Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Wills, and Trusts?

We’ve been talking about it for years……just this week started the process! Step #1…….find a very reputable attorney! memtb

I’m an elder law attorney. I talk more people out of trusts than into them. First, every state is a little, and sometimes a lot, different. In AZ I recommend people sit down and list their assets. Next, figure out which assets can be passed on by a designation, such as a beneficiary deed(not available in every state), pay-on-death, or transfer-on-death for bank accounts and investments. Once you figure this out you need to set out your goals. Do you have a taxable estate? Keep an eye out, the government is going to need to get more out of estates to pay for their programs. If you have someone important with a disability you will want to consider the impact an inheritance might have on the state and federal benefits their are, or may someday be, receiving. I would recommend you look for an attorney who is a member of the national academy of elder law attorneys. Here is the link: https://www.naela.org/findlawyer?

Good luck,
Pete

You need a trust so you can "step up" the value of your property your heirs receive to its current value. Let me explain. You pass your property to your heirs via a will. Should they want to sell at a future date, they will be taxed on the total value of the property - from zero to its current value - the whole enchilada gets taxed, With a trust the value of your property steps up to the value on the date of your passing. So if your property is worth $1 million on the date you pass, if your heirs decide to sell at a future date, they will only be taxed on the value of your property in excess of $1 million.

So, tax on the whole value, or tax on the value from the date of your passing? In your situation, you definitely need a trust.

That's a step up in basis.
Most states allow that via will.

In Colorado, by having a Beneficiary Deed for your home on file at the county courthouse, the home will pass to your heirs without having to go through probate, and they will receive the home on the stepped-up basis. And they will have access to the home as rightful heirs immediately with just your death certificate. No need for a trust, and no tax consequences for your heirs.

Screw a will.

If it's real property, depending on your state of residence, look into:

1- Land Trusts
2- Deed To Trustee (from Lamd Trusts)
2- Trustees for Land Trusts
3- Beneficial Interest
4- Power of Attorney (so you can continue to control day to day operations of properties after your Deed To Trustee)

Best of luck to you.

I agree. Make your probate estate as small as you possibly can. Take as much as you possibly can outta the hands of the probate court. And don’t even mention in your Will any of your assets that aren’t part of your probate estate.

We have a trust that is evergreen with the "health" half be reviewed and updated after year one and the "asset" half being updated on year two with a new updated trust issued at year three. We pay an annual fee to our trust attorney. After it was first written we had a session with our three sons having our attorney talk them through it. They were pleased to learn the level of detail that resides within the "health" half knowing they will have zero decisions to make as our health declines. A solid trust by a proven trust attorney is a must but so many don't have one.

Wabi, there's a lot of conflicting "advice" given here.

The advice to trust (pun intended) is a trust attorney in your state. Our financial situation in Utah drove us to get a trust, wills, living wills, and grant power of attorney and executor status to our elder daughter.

Your mileage WILL (pun again) vary.

Your sons can be the trustee, or anybody else you choose, for that matter. Doesn't have to be that trust attorney.

It's not. That is sorted as well.