Trusts

3 Simple Ways to Avoid Probate Costs

The bad news: probated estates are subject to a variety of costs from attorneys, executors, appraisers, accountants, courts, and state law. Depending on the probate’s complexity, fees can run into tens of thousands of dollars.

The good news: probate costs can be reduced by avoiding probate. It’s really that simple.

Here are three simple ways to avoid probate costs by avoiding probate:

Name a Beneficiary. The probate process determines who gets what when there is no beneficiary designation. So, naming a beneficiary is the easiest way to avoid probate. Common beneficiary designation assets include:

Life insurance
Annuities
Retirement plans

Create and Fund a Revocable Living Trust. A revocable living trust owns your property, yet you remain in charge of all legal decisions until your death. After your death, your named trustee manages your assets – according to your A trust works well if properly created and funded by an experienced estate planning attorney.

Own Property Jointly. Probate can be avoided if the property you own is held jointly with a right of survivorship. There are several ways that you can establish joint ownership of property such as:

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship – ownership simply transfers to other tenants upon your death;
Tenancy by its entirety – is a form of joint tenancy with right of survivorship, but only for married couples in some states;
Community property – property obtained during a marriage in some states;

State laws play an important role here. We can help you determine which form of joint ownership, if any, is a good fit for you.

We Have the Tools to Help You

Contact our office today or schedule your personal Estate Planning consultation NOW. We’ll help you decide whether it makes sense to avoid probate in your particular case and, if so, the best way to do so.

COVID-19 and Virtual Estate Planning

These are difficult and uncertain times. Deal with COVID-19, changes in work situation, homeschooling, and Stay-at-Home orders can be stressful and flat-out scary.

With the Nations focus now on the our personal and communal health estate planning might not be of the greatest priority to you. Or if it is, you might have questions on how you are going to get it done without actually going to see and meet with an attorney.

Remote Planning your Legal Documents

We can help you create your estate plan from the comfort of your home. We will set up phone of Zoom meetings and serve you just like we have served others via our Virtual Law Portal, or even in-person.

Requirements for a Valid Will

Texas law sets out that to be valid, a Will must be signed by the creator, the signature of the creator must be witnessed by two disinterested persons, unless the Will is Holographic (i.e. a handwritten Will). The testator must be at least eighteen years old, while the witnesses must be at least fourteen years old and of sound mind. They must be disinterested, meaning that they do not benefit from the Will. Finally, the creator must state in the presence of the witnesses that this is his or her Will.

The Will does not have to be notarized. However, the Will can have something known as a Self-Proving Affidavit attached to it. A Self-Proving Affidavit is a notarized statement by the witnesses that they were present when the Will was signed and that they witnessed the creator sign the Will and that the creator appeared of sound mind and legal age at the time of signing. There are ways around this which require the witness to appear in court during the Probate Hearing.

Why Create An Estate Plan?

The purpose of an estate plan is to make your wishes known and make sure your property goes to who you want it to after you die. Without an estate plan the State of Texas will decide everything for you via Intestacy laws.

A well drafted estate plan at minimum contains a Last Will and Testament, Power of Attorney, a Healthcare Directive, and a Living Will. Sometimes a Trust is desired based on the age of your children, blended families, non-traditional relationships or other person circumstances.

Your estate plan may also include deeding or titling your property in an effort to avoid probate after you die. These are all solutions that we will discuss during your Peace of Mind Session.

Contact Us Today For Assistance

If you have been thinking about creating an estate plan and just never got the time for it, or you see the importance of it now, we can help you create a new plan or if you need to modify your current estate plan, our office can help too. We can schedule phone or Zoom conference meetings with our experienced attorney and can provide your important estate planning documents to you via the internet. Just because we can’t use our office, doesn’t mean we can’t use our other resources to help you!

Remember in these demanding times and we are all in this together. Please stay safe. Thank you for trusting us with your estate planning and other legal needs. We are open during this crisis and here to help you get through it.

Virtual Estate Planning in the Age of COVID-19

As the New Normal has set in, and the COVID-19 guidelines are making traditional estate planning services impossible, we are still receiving requests by people to do their estate plan.

If you are a fellow Texan looking to plan, we can help you. We have been helping people with their online planning for nearly a decade now, and are ready to serve you.

Our flat fee simple estate plan package includes:
Last Will and Testament
Revocable Living Trust (if you choose to have a Trust Based plan)
Declaration of Appointment for Guardian of a Child
Durable Power of Attorney
Medical Power of Attorney
Directive to Physician (“Living Will”)
HIPAA Release
Declaration of Guardian
Appointment for Disposition of Remains
The Texas Estates Code requires a valid Texas Will to be executed in the presence of two disinterested witnesses and a notary. To ensure both your and our team’s health and safety, we have implemented alternative methods of getting your documents signed, without needing to come to the office or leave your home.
Once we are retained, our Law Firm will prepare your estate plan package and electronically send the documents to you for review. You can review the documents with your attorney by telephone, or Zoom conference. We will provide you with detailed instructions on how to line up your two disinterested witnesses. We will also assist in scheduling a mobile notary to come to your location for the signing ceremony.
Once final edits to your documents are made, we will send you the final drafts to print. We will schedule a signing ceremony time to finalize your arrangements. When the time comes for the signing ceremony, we will utilize video conferencing software (compatible with most smartphones, tablets, and computers) so our attorney can guide you through the signing process.

How do I get started?

Step 1: Request or schedule an initial Consultation.

Step 2: Complete the online estate planning questionnaire.

Step 3: Our estate planning attorney go over the completed questionnaire with you, make any necessary changes, and draft your estate planning documents for you.

For questions or to schedule an initial consultation, call GP Schoemakers, PLLC at 832-408-0505 or book a consultation here.

Estate Planning That Expresses Who You Are – 5 Things to Talk About with Your Family

You intend to pass along your wealth through your estate plan, but what about your wisdom? Ensuring you accomplish both calls for a family meeting to have a conversation about your money, your legacy, and your core principles.

Most families lead far-flung and busy lives, meaning the only time they see one another face-to-face is around the dinner table during a handful of major holidays. The estate planning process is a perfect opportunity to bring everyone together outside of those scheduled occasions — even if a child or grandchild has to attend via video chat.

Working with your estate planning attorney in collaboration any other advisors you have in your corner can make this legacy-enriching process seamless and genuinely enjoyable. But bringing your family and your professional advisors into the conversation is better yet, as they’ll get to learn new things about you and get to share stories and memories of their own. Here are just a few of the topics you’ll want to go over during your family meeting:

1. Your rich life story

You may think it’s all been said before, but this is the perfect time to schedule or conduct recording sessions about your own personal life narrative. These recordings will be treasured while you’re still here and long after you’re gone. Allow your family members to ask about particularly fond memories of yours, knowing that you’re creating a time capsule of sorts that will contain the uniqueness of your personality and the experiences that shaped you into the person you are today. And perhaps most importantly, share the valuable lessons you’ve learned from your experiences. Your family will be better for it.

2. How you’d like to be honored

Estate planning involves considering some weighty decisions when it comes to long-term care, powers of attorney, and other situations that may arise should you become mentally incapacitated. Although these are not the sunniest of topics, it’s important to express to your family why you’re opting for the choices you feel most aligned with. This will ease those processes for your loved ones, should these things ever come to pass. And once you get this part of the conversation covered, there are better things to come.

3. Your family tree

Your family might be curious about more than just your own life story. Take this time to go over your family tree and answer questions the younger members of your family don’t know the answers to about your heritage. Getting a who’s who on paper and in a digital format is an excellent gift to your beneficiaries, as they’ll be able to reference it and build upon it throughout the years.

4. Significant heirlooms

Every family has heirlooms, and every piece tells a story. It’s common for estate plans to contain physical objects that matter dearly to their owners, such as furniture, garments, jewelry, hobby collections, and memorabilia. Keeping the story of the object alive is more important than transferring its monetary value to the next generation.

5. Your core values

Your estate plan can be customized to include specific language that carries your values along with it while still leaving room for your beneficiaries to grow and explore on their own terms. Educational, incentive, and charitable trusts are just a few methods available to you to express your values through your estate plan.

You know there’s much more to you than the wealth you’ve accumulated in your life. Likewise, your estate plan is about more than just your financial worth. After all, what’s passed down from generation to generation amounts to something far greater than numbers on paper.

We’d love to help you build your estate plan to include a balanced representation of who you are and what you believe. We’re here to help coach you through the process of going over these topics with your family and weaving them into your trusts and other critical documents. Call us today at 832.408.0505 to set up a time, and we’ll get started right away.

Your Vacation Checklist

You’ve packed sunblock and a beach novel. You’ve planned your itinerary and bought plane tickets. But have you ensured that your estate plan is up to date?

Don’t leave home without making sure your financial health and the future of your loved ones is provided for. It’s even more crucial than getting a pet sitter and locking the front door.

Creating an Estate Plan

If you don’t have an estate plan yet, don’t panic. Now is a great time to connect with a qualified estate planning attorney who can sit down with you and get you started with an appropriate plan for your financial future.

Here are some questions to begin the process:

Do you have a will? An attorney can help you create an accurate and intentional will if you do not already have one.
Have you considered using a trust? Trusts have considerable benefits, from keeping assets safe from creditors to dividing an estate equally without worrying about the status of individual assets.
Are your children protected? An attorney can help you designate a guardian to care for your minor child in the event you are unable to. An attorney can also help you name an adult who will manage your minor child’s inherited property if you pass away. These may or may not be the same people.
Have you considered life insurance? If you anticipate leaving behind significant debt or hefty estate taxes, or if you have small children, you may want to consider a life insurance policy. Knowing your dependents are provided for will give you peace of mind.
Is your business protected? If you own a business, have you named a proxy to manage your interest if you cannot? Do you have a business succession plan? If you co-own a business, have you drawn up a buyout agreement? An attorney can help with that as well.

Pour-Over Wills: A Useful Tool

Considering a trust-based estate plan? It’s a great way to ensure that your assets are divided and protected in exactly the way you want. It can also help your beneficiaries avoid the expensive and lengthy process of probate, when an estate must be organized and distributed through a probate court. But as you may know, gathering the needed documents may be time-consuming.

If you need to complete an estate plan before leaving on a vacation and are unable to fully fund your trust, you may want to consider using a pour-over will in the interim.

A pour-over will stipulates that all assets that have not yet been funded into your trust will be put there when you pass away. Your trust becomes the beneficiary of any assets that you may not have had time to transfer there. In a crunch, it can serve as a stop-gap measure while your trust-based plan is being funded.

Trust, but Verify

Have you already created an estate plan? That’s great! It’s still important to verify that all provisions made in the estate plan are exactly as you want them.

Here are some items to confirm before leaving town:

Are your assets accurately inventoried? Have you left out any important assets or neglected to report changes?
Are your beneficiary designations accurate? Are your assets going where you would like them to?
When was the last time you reviewed your selection of fiduciaries? Being named as someone’s Personal Representative, Successor Trustee, Agent under a Power of Attorney, etc. can be a time consuming job. It is important that you review your selections periodically to ensure that those people are still the best choice to act on your behalf.

Contact Us Today

Estate planning with a trusted attorney is an important part of ensuring your financial health and preserving the legacy you’d like to leave to your loved ones. As you’re preparing for summer travel, don’t neglect your estate plan. We can help you put a plan in place that will reassure you and your family. Contact us today to plan for your tomorrow.

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Wills, Trusts & Dying Intestate: How They Differ

Most people understand that having some sort of an estate plan is a good thing. However, many of us don’t take the steps to have an estate plan prepared because we don’t understand the nuances between wills and trusts – and dying without either.

Here’s what will generally happen if you die, intestate (without a will or trust), with a will, and with a trust. For this example, we’re assuming you have children, but no spouse:

If you should die intestate, your estate will go through probate and all the world will know what you owned, what you owed, and who got what. Your mortgage company, car loan company, and credit card companies will all seek payment on balances you owed at the time of your death.

After that, state law will decide who gets what and when.

For example, your state’s intestate statute may mandate divvying up proceeds equally among your children.
Your older children will get their shares immediately if they’ve attained adulthood.
But, the court will appoint a guardian of its choosing to manage the money for your minor children until they become adults and possibly a separate guardian to raise your minor children.
Shockingly, that guardian can charge a lot of money to manage the money for your minor children and be a total stranger – as can the guardian who raises your minor children.
If you die without a valid will, the court, not you, will decide the futures of your minor children.

Keep in mind that since your death has been published to alert valid creditors, it’s possible for predators (fake creditors) to come forth and make demands for payment – even if they’re not owed anything.

The bottom line? Dying intestate allows state law and the court to make all the decisions on your behalf – regardless of what your intent might have been. Publicity is guaranteed.

If you die with a valid will, your assets will still go through the probate process. However, after creditors have been satisfied, the remaining assets go to whom you’ve identified in your will.

If you want to leave money to your children and name a guardian for the minor ones, the court will usually abide by your wishes.
The same holds true if you specified that you wanted to give assets to a charity, your Aunt Betty, or your neighbor.
Keep in mind that predatory creditors are still an issue as your death has been publicized. Even with a will, probate is a public process.

The bottom line? While a court oversees the process, having a will allows you to tell the court exactly how you want your estate to be handled. But, a public probate is still guaranteed.

If you’ve created a trust, you’ve taken control of your estate plan and your assets. Trust assets are not subject to the probate process and one of the most important benefits of trusts is that they are private. Although notices to creditors may be published, most of the other details (your assets, who is receiving what, etc.) remain private, helping your family minimize the risk of predators.

As part of the trust drafting process, you’ll have named a trustee to manage your estate, when you are no longer able to, and provide him or her with specific instructions on how your assets should be dispersed and when.

One word of caution – trusts must be funded in order to bypass probate.
Funding means that your assets have been retitled in the name of your trust.
Think of your trust as a bushel basket. You must put the apples into the basket just as you must put your assets into the trust for either to have value.

Even if you have a trust prepared, you still need a will to pour any assets inadvertently or intentionally left out of your trust and to name guardians for minor children. However, this type of will is much shorter and less complicated than one that is responsible for disposing of all of your assets to your beneficiaries.

The bottom line? Trusts allow you to maintain control of your assets through your chosen trustee, avoid probate, and leave specific instructions so that your children are taken care of – without receiving a lump sum of money at an age where they are more likely to squander it or have it seized from them.

Don’t let the will versus trust controversy slow you down. Call our office today so we can answer any questions you may have and put together an estate plan that works for you and your family whether it be a will, trust, or both.

What is an Inheritor’s Trust?

When it comes to estate planning there are several types of tools you can use, depending on your circumstances. One such estate planning tool is the trust. There are numerous types of trusts aimed at fulfilling different estate planning purposes. If you are anticipating an inheritance, there is a special type of trust designed to help protect it: an inheritor’s trust.

Purpose of an Inheritor’s Trust

An inheritor’s trust is a trust that has been established for the purpose of receiving a beneficiary’s inheritance in a way that is protected legally and financially. In order to fulfill its intended purpose, an inheritor’s trust must be set up in a way that follows numerous tax and legal rules. Virtually every state in the country forbids what is referred to as a “self-settled trust.” A self-settled trust is an irrevocable trust established by an individual, for his or her own benefit, with the intent to protect the trust assets from creditors. Therefore, once you receive an inheritance, it is very challenging to protect the inheritance assets yourself. Luckily, the inheritor’s trust provides an option for people expecting an inheritance.

Inheritor’s Trust Explained

If you are expecting an inheritance from a loved one, and he or she is unwilling or unable to leave your inheritance in a trust, you can protect these new assets with an inheritor’s trust. However, because you cannot set up the trust yourself because of the “self-settled trust” rule discussed earlier, you will need to work with your loved one to establish the trust. Instead of receiving the inheritance outright, the trust will be the recipient of the inheritance. The trust will typically include a spendthrift clause to protect against creditors, a more drawn out distribution schedule, or provisions granting only discretionary distributions to you. Once the trust has been drafted, your loved one will need to sign the instrument as the creator (grantor) but you will be the beneficiary.

There are several benefits to an inheritor’s trust:

The inheritance can be excluded from your taxable estate potentially saving your family estate taxes;
The trust can be a more cost effective way to protect the assets instead of your loved one revising their existing plans;
Upon your death, the inheritance will be distributed outside of your probate estate which can help ensure privacy and lower attorneys fees and administration costs;
The inheritance will be protected from creditors, lawsuits, and divorcing spouses;
In some circumstances, the inheritance can even be controlled and managed by you, as a trustee; and
You can decide how remaining trust assets will be distributed after you pass away if the trust gives you that power.

An inheritor’s trust is a sophisticated, but powerful estate planning tool. It is ideal for anyone who is to receive a substantial, outright inheritance that may need additional asset and tax protection.

Consult with an Estate Planning Professional

Estate planning can be complicated, but it is essential in protecting yourself and your loved one’s financial future. If you expect to receive an outright inheritance and desire to maintain control, gain superb asset protection, and use all possible avenues to avoid estate and transfer taxes, an inheritor’s trust may be right for you. Call or contact us today to learn about whether this estate planning tool is an option for you.

Four Reasons Why Estate Planning Isn’t Just for the Top 1 Percent

There is a common misconception that estate plans are only for the ultra-rich – the top 1 percent, 10%, 20%, or some other arbitrary determination of “enough” money. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. People at all income and wealth levels can benefit from a comprehensive estate plan. Sadly, many have not sat down to put their legal house in order.

According to a 2016 Gallup News Poll more than half of all Americans do not have a will, let alone a comprehensive estate plan. These same results were identified by WealthCounsel in its Estate Planning Awareness Survey. Gallup noted that 44 percent of people surveyed in 2016 had a will place, compared to 51 percent in 2005 and 48 percent in 1990. Also, over the years, there appears to be a trend of fewer people even thinking about estate planning.

When it comes to estate planning, the sooner you start the better. Below are four reasons why everyone – no matter what income or wealth level – can benefit from a comprehensive estate plan:

Forward Thinking Family Goals: Proper estate planning can accomplish many things. The first step is to ask what your goals are. They may include caring for a minor child, an elderly parent, a disabled relative, or distributing real and personal property to individuals who will appreciate and maintain these assets prudently. Understanding what your family wants and needs are for the future is a great starting point for any estate plan. If you can sit down and spend time planning your vacation, you can do the same for your estate. Your future self, and your loved ones, will thank you.
Financial Confidence Now and After You Are Gone: One immediate benefit of having a finished estate plan in place is that you will likely feel in control of your finances, possibly for the first time ever. Many people experience a new sense of discipline in maintaining their finances which can help with saving for retirement, a big purchase, or other goal. In addition to the personal benefit of financial control, an estate plan allows you to dictate exactly how and when your heirs receive an inheritance. This is particularly important for minor heir or those who need additional guidance to manage their inheritance, like a disabled child.
Identify Risks: An important aspect of a good estate plan is to mitigate against future and current risks. One example is becoming disabled and unable to support your family. Another is the possibility of dying early. Through an estate plan you can chose who will be in control of your personal assets, instead of the court appointing a legal guardian who will cost money and be a distraction for your family. While contemplating these types of risks is never fun, preparing ahead of time ensures your loved ones will be prepared if an unfortunate tragedy occurs.
To Maintain Your Privacy: In the absence of an fully funded, trust-based estate plan, a list one’s assets are available for public view upon death. This occurs when a probate court needs to step in. Probate is the legal process by which a court administers the deceased person’s estate. A solid estate plan should generally avoid the need for involvement by the probate court, so your family’s privacy can be maintained.

The Bottom Line: Seek Professional Advice

There are numerous benefits to working with a professional team when it comes to estate planning. Estate planning attorneys, financial advisor, insurance agents, and others have a broader and deeper knowledge of money management, financial implications, and the law. When you work with a qualified team to implement an estate plan you can rest easy knowing your family will be taken care of no matter what happens in the future.

We at GP Schoemakers, PLLC are here to help. Call or contact us today and find out how to better protect your family.