Estate Planning, Probate & Elder Law Attorneys

» Property Schedules in Trusts

Here's a question I get a fair amount: "Should we list all of our property on a schedule attached to our living trusts?" I see trusts (usually older ones) with schedules attached, but my answer is typically "no." Property changes -- we buy a new house, switch our investment accounts from one custodian to another, and change our life insurance policies. To my mind, the schedule can raise confusion -- why does it list Schwab account #12345678 when no records for this account can be found?

A better solution is to make a list of your property, including how it's titled (or who the beneficiaries are), and put that list with your original estate planning documents. And make sure to update it every year or so.

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» Trust-Administration Agreements

Setting up a trust can be a pretty effective way of avoiding expensive and public court proceedings (which are necessary in a probate situation). But sometimes problems arise with a trust, problems where a court proceeding may be needed. Settlements are always a possibility, but there's been some confusion in the past about how you work out a settlement, especially when not all parties are of age (or even born).

Due to an amendment to the Illinois Trusts and Trustees Act, there may be a new solution. Lyman Welch and Susan Bart describe the amendment in this Illinois Bar Journal article (it's from November of '09, but I just read it, so it's new to me!). The amendment adds section (d) to 760 ILCS 5/16.1. Some situations in which you may be able to use 16.1(d) to enter into a "nonjudicial settlement agreement":

-interpretation or construction of trust terms;
-resignation or appointment of a trustee; and
-exercise or nonexercise of a power by the trustee.

There are other situations outlined in the article, which I highly recommend.

» 5 Things You Need to Know About the Estate Tax in 2010: #4 (State Death Taxes)

Short post today, both because I've covered this issue fairly recently and because I'm dealing with a burst pipe in my basement.

The fact that there is currently no federal estate tax does NOT mean there are no estate taxes on the state level. The chart in this article is a must-see -- it lists all of the states with an estate or inheritance tax (or both), along with exemption amounts and rates.

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