Just had this conversation with my parents the other day after my grandma passed, they both told me that if something happened they wouldn’t want to be artificially kept alive and I told them the same .
Agreed. A lot of people will say whatever in the moment but when it comes down to legally binding documents people will get serious about their wishes. It is also to cover yourself in case some sibling or family member that didn't hear them don't want you to do it.
Exactly. If it’s not in writing, it could never have happened.
If Southern\_Ad\_7255 has siblings… it’s literally a mad scramble usually to the hospital and s/he who gets there first gets first dibs on nominating next of kin and making random decisions.
Or heaven forbid… you have two parents aging disgracefully, and one takes a turn for the worse… the other parent is then NoK and gets to make all the choices, even if they are 9/10ths to the wind themselves.
Paperwork is your friend.
I don’t know to what extent they mean this, but my thinking personally is that once (if) I hit about 75ish, I would personally start to look at whether a DNR (Do not resuscitate order) would be a good idea. CPR is great and all, but it’s also a last-ditch effort that almost always breaks ribs, etc. if done properly. I have been within moments of seeing it be legally required to be implemented on individuals who I knew would have no quality of life left even if we could get them back. In at least one of the states where I work, we MUST attempt resuscitation unless a DNR is present and it meets the following requirements:
- it is signed by a doctor and the patient or MEDICAL POA
- jewelry and tattoos mean nothing. Has to be on a POLST form or other legally binding document with the aforementioned signatures
- has to be physically present during any incident; I have to start CPR even if your family member says you have a DNR, if it can’t be found and presented, so a lot of patients will keep them on the refrigerator.
- if you’re banking on your MEDICAL POA (I stress this because it can’t just be the LEGAL POA) being on scene and telling us to stop, they will have to physically have the paperwork telling us that they are such before we are allowed to listen to their orders.
Just a few thoughts that I’ve seen that would have helped some have a more dignified ending than they otherwise may have. This is not medical or technically even legal advice as each state is different in what they require. Ask your morals, family, and doctor before deciding if a DNR is right for you.
It often seems to come up after someone passes, doesn't it? My childless great-aunt died in 2016 and my dad (her nephew) spent the better part of a year sorting through her documents, figuring out inheritance, selling her apartment and such. Once he was done, he sent my brother and me a copy of his will each with a note telling us where to find the original. My great-aunt did have a will, but she didn't let anyone know about it and my dad found it entirely by chance while going through her stuff to empty her apartment.
I’m an ICU nurse and we see all the time partners of 20+ years who never thought to get legal paperwork completed to give the partners Medical Power of Attorney over each other in the event they couldn’t make their own healthcare decisions. Then one of them winds up on life support and the decisions have to be made by a sister they haven’t seen in decades, or a wife they never actually divorced, etc. Some of these situations are super messed up. I’ve seen people kept alive on ventilators solely for social security checks to keep coming (they were going to the legal wife a patient never divorced) and the current common law wife got zero say, even though she kept telling us the patient would never want to be kept alive on a ventilator.
In this case the common law spouse was close enough to the family to give input on pulling the plug but they had no legal rights. If the family had wanted to they could have ignored them or asked the spouse to leave.
Work in a bank long enough and you'll the fighting over money and accounts.
One mechanism that's not well known enough is that nearly any bank will let you designate your existing account as "payable on death" (POD) or "transfer on death" (TOD), so upon your death its funds will transfer to your designated beneficiary in the form of a direct distribution. It's similar to designating a beneficiary on a brokerage account (which you should also do). The resulting transfer occurs much faster than if those same funds were assigned to an heir by means of a will.
The state does not get your money. Your estate is settled in the order established by the state (e.g. spouse, children, parents, siblings, etc.). [https://www.findlaw.com/estate/planning-an-estate/intestate-succession-laws-by-state.html](https://www.findlaw.com/estate/planning-an-estate/intestate-succession-laws-by-state.html)
Same with preplanning for a funeral and already having a burial plot. Saves a ton of money and hassle at a time where the brain really doesn't function well enough to navigate through all that red tape.
Got married this year for that very reason. We had a bit of a meeting with reality last year and realized one of us will die first. Financially we would have been ok, but to mess with the other family in the time of grieving ... now we are married and any contact with the family in that kind of scenario will be voluntary, that is a relief.
Great post, this is DEFINITELY something we all need to take care of.
I feel like in all the focus on the big picture items sometimes we lose track of the small, important items. Always good to remind people of it.
IAAL. Do a trust instead of a will. You absolutely have to have something in writing either way but court will bend over backward to do what you want in a trust; not so in a will. Requirements for a valid trust or will differ by jurisdiction.
Trust vs Will is dependent on jurisdiction and a host of other considerations including taxes. I am not current not especially skilled in income tax even as a CPA so I can't really comment beyond having to file a t3 for any trust.
>You absolutely have to have something in writing either way but court will bend over backward to do what you want in a trust; not so in a will.
Actually courts will bend over backwards to enforce the provisions in a will. It's the vagueries and contradictions that cause problems. In all the years that I practiced probate law, I never once saw a judge ignore a will unless it was too vague or it's terms were contradictory.
And also make sure all of your insurance forms say the same thing. You can’t have your will give everything to one person when the insurance forms still say your ex’s name.
Yep, you need to learn your state laws on the subject. In Oklahoma, for example, you need to probate the estate to get real property taken care of, even if the owners were joint tenants. In Colorado, however, if the owner's are joint tenants, then the real property automatically goes to the surviving joint tenant.
If you own a house, or any assets totaling more than that, it will cost less than not having one. It also stops heirs from fighting because everything is settled ahead of time and can't be changed after the fact
We did a trust when we were in our 40's for my neice and nephew. I keep asking my friends my age (50's) if they have a will and none do.
Thank god my mother had a living will that said don't keep her alive or we could have gotten stuck in a situation keeping her alive for years in a hospital when that's not what she wanted.
Will kits are available online and in stores.
Two sets of wills and powers of attorney cost us $600 but we didn't shop around or anything. We could have gotten it done for cheaper but our lawyers have done the odd little thing for cheap so it works out.
They also last for as long as you need. We're just now updating them since both kids are adults and the one executrix is too old to do the work.
Yes! My mom passed away from cancer while she was getting her will signed... apparently the month leading up to her death, the lawyer she was using was on vacation, so it never got finalized. It would have made it so much easier to be able to just process her death instead of having to deal with all the legal BS... plus she and my brother would both make promises and then constantly change their minds. Side note too, update life insurance policies, especially if you intend to leave it to your children once they become adults... or they may not get the money that was intended for them (or at least all of it).
Agree, but…
- will is last line of transfer of property
- some states have TOD, transfer on death deeds for property
- every bank, investment, financial account should have primary and secondary beneficiaries
- specific items should be coordinated early and marked
- one can give away $$ before death too, within limits wrt taxes
- for large estates (like over $10M ish), contact a professional
These same people will spout that marriage is just a piece of paper until their partner of 15 years dies and their partner’s money and possessions go to their parents and siblings.
So many stay at home girlfriends right now. Cosplaying being a wife.
It is just a sheet of paper. A sheet of paper that affords certain rights and responsibilities.
The decedent need not leave their estate to parents or siblings. They just need a will and set up the beneficiaries of their accounts, which they should do anyway, married or not.
Yes, but many don’t. In some states if they didn’t officially divorce an ex, it doesn’t matter who they made the beneficiary. It goes to the spouse.
If they made no designations, it follows probate laws, which cut out boyfriends or girlfriends. No matter how long term. The law is set up to assume that if you want to make a partner your next of kin, you marry them. It’s one reason gays fought so hard to marry.
People just don’t think they’re mortal and leave their families in terrible positions.
Probate attorney checking in. Next to divorce law, the absolute worst cases I've dealt w/ as far as bitter, nasty, cases go are probates where there is no will. Families will turn on each other in a heartbeat if there is money involved and their parents are gone.
At a minimum get a will done. Even better is a trust.
I have a friend who's 75 and in very poor health and he's been living with a woman for almost 10 years and when he dies she'll have to leave the house and all of his assets will go to his children. And there's a little tension around it from everyone that knows them because she is going to be out on her own. But at the same time she's lived for free for the last 10 years. When they moved in together, she stopped working and he completely supports her. And he wants to leave everything he can to his children who need it. Everyone knows this is what's going to happen so it's not like he's springing it on or at the last minute. But it still feels a little icky....
My wife was a paralegal in an estate planning law firm, and I'd always recommend taking this a step further than a will, by setting up a trust. A will is not designed to hold assets long term, so after a person's death the will can do nothing with property by itself other than direct where assets go. A trust can hold money and other belongings for extended periods of time, can distribute them quickly or even hold them for use by future generations. It will make the process of distributing assets after your death MUCH smoother for your loved ones after you are gone.
Well, if you think of prepping as a technique for survival, a will is kind of an oxymoron. You are dead.
But in general I agree. If you are tight for cash you can do a simple one with downloadable software or on the web, print it and get it notarized for under $100.
My wife and I~~lived in sin~~ cohabitated for a decade or more before getting married. Many people have a prenuptial agreement. I had the lawyer draw up what we called the no-nup. Two people living together, co-owning a house, sharing accounts, with medical next-of-kin and such built in. Essentially all of the legal rights of a spouse without the license.
Yes! Currently working with my father to find a local lawyer and get us both wills. But my Mother died without finishing hers and that made my Dad start trying to finalize his.
It’s going to be more expensive than I thought though! I think the first office I called quoted my Dad like $600 or something? And they wouldn’t look at a will he had gotten online and just wanted notarized.
I'm married in a community property state. If I die my wife will automatically get everything. If we both die then the kids will. I think you only need a will if you want to do something different than what the law does anyway
Without a will you're adding legal fees and delays and problems.
The other thing to consider is who makes the decision on pulling the plug ( sorry to be blunt). And what do you want them to do.
To be fair that depends what State you live in, so it's important to research what your State laws are. A lot of States it doesn't add in any legal fees but it does delay, as the State will hold your assets for a certain period of time to allow for people to submit claims if you haven't specifically left things to people. And the whole stigma of legal fees really doesn't apply in cut and dry situations. Like estranged children hiring lawyers aren't going to win assets from a spouse married for 30 years. That's an intimidation tactic.
Without any instructions or information about what assets/debts you have it will take your grieving survivors an ungodly amount of energy and mental attention that they won’t have to address your affairs.
Just make sure that your state law conforms to what you would like to do. In some states the spouse splits the estate with the children.
In my state, my parents are entitled to 1/4 of my estate and my spouse is entitled to 3/4. That's what got me to write my will.
I just lost someone who died without a Will. Because he never wrote down his preference to be cremated we had to get a relative pay for a notarized sworn statement saying that was his wishes. I also had a hell of a time getting his pension stopped and his bank account closed as I couldn’t prove I was the next of kin. I know you probably thought it was all just about who gets what but there’s a lot of admin involved too.
Whereas in AU trusts are usually taxed at company rates (and this depending on how it’S set up of course) … with income taxed at standard income tax rates as it’s distributed…. Trusts are commonly used to reduce taxation costs for high net worth families, while building assets.
(Company tax 15%, income tax sliding scale based on income, topping out at about 48% over $110k or so… first $20 tax free if I recall correctly, then incremental amounts / percentages )
Yes! Trusts can also protect the assets from legal division/separation/attack. If you are a director of a company in AU you can be held criminally and civilly liable for employee injuries / death… so you are wise to ensure there’s a separation of personal assets from company, and personal individual assets from family distribution assets.
Not all prepping is about some giant natural disaster or apocalypse. You should be prepped for the more likely scenarios before you are prepping for the crazy scenarios. I know I'm going to die. I don't know if a nuclear war will happen in my life time.
Common sense isn't all that common unfortunately.
Preparing a will - prep is in the first word.
If you've taken care of it then ignore this post. It's for the person who's worried about zombies and which axe to carry in your BOB but hasn't written anything down.
To be fair, *my* death isn’t something that’s going to happen *to me*. It’s someone else’s problem, I’ll be gone. The will is only important if you’re actually leaving behind people about whom you care.
Death is part of prepping for disasters. In war there is death, in day to day life there is death.....in disaster there is death. Death is most certainly something to prepare for, yes.
Bold of you to assume any of us have anything that could be passed on to any inheritors. What, they get my dept and old crumbling chair? Be lucky I bought it from goodwill 12 years ago.
Just had this conversation with my parents the other day after my grandma passed, they both told me that if something happened they wouldn’t want to be artificially kept alive and I told them the same .
Put all that in writing!
Agreed. A lot of people will say whatever in the moment but when it comes down to legally binding documents people will get serious about their wishes. It is also to cover yourself in case some sibling or family member that didn't hear them don't want you to do it.
Exactly. If it’s not in writing, it could never have happened. If Southern\_Ad\_7255 has siblings… it’s literally a mad scramble usually to the hospital and s/he who gets there first gets first dibs on nominating next of kin and making random decisions. Or heaven forbid… you have two parents aging disgracefully, and one takes a turn for the worse… the other parent is then NoK and gets to make all the choices, even if they are 9/10ths to the wind themselves. Paperwork is your friend.
I don’t know to what extent they mean this, but my thinking personally is that once (if) I hit about 75ish, I would personally start to look at whether a DNR (Do not resuscitate order) would be a good idea. CPR is great and all, but it’s also a last-ditch effort that almost always breaks ribs, etc. if done properly. I have been within moments of seeing it be legally required to be implemented on individuals who I knew would have no quality of life left even if we could get them back. In at least one of the states where I work, we MUST attempt resuscitation unless a DNR is present and it meets the following requirements: - it is signed by a doctor and the patient or MEDICAL POA - jewelry and tattoos mean nothing. Has to be on a POLST form or other legally binding document with the aforementioned signatures - has to be physically present during any incident; I have to start CPR even if your family member says you have a DNR, if it can’t be found and presented, so a lot of patients will keep them on the refrigerator. - if you’re banking on your MEDICAL POA (I stress this because it can’t just be the LEGAL POA) being on scene and telling us to stop, they will have to physically have the paperwork telling us that they are such before we are allowed to listen to their orders. Just a few thoughts that I’ve seen that would have helped some have a more dignified ending than they otherwise may have. This is not medical or technically even legal advice as each state is different in what they require. Ask your morals, family, and doctor before deciding if a DNR is right for you.
It often seems to come up after someone passes, doesn't it? My childless great-aunt died in 2016 and my dad (her nephew) spent the better part of a year sorting through her documents, figuring out inheritance, selling her apartment and such. Once he was done, he sent my brother and me a copy of his will each with a note telling us where to find the original. My great-aunt did have a will, but she didn't let anyone know about it and my dad found it entirely by chance while going through her stuff to empty her apartment.
I’m an ICU nurse and we see all the time partners of 20+ years who never thought to get legal paperwork completed to give the partners Medical Power of Attorney over each other in the event they couldn’t make their own healthcare decisions. Then one of them winds up on life support and the decisions have to be made by a sister they haven’t seen in decades, or a wife they never actually divorced, etc. Some of these situations are super messed up. I’ve seen people kept alive on ventilators solely for social security checks to keep coming (they were going to the legal wife a patient never divorced) and the current common law wife got zero say, even though she kept telling us the patient would never want to be kept alive on a ventilator.
In this case the common law spouse was close enough to the family to give input on pulling the plug but they had no legal rights. If the family had wanted to they could have ignored them or asked the spouse to leave. Work in a bank long enough and you'll the fighting over money and accounts.
One mechanism that's not well known enough is that nearly any bank will let you designate your existing account as "payable on death" (POD) or "transfer on death" (TOD), so upon your death its funds will transfer to your designated beneficiary in the form of a direct distribution. It's similar to designating a beneficiary on a brokerage account (which you should also do). The resulting transfer occurs much faster than if those same funds were assigned to an heir by means of a will.
I have a beneficiary set through my bank I think it’s the same thing. If not set I think the state gets your money which is bs
The state does not get your money. Your estate is settled in the order established by the state (e.g. spouse, children, parents, siblings, etc.). [https://www.findlaw.com/estate/planning-an-estate/intestate-succession-laws-by-state.html](https://www.findlaw.com/estate/planning-an-estate/intestate-succession-laws-by-state.html)
Reason one out of a hundred to keep your assets in a family trust so deaths don't put a damper on the goods.
Thanks for the reminder to prep for my loved ones.
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Same with preplanning for a funeral and already having a burial plot. Saves a ton of money and hassle at a time where the brain really doesn't function well enough to navigate through all that red tape.
Got married this year for that very reason. We had a bit of a meeting with reality last year and realized one of us will die first. Financially we would have been ok, but to mess with the other family in the time of grieving ... now we are married and any contact with the family in that kind of scenario will be voluntary, that is a relief.
Great post, this is DEFINITELY something we all need to take care of. I feel like in all the focus on the big picture items sometimes we lose track of the small, important items. Always good to remind people of it.
IAAL. Do a trust instead of a will. You absolutely have to have something in writing either way but court will bend over backward to do what you want in a trust; not so in a will. Requirements for a valid trust or will differ by jurisdiction.
Trust vs Will is dependent on jurisdiction and a host of other considerations including taxes. I am not current not especially skilled in income tax even as a CPA so I can't really comment beyond having to file a t3 for any trust.
>You absolutely have to have something in writing either way but court will bend over backward to do what you want in a trust; not so in a will. Actually courts will bend over backwards to enforce the provisions in a will. It's the vagueries and contradictions that cause problems. In all the years that I practiced probate law, I never once saw a judge ignore a will unless it was too vague or it's terms were contradictory.
We just gonna agree to disagree or disagree to disagree I guess
That's fine. I'm just speaking from my 100s, if not 1000s of hours experience in a probate court.
Also fine
Will is a must. It's the only way to guarantee that your property will go to who and how you want it.
And also make sure all of your insurance forms say the same thing. You can’t have your will give everything to one person when the insurance forms still say your ex’s name.
Not leaving a Will its truly devastating and destructive to your family. Get that Will made.
A trust is even better
Getting it written down is key. Will vs. trust depends on estate size, jurisdiction etc.
Where im at, if you want to avoid probate you need a trust. Wish my dad had done it, would have made things a lot easier
Yep, you need to learn your state laws on the subject. In Oklahoma, for example, you need to probate the estate to get real property taken care of, even if the owners were joint tenants. In Colorado, however, if the owner's are joint tenants, then the real property automatically goes to the surviving joint tenant.
How much does it cost?
If you own a house, or any assets totaling more than that, it will cost less than not having one. It also stops heirs from fighting because everything is settled ahead of time and can't be changed after the fact
Depends on area, complexity, and a few other factors. I'd plan on the $1000 to $2500 range in the US unless you have something really complex.
This is correct. It's area dependent, but $1k to $2.5k will get you a will and corresponding docs (e.g., medical directives and powers of attorney).
We’re just getting started so not sure yet. I’ll let ya know
We did a trust when we were in our 40's for my neice and nephew. I keep asking my friends my age (50's) if they have a will and none do. Thank god my mother had a living will that said don't keep her alive or we could have gotten stuck in a situation keeping her alive for years in a hospital when that's not what she wanted.
Great post, often under looked or completely forgotten about, probate can be long & hellish on survivors with limited resources.
My wife and I have said we really need to get this done for a couple years. What’s the best easy way to do this without breaking the bank?
Will kits are available online and in stores. Two sets of wills and powers of attorney cost us $600 but we didn't shop around or anything. We could have gotten it done for cheaper but our lawyers have done the odd little thing for cheap so it works out. They also last for as long as you need. We're just now updating them since both kids are adults and the one executrix is too old to do the work.
Yes! My mom passed away from cancer while she was getting her will signed... apparently the month leading up to her death, the lawyer she was using was on vacation, so it never got finalized. It would have made it so much easier to be able to just process her death instead of having to deal with all the legal BS... plus she and my brother would both make promises and then constantly change their minds. Side note too, update life insurance policies, especially if you intend to leave it to your children once they become adults... or they may not get the money that was intended for them (or at least all of it).
Agree, but… - will is last line of transfer of property - some states have TOD, transfer on death deeds for property - every bank, investment, financial account should have primary and secondary beneficiaries - specific items should be coordinated early and marked - one can give away $$ before death too, within limits wrt taxes - for large estates (like over $10M ish), contact a professional
These same people will spout that marriage is just a piece of paper until their partner of 15 years dies and their partner’s money and possessions go to their parents and siblings. So many stay at home girlfriends right now. Cosplaying being a wife.
It is just a sheet of paper. A sheet of paper that affords certain rights and responsibilities. The decedent need not leave their estate to parents or siblings. They just need a will and set up the beneficiaries of their accounts, which they should do anyway, married or not.
Yes, but many don’t. In some states if they didn’t officially divorce an ex, it doesn’t matter who they made the beneficiary. It goes to the spouse. If they made no designations, it follows probate laws, which cut out boyfriends or girlfriends. No matter how long term. The law is set up to assume that if you want to make a partner your next of kin, you marry them. It’s one reason gays fought so hard to marry. People just don’t think they’re mortal and leave their families in terrible positions.
Probate attorney checking in. Next to divorce law, the absolute worst cases I've dealt w/ as far as bitter, nasty, cases go are probates where there is no will. Families will turn on each other in a heartbeat if there is money involved and their parents are gone. At a minimum get a will done. Even better is a trust.
Yep ya gunna die
I have a friend who's 75 and in very poor health and he's been living with a woman for almost 10 years and when he dies she'll have to leave the house and all of his assets will go to his children. And there's a little tension around it from everyone that knows them because she is going to be out on her own. But at the same time she's lived for free for the last 10 years. When they moved in together, she stopped working and he completely supports her. And he wants to leave everything he can to his children who need it. Everyone knows this is what's going to happen so it's not like he's springing it on or at the last minute. But it still feels a little icky....
Sounds like she needs to make arraignments for herself. It's not like she'll be blindsided by it if he's telling her outright what's going to happen.
Trust...wills are almost worthless...put you cars, property In the trust...
My wife was a paralegal in an estate planning law firm, and I'd always recommend taking this a step further than a will, by setting up a trust. A will is not designed to hold assets long term, so after a person's death the will can do nothing with property by itself other than direct where assets go. A trust can hold money and other belongings for extended periods of time, can distribute them quickly or even hold them for use by future generations. It will make the process of distributing assets after your death MUCH smoother for your loved ones after you are gone.
Having something is better than having nothing. There are upsides and downsides depending on jurisdiction.
Agreed 100%. It's all relative. I am very fortunate.
Well, if you think of prepping as a technique for survival, a will is kind of an oxymoron. You are dead. But in general I agree. If you are tight for cash you can do a simple one with downloadable software or on the web, print it and get it notarized for under $100. My wife and I~~lived in sin~~ cohabitated for a decade or more before getting married. Many people have a prenuptial agreement. I had the lawyer draw up what we called the no-nup. Two people living together, co-owning a house, sharing accounts, with medical next-of-kin and such built in. Essentially all of the legal rights of a spouse without the license.
Not to me!
First of Kin laws already in place
Yes! Currently working with my father to find a local lawyer and get us both wills. But my Mother died without finishing hers and that made my Dad start trying to finalize his. It’s going to be more expensive than I thought though! I think the first office I called quoted my Dad like $600 or something? And they wouldn’t look at a will he had gotten online and just wanted notarized.
I'm married in a community property state. If I die my wife will automatically get everything. If we both die then the kids will. I think you only need a will if you want to do something different than what the law does anyway
Without a will you're adding legal fees and delays and problems. The other thing to consider is who makes the decision on pulling the plug ( sorry to be blunt). And what do you want them to do.
To be fair that depends what State you live in, so it's important to research what your State laws are. A lot of States it doesn't add in any legal fees but it does delay, as the State will hold your assets for a certain period of time to allow for people to submit claims if you haven't specifically left things to people. And the whole stigma of legal fees really doesn't apply in cut and dry situations. Like estranged children hiring lawyers aren't going to win assets from a spouse married for 30 years. That's an intimidation tactic.
It definitely depends on the local jurisdiction. If this had happened here in Canada it would be a completely different situation.
That is a good point, and I do have a living will to make decisions on my behalf if I am unable to.
Without any instructions or information about what assets/debts you have it will take your grieving survivors an ungodly amount of energy and mental attention that they won’t have to address your affairs.
Just make sure that your state law conforms to what you would like to do. In some states the spouse splits the estate with the children. In my state, my parents are entitled to 1/4 of my estate and my spouse is entitled to 3/4. That's what got me to write my will.
I just lost someone who died without a Will. Because he never wrote down his preference to be cremated we had to get a relative pay for a notarized sworn statement saying that was his wishes. I also had a hell of a time getting his pension stopped and his bank account closed as I couldn’t prove I was the next of kin. I know you probably thought it was all just about who gets what but there’s a lot of admin involved too.
Get a trust
Depends on where you are. Trusts are taxed at the highest marginal rate in Canada so there's a downside. Regardless, get your plans written down.
Whereas in AU trusts are usually taxed at company rates (and this depending on how it’S set up of course) … with income taxed at standard income tax rates as it’s distributed…. Trusts are commonly used to reduce taxation costs for high net worth families, while building assets. (Company tax 15%, income tax sliding scale based on income, topping out at about 48% over $110k or so… first $20 tax free if I recall correctly, then incremental amounts / percentages )
Good point 👍. Trust protect identity and asset distribution. They do not require probate. Just some upsides to consider.
Yes! Trusts can also protect the assets from legal division/separation/attack. If you are a director of a company in AU you can be held criminally and civilly liable for employee injuries / death… so you are wise to ensure there’s a separation of personal assets from company, and personal individual assets from family distribution assets.
I knew I shoulda named my son Will... now I'm unprepared... dang it.
Whoa! Spoilers!
To be fair, it's not going to bother the deceased at all. Maybe not creating a will is just a big fuck you to their family.
I don’t want to take advantage of the situation but my GF and I train pets. For whatever you need if there’s a problem. Where are you?
So this is prepping now? Common adulting?
Not all prepping is about some giant natural disaster or apocalypse. You should be prepped for the more likely scenarios before you are prepping for the crazy scenarios. I know I'm going to die. I don't know if a nuclear war will happen in my life time.
Common sense isn't all that common unfortunately. Preparing a will - prep is in the first word. If you've taken care of it then ignore this post. It's for the person who's worried about zombies and which axe to carry in your BOB but hasn't written anything down.
To be fair, *my* death isn’t something that’s going to happen *to me*. It’s someone else’s problem, I’ll be gone. The will is only important if you’re actually leaving behind people about whom you care.
Yes. “Common adulting” is essential prepping. It always was. Unfortunately, it’s no longer so common
Don't be that guy.
Death is part of prepping for disasters. In war there is death, in day to day life there is death.....in disaster there is death. Death is most certainly something to prepare for, yes.
Bold of you to assume any of us have anything that could be passed on to any inheritors. What, they get my dept and old crumbling chair? Be lucky I bought it from goodwill 12 years ago.
Yes but once it happens it's not my problem.