Funding Your Trust Signing your trust is just the first step in creating a successful estate plan. The second step is funding your trust. This is the process of transferring assets into it. In this article, we will go over the basic steps of funding your trust. Personal Property Personal property includes clothing, furniture, jewelry, and electronics. These assets do not have any formal title, but you will want to sign a general transfer [...]

When Is a Trust Involved in Probate? In general, a trust will help your estate to avoid probate. However, there are certain scenarios when probate may be required. In this article, we will consider one circumstance when a trust may be involved in probate. How a Trust Works When you create a trust, you create an entity that is separate from yourself. Individuals are subject to probate, but entities are not. For your assets [...]

Avoiding Guardianship Avoiding guardianship is what most people hope to achieve in their lifetimes. A guardianship is someone who has been court appointed to care for the financial and health care interests of another person. Many people find themselves needing to file for guardianship to help care for an aging parent. Why does this happen and how can you avoid it? Read on to find out. The Mistake The key mistake that most people make [...]

Celebrity Estate Planning Mistakes Celebrity estate planning mistakes are entertaining, but they can also teach us valuable lessons. In the fourth installment of our celebrity estate planning mistakes series, we will examine the estates of Howard Hughes, Doris Duke, Aretha Franklin, Barry White, and Michael Crichton. Howard Hughes Died: April 5, 1976 Estimated Worth: $11 Billion Howard Hughes passed without valid estate planning documents. He had verbally expressed that he wished to give his [...]