Probate Attorney Blog

What it Means to “Fund” a Living Trust I was having lunch yesterday with a couple of guys and we got to talking about how trusts work, their benefits, and why people in Washington State might want to have a trust. We talked about avoiding probate, making asset transfers easier after one dies, potential tax benefits, and controlling the distribution of assets to family to help ensure the money is used appropriately. “So what’s the downside?” they asked. “No downside,”…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 023: Estate Planning Beneficiary Designations for Minor ChildrenBrian asks: What to do for beneficiary designation if client has minor children. Of course, spouse is primary, but with little kids how do you make them secondary. My understanding is that with a springing trust in the will, you just name the trust as beneficiary and the trustee will take care of it. But, what if clients don’t have a will or an up to date will (i.e. more kids)?…

Recording #richlifelawyer show! Estate planning lawyer Q&A. Cheers, Christopher Small Estate Planning Attorney PS – Click here to schedule a FREE strategy session with an estate planning attorney.

#RichLifeLawyer Podcast 015: Lean Estate Planning Case Management There are some estate planning lawyers out there who believe that the best case management system is just in time management: they simply work on what is the most pressing need at the time. I hate that methodology. I don’t think good estate planning lawyers constantly put out fires. I think good estate planning lawyers look ahead and plan their work so everything gets done on schedule and one time. That’s where…

Whenever I speak to groups of people (which seems to be happening more and more often) the first question I always ask is, “who here has an estate plan in place?” Typically about forty percent of the room raises their hands. And then I do something a little strange. I make everyone raise their hand. I do this to point out that we all have an estate plan, even if we haven’t personally created one yet. The difference between the…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 022: Why IRA’s are Bad for Estate Planning Imagine this scenario: you are 80 years old. You’ve lived a great life. You’ve saved all of your hard earned money and invested it into an IRA (individual retirement account). For the last 10 years or so you’ve been living off of that account. But it’s ballooned up to $4 million dollars, and you know you aren’t going to get to spend it all. No matter, though. You rest easy…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 014: Estate Planning Phone Calls Most estate planning lawyers have a terrible reputation when it comes to returning phone calls. It’s almost as though it’s a badge of honor that they are difficult to get in touch with. As if that makes them important. We, as you might guess, take a different approach to estate planning phone calls. We believe in being diligent. We believe in reaching out. And we believe in returning calls promptly. To learn how…