Trust, Wills & Probate Ricky Villarreal Attorney at Law

Outline What is a Will & Why do I need a Will? What is Probate? Do I need a Trust or just a Will? Are there any other documents that I need? What should I have in my Estate Plan?

What is a Will & Why Do I Need a Will? –Generally, the Will covers: Who will handle your estate. Who inherits your assets. Who takes care of your kids. Who takes care of the inheritance you left the kids. –Without a Will: The court will follow Texas Law to help decide how to transfer your assets, and who care for your kids and their inheritance. Dying without a Will burdens your family with extra legal expenses, issues and paperwork.

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Probate is the process of executing your wishes as you have documented in your Will. –Here’s a general outline of the Probate process: Find the Will Hire Attorney File Application for Probate Attend Probate Hearing with your Attorney Manage affairs of the estate (pay bills, distribute the assets, set up living arrangements for the children, etc.) What is Probate?

At the Probate hearing, you will need to: –Provide testimony regarding the estate, –Take an oath to execute the terms of the will, –Receive permission to to manage the estate. After the hearing, your duties are generally: –Provide “Notice to Creditors” –Pay bills and deal with creditors. –File “Final inventory and list of claims”. –Transfer assets. – Set up arrangements for care of the children.

Do I need a Trust or just a Will? Recall that the Will provides for transferring your assets and taking care of your kids, but requires going through the probate process. –Many times, the executors have a difficult time trying to identify the assets. –Your loved ones will have to do this after suffering your loss.

Do I need a Trust or just a Will? The Trust: –Pros: avoids probate, allows your appointed representative to handle your affairs and pay your expenses if you are incapacitated, can allow significant tax benefits for wealthy estates. –Cons: You will need to take action now to move your assets into the trust. –Generally, for financial accounts, you will need to contact your institution to determine how to move that account into the trust. –For your home, a Warranty deed must be filed.

Do I really need to have a Trust? To ease the burden on your loved ones, you should add a Trust to your estate plan. –The front-end effort is more involved, but only to the extent that you need to retitle your assets. This has the advantage of forcing you to document your assets for your trustees/executors. The day-to-day management and use of your assets doesn’t change, since you are the Trustee and have full authority over the assets. –The back-end effort is significantly reduced, since your trustees/executors now have knowledge of your assets and can execute your wishes without going through probate.

Are there any other documents that I need? To complete your legal estate plan, you should also have: –Medical Power of Attorney appointing your representatives to make medical decisions for you if you are incapacitated. –Durable Power of Attorney appointing your representatives to make business transaction for you beginning immediately or upon your incapacity. –Living Will directs your Physician on your wishes for treatment if you are incapacity and your death is imminent.

What should I have in my Estate Plan? At a minimum, your estate plan should consist of the following: –Medical Power of Attorney, –Durable Power of Attorney, –Living Will, and –Will. To significantly ease the burden on your family, you should also add a Trust.