Welcome to our first Muffin Monday!

Every week, I make a batch of scratch-made muffins for my husband, Mike, and our children. The flavors vary, sometimes chocolate, blueberry lemon, cinnamon and sugar, or whatever inspires me that morning. It's become a lovely, warm way to kick off our week with a moment of connection, and I thought it would be equally as nice to connect with our client family on our site each Monday morning by answering common questions about estate planning, wills and trusts, powers of attorney, and more! 

One of the most common questions I get asked is, “Do I need a trust?” 

Usually a friend or coworker mentions that they got a trust with their estate planning attorney, which leads someone to call me and ask about trusts. 

The answer to the question is of course every lawyer's favorite answer, which is ‘it depends.’ 

As part of our thoughtfully curated process, when you call to learn more about a trust, it is helpful for us to schedule a consultation so I can better understand your family and finances, goals and needs. I'll ask questions about your family, work, and finances like what your marital status is, do you have children and if so how old are they, and what kind of property you own.You'll receive a list of the types of questions I'll ask in advance, so you can feel more prepared for our meeting and feel more at ease. 

As an estate attorney, this helps me assess whether a revocable trust (or sometimes more than one) is right for you. There are two main types of trusts (revocable and irrevocable trusts). I'll explain the difference in another post. For today's post, I'll be talking about revocable living trusts. 

There's typically two reasons why I recommend a trust (I'll cover the second reason next week!). The first instance where I recommend a revocable trust is if you have minor children. This is because if you pass away, and a minor child inherits from you, a conservator is usually appointed to oversee the child’s money until the child is of legal age to take control of their own money. 

The conservator could be someone you know or it could be someone appointed by the court, however, either way this would involve a court proceeding after you pass, which can be complicated for your loved ones to navigate, especially in the wake of your passing. 

Generally, if the conservator is someone you know who asks the court to allow them to serve in this capacity, that person may have to go through a process to get a bond, get fingerprinted, and more. Then, there's court oversight where your child’s conservator may need to give the court annual reports about how the money is being invested or spent. This can be time consuming and inconvenient for your loved ones.

When your child reaches the legal age to take control of their money (usually 18 years old) they would receive their full inheritance all at once in a big lump sum payment. Most parents don't want their children to receive a large payout at a young age like eighteen. There are no guardrails to help your child manage a windfall in a situation like that. Many parents want to ensure that any money their child inherits would be able to benefit the child long-term rather than be spent in a flash before the child is even in their twenties. 

Instead, you can establish a revocable living trust where you direct all of your assets after you pass away and create safeguards for your children where you determine what age they are when they inherit. 

For example, many of our clients will direct that their children may inherit 25% at age 25, 25% at age 30, and the remainder at age 35. There are lots of ways you can go about distributing your children's inheritance to them, but the main thing to know is that a revocable living trust allows you to make those kinds of decisions while also appointing someone you know and trust to oversee the money on behalf of your children in the interim. 

This way, you can have conversations with your appointed successor trustee (the person who would manage the trust after you pass away or if you become incapacitated) about how you want them to manage the money on behalf of your children. What type of expenses should be prioritized? Are there special things that are meaningful to your children you would want to continue to finance through your trust? 

Setting up a trust doesn't have to be complicated, either. My job as a wills and trusts attorney is to help guide you through the choices you can make in your trust. I try to approach the process the way I would want a professional to guide me if I needed to create a document I wasn't familiar with for my children. It's important to get the details right. We take our time to get to know your needs and concerns so that your last will and testament and trust effectively work together for the best possible scenario for your loved ones, especially your children. 

As part of our process (after your free consultation), we schedule a detailed design meeting to go through the key provisions in your estate plan including your durable power of attorney, medical power of attorney, living will, HIPAA waiver, and will. During this meeting we help you choose the terms that feel right for you and your family. 

Then, we'll review those terms together during your document review to make sure you are comfortable with your plan and that it achieves your goals. 

Creating a will and estate plan should be a collaborative relationship with your estate planning attorney. Estate planning is a critical component to protecting your children, and we'd be glad to help you accomplish this important step for your family. 

Please introduce yourself here and let us know how we can help you create your estate plan today. 

***This is not meant to be legal advice or to establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader. These topics are also stare-specific and what may be true in the states where I'm licensed to practice law (Nebraska, North Carolina, and Virginia), May not be true in other states***