Category: 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.

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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:

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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!”

Is It Time to Give Up the Car Keys?

Guest post by Pamela D. Wilson, advocate for family and professional caregivers. 

We love our cars.  Some of us love the type of car we own and the way it looks: sporty, shiny or compact. For others it’s the way our cars make us feel when we’re driving: a convertible with the wind blowing through our hair. Others love the ability to jump in the car and go for a drive: the freedom and mobility a car provides.

car keys

 

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Why You Should Arrange Estate Planning in 2018

As you look ahead to the New Year, you might set new goals or make resolutions dealing with your health, wealth and happiness. But the start of the year is also a great time to get organized with estate planning. Sure, it’s great to save some money or make your first big parents reading to soninvestment with a new home. But you work hard to make that possible! So make sure you have a say in what happens to it if something happens to you. As K.P. Edwards wrote in “Financial Counseling and Planning,” “Estate planning has long been recognized as an important part of financial planning for families.”

Contrary to popular belief, you are never too young, too healthy or too single to have a will, and you don’t need to have kids to justify drafting one either. Continue reading “Why You Should Arrange Estate Planning in 2018”

How Technology Can Help With Long-Distance Caregiving

 The following is a guest post by Marie Villeza of ElderImpact.org. Her mission is to empower seniors against ageism by providing information they need to keep control of their own lives. Marie developed ElderImpact.org to provide seniors and their caregivers with resources and advice.

The famous Henry Ford once said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” When the world and its technologies move so fast, we struggle to keep up — sometimes we resist it — but our life can be easier if we embrace the changes of time’s innovations and learn to use them. The modern world has certainly made long-distance communication more convenient, and if you are care for an elderly parent from far away, you may have some help. Continue reading “How Technology Can Help With Long-Distance Caregiving”