Recently in Trusts Category

A while back there was a story about an 89-year-old WWII vet named Jewell Hall, who was suffering from dementia, and apparently got taken advantage of by his new 58-year-old caretaker turned wife.

The case provided yet further evidence of the fact that the elders in America can and are taken advantage of by those younger than themselves. Even where the elderly have children and have come up with a plan for how to protect themselves in old age, squabbles between the children can leave the elderly in a lurch, as reported by the New York Times.

If you haven't begun estate planning, or haven't reviewed your estate plan in years, thinking about these topics can seem like a daunting task. Taken together, the various considerations in estate planning (e.g.; taxes, heirs, powers of attorney, etc.) can give anyone a headache.

But when considered individually, having realized that you don't have to tackle all the aspects of estate planning at once, estate planning may not be that challenging after all. The following are five estate planning essentials to consider, reported by the AARP:

When most people think of estate planning they think about writing down their last wishes such as who will get their home, car, and other property. This is a will, and it’s probably the most simple estate planning tool, though it’s not the only one.

One alternative, the New York living trust, is quickly gaining popularity and offers benefits on top of a will. To know whether a living trust is right for you, you will want to learn a few things:

Trust fund baby is not a legal term. Instead, when someone is called a trust fund baby, that generally just refers to the fact that the person receives money and support without having to work.

Trust fund babies usually drum up negative connotations as they may be perceived to be lazy or spoiled. While this may be the case in some situations, the truth is that trust funds can be set up in an unlimited number of ways, including ways that encourage hard work and success.

A little over a year after Frances Bean Cobain inheritance made the news, the 19-year-old daughter of Kurt Cobain made news again as she recently bought a home in West Hollywood.

Last year, on her 18th birthday, Frances Bean Cobain inherited 37 percent of her father’s estate, reports Forbes. Now, the young woman has shown some savvy buying a $1,825,000 home in the Hollywood hills and even knocking $65,000 off the asking price.

Even while living, the Steve Job’s estate was much speculated upon. Now that the Apple co-founder has passed away, the speculation over who gets what and how much will only be amplified. Unfortunately, the answers will probably never be known.

Steve Jobs amassed billions in running Apple and buying Pixar before it became the Pixar we know today. While Jobs earned only $1 a year as the head of Apple, it’s estimated that his net worth is $6.7 billion, reports ABC. However, it’s not only Jobs’ staggering wealth that makes the distribution of his estate fascinating, it’s also his unique family circumstances.

You don’t need to be a billionaire to provide for your children after your death. More and more people are accumulating enough assets to leave something for their loved ones. But leaving everything to your kids may not always be the smartest decision — think Paris Hilton.

However, there are ways for parents to provide for their loved ones without having to worry about their children blowing the money on cars and champagne. One common way is setting up a trust fund. The following are four tips from The Fiscal Times for setting up a trust fund to provide for your loved ones while also ensuring they do not waste their windfall:

Every parent would like to believe their children are angels. But the fact of the matter is that your kids may be “bad” with money, can’ t be trusted, or be a downright crook. Regardless, you love your children and want to provide for them.

So how do you ensure that your inheritance for children is not squandered?

This question was recently raised in The New York Times and the author suggested two ways — both utilizing a trust. First, parents can set up a trust that restricts how much money their children will receive. Basically, this prevents children from wasting all of their inheritance in one giant orgy of spending. Second, parents can set up goal-oriented trusts where money is only released if certain milestones are met.

When you remarry, one of the last things you may think about is estate planning for second marriages or protecting inheritance of your children. However, without proper estate planning, a second marriage could be devastating to the children from of your first marriage.

Oftentimes, married couples sign reciprocal wills where the spouses agree to give all of their assets to the surviving spouse in the event of death, reports NJ.com. So, if a husband dies, all of his assets will pass to the wife and vice versa. Then, when the other spouse dies, the children from that marriage will inherit their share.

Leona Helmsley famously left $12 million to her Maltese in her will. Alexander McQueen left $81,000 for the care of his English bull terriers in his. And according to a Washington University in St. Louis School of Law study, not just the rich and famous are providing for their beloved pets in their wills.

In fact, the study shows that as many as 27 percent of pet owners may be accounting for their furry friends in their wills, reports Reuters.