Originally Posted by CashisKing
The one comment I would add if it has not been said before... and this is for people reading this post not necessarily Uncle Jim.

Make sure that 100% of everything is set up as a transfer on death TOD... or payment on death POD.

A will or medical directive is fine to have, in fact it's of course a great idea. But if everything immediately transfers with a death certificate... the will really does not matter.

We did transfer on death Deeds for Real Estate as well as all of the bank accounts. It made my job is the executor extremely easy because everybody got what was intended immediately and there was nothing left to discuss.

Examples below.

My father passed away in February of 2020 I am the executor. I am still dealing with this through the courts and it is an absolute pain in the butt. Thousands and thousands of dollars going to the state. I have to track every dispersal and every expense. It is extraordinary complicated. No TOD or POD.

My mother passed in September of 2020 and all of her accounts we're set up as TOD and POD.

Closing out her affairs involved just one phone call to the Probate Clerk... who informed me I needed to do absolutely nothing.

Of course I have to file 2020 taxes for both of my parents, but that is a given as an executor.

Good luck to all facing this challenge.



TOD and POD, make sure that your state honors both.

The degree of my privacy is no business of yours.

What we've learned from history is that we haven't learned from it.