Retire with a Mission by Richard Wendel

Author:Richard Wendel
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781402250675
Publisher: Sourcebooks

HOW TO PLAN

Here are the rules of engagement. First, you must have an attorney prepare your plan. Despite their claims, financial institutions, CPAs, and insurance companies can’t do estate planning. It is the practice of law performed by someone who specializes in the area—and believes it is a great idea to spare your family the expense, publicity, and frustrating delay of probate. Probate is the legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person, resolving all claims to property and money, and distributing the decedent’s property—and it can take months or years to finish. A lawyer can help you avoid it.

The cost of a plan should range from $1,500 to $3,000. An experienced estate-planning attorney will tell you the fixed cost of the plan before you commission the work. The plan should include a “pour over” will, a power of attorney, and a living will.

An estate plan is just a fancy name for the

way you transfer ownership of your assets to your

heirs when you die.

Second, you should lead the process. The more work you do, the less legal time and expense you will incur. At your first meeting with the attorney, provide a list of your assets by account numbers, current values, and ownership; your latest financial statements; last year’s income tax return, copies of all deeds, and the latest tax bills; and copies of beneficiary designations (BD) for any life insurance, annuities, or tax-deferred plans such as IRAs—not a computer printout, but a copy of the BD with your signature. Financial institutions frequently lose the originals. If you have any doubt about your BDs, do them again. There is no cost to obtain new BD forms or to register them with the institution. And this time, keep a copy of the signed BD among your important papers. A BD is just as important as a will or a trust because it transfers ownership of an account at your death. Often, our retirement accounts constitute most of our net worth.

An estate plan is just a fancy name for the way you transfer ownership of your assets to your heirs when you die. There are five ways to transfer assets:

Intestacy (assets in decedent’s name only, no will)

Will (assets in decedent’s name only)

Joint/Survivor Ownership (decedent and one or more other names on an asset)

Beneficiary Designation (controls distribution of insurance and annuity proceeds, retirement accounts, pay on death [POD], or transfer on death [TOD] accounts)

Living Trust

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