk a probate case after you die. As a firm that handles divorces and wills, we know how this can play out and ALWAYS advise our clients to update their estate planning documents after divorce. The following is a tale of woe that involves someone who did not follow this advice. Continue reading “Estate Planning: Protect Yourself From Accidentally Remarrying Your Ex And Leaving Them Everything!”