Community Discussions
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How do I start? How much will it cost?
Main Post:
Hi everyone. This is my first post on this sub. I worry I'll ask a lot of the typical questions but maybe this scenario is different. Here goes:
- parents have been divorced over 15 years, neither remarried.
- mom (74F) has a paid off townhome and a car with a loan. No other assets. I'm her only son.
- dad (73M) has a condo that hasn't been fully paid yet (owes like 40k). No other assets. I am the middle child of three (different mothers)
- we are all living in Florida
One day the inevitable will come. I just want to be prepared. Can someone tell me if I would have to create two separate trusts if they want me to inherit their assets without taxes or if one trust would work? Also, I understand there are different kinds of trusts - which one is recommended, if they were done separate ? And why that kind ?
How much could this end up costing me?
Top Comment:
An estate planning lawyer will need to talk with the parent, as client, rather than the son or daughter.
Common ways to split an estate?
Main Post:
I (63F) live in California. I have no kids, no spouse. I have 5 siblings, and lots of neices, nephews, and they have kids too. For assets I have a 401k, a pile of other stock, and a house that is close to paid off.
One thing that holds me back from getting a will set up is I have no idea how to split up my assets. I spend time with my little brother and his family, and one of my sisters lives with me. I would like there to be peace in the family after I am gone. On the other hand, I only have a relationship with my sister and little brother. What ways have folks found to balance the inheritance setup with such lopsided connections?
Top Comment: There is no right answer. It’s your money, do whatever you want. You have no obligation to leave anything to anyone. I’d you want to leave everything to one person, or nothing to another, that’s your decision.
Buying a house that is part of an estate sale? Bad idea?
Main Post:
Ho. I found an interesting house near me but I learned from my agent that it is part of an estate sale. I did a bit of googling to see what some of the complexities might be, but I'm curious to learn more here on reddit. I suspect no one has lived in the house for a while so I know proper inspections would be important. I also understand that a seller's disclosure may not be required since no one is living in the house.
As an inexperienced home buyer, is it best to just steer clear of these complexities? Thanks.
Top Comment: You just need an agent who is thorough, an inspector who is thorough, and don't waive your contingencies. Most estate sale homes are just fine.
Estate planning costs
Main Post:
So we are shopping around for a new estate planning lawyer to redo our wills/trusts/poa/healthcare proxy/living will - it’s been 10 years. It includes review of ownership and bene designations for all the accounts and life insurance and possible retitling. It does not include putting the houses in QPRTS plus other tax planning we are implementing. As part of the process, we filled out the asset questions so they have a rough idea of assets we have.
Just trying to get a ballpark of costs from anyone else who have undergone this recently esp in HCOL area.
Top Comment: I re-did ours from scratch last year. I first saw a (sort of famous) regional attorney who has a radio show and specializes in estate planning & elder care plans. After talking me out of $3500 to review my assets & design a long term plan...he gave me a big bound “report” explaining all the different types of trusts and planning options blah blah blah and what his recommendations were for the set up of my plan which would cost another $25k to setup. It was foolish (I’m not stupid - I was mad at myself and ashamed I fell for it). I didn’t even like the advice or his plan. We have healthy assets, but no kids and don’t own any businesses or have business partners. He saw me coming. I walked away and saw another estate attorney my broker recommended.... For $2,200 the 2nd attorney created the appropriate living trusts, remainder trusts, wills, POAs, & healthcare directives. The price also included the cost to re-title 4 homes into the new Trust name, as well as reviewing my prenup to make sure assets that are separate property were listed appropriately within the trust. Sorry for long winded answer. When people ask I want to share how I almost got scammed by a shark attorney who tried to scare me into doing completely unnecessary legal work... 90+% of people don’t need more than boilerplate docs tweaked to your family needs. Be smarter than me! 😁. TLDR = anything more than $3k(ish) would make me ask “why” and then shop around for a lower cost option.
Estate Planning Checklist
Main Post: Estate Planning Checklist
Top Comment: This is an incredibly important thing to do, because you literally never know when it's going to be your time to check out (or that of your spouse). My wife passed away unexpectedly over 6 years ago, and because we had all of this stuff done, it made getting through that period SO much easier than it otherwise would have been. IOW, take care of this stuff ASAP.