by John C. Martin | Aug 15, 2012 | Estate Planning for Families
In the world of estate planning, the best offense to changes in the law and life circumstances is usually a good defense. Rather than running to court or the drafting attorney each time a crisis occurs, estate plans can be drafted “defensively,” such that several...
by John C. Martin | Aug 13, 2012 | Trusts
Certain assets do not have to be funded to the revocable trust. For instance, retirement accounts and life insurance policies will remain outside the trust. Instead, these accounts transfer to named beneficiaries upon death. In these cases, greater attention must be...
by John C. Martin | Aug 10, 2012 | Trusts
An unfunded trust means that the trust does not hold title to assets at death. A trust may be partially or completely unfunded. Assets may be funded to a trust in several ways, including legal assignment and the re-titling of accounts to the name of the trust. For...
by John C. Martin | Aug 8, 2012 | Beneficiaries, Trusts
If you’ve read this far in our series, you may be thinking, “wait a minute, couldn’t I just rely on my will or trust to deal with my retirement plans?” This would be a grave error. Remember that the beneficiary designation of a retirement plan will determine the...
by John C. Martin | Aug 7, 2012 | Beneficiaries
Sometimes, naming a beneficiary can result in disaster. For instance, naming an “estate” as beneficiary may result in probate proceedings in California when the plan and other probate assets exceed $150,000 in value. In...