Ask Roxy is a public service blog from the Law Offices of Roxanne Sher Olson (www.roxanneolson.com). Roxanne is an attorney in Santa Cruz, CA. Email your questions to askroxy@roxanneolson.com
According to several polls less than half of Americans have an estate plan so congratulations on getting the first step done. Putting your affairs in order is a very loving thing for you to do for your heirs and yourself (in the case of your incapacity) and I want to encourage you to finish the job. Hopefully you went to a qualified attorney instead of some trust mill, but either way the chances that you are done are, unfortunately, slim. If you have a revocable living trust-based estate plan (as opposed to a will-based estate plan) then what you have paid for is a (hopefully) beautiful (hopefully) complete intention. Acting on that intention is the next step.
When you finished your trust you won a big battle overcoming the deer-in-the-headlights paralysis most people feel when they consider their own demise, but you still have a war to fight if you truly want to make things go smoothly and inexpensively for your heirs. And the ongoing war is managing your assets to be in alignment with your intentions.
Think of the ongoing maintenance of your estate plan like spring cleaning. During spring cleaning you might do what I do and label several boxes. One for “give away,” one for "storage," etc. When you make a trust you are also creating boxes.
According to several polls less than half of Americans have an estate plan so congratulations on getting the first step done. Putting your affairs in order is a very loving thing for you to do for your heirs and yourself (in the case of your incapacity) and I want to encourage you to finish the job. Hopefully you went to a qualified attorney instead of some trust mill, but either way the chances that you are done are, unfortunately, slim. If you have a revocable living trust-based estate plan (as opposed to a will-based estate plan) then what you have paid for is a (hopefully) beautiful (hopefully) complete intention. Acting on that intention is the next step.
When you finished your trust you won a big battle overcoming the deer-in-the-headlights paralysis most people feel when they consider their own demise, but you still have a war to fight if you truly want to make things go smoothly and inexpensively for your heirs. And the ongoing war is managing your assets to be in alignment with your intentions.
Think of the ongoing maintenance of your estate plan like spring cleaning. During spring cleaning you might do what I do and label several boxes. One for “give away,” one for "storage," etc. When you make a trust you are also creating boxes.
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