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Thread: Trusts -- do you really need to have one?

  1. #11
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
    My mother-in-law and father-in-law have both passed away during the last 2 years. Each had a trust set up.

    This has made things *so much easier* for me in dealing with their estates. Dozens of pesky trips/phone calls/arguments to deal with the business of shutting down someone's financial life are so much simpler.
    That was my main goal—make it as easy as possible for those left behind. If our assets are maximized is a purely secondary concern.

    I believe changes in my state and probably others over the past dozen years allow a revocable trust to be an easy thing to set up, maintain, and carry out. I wouldnt be surprised if one could do it without an attorney, but thats not something I would attempt without professional advice.
    Last edited by iris lilies; 1-16-18 at 9:24pm.

  2. #12
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    My understanding (IANAL) is a trust has benefits if your estate is of or over a certain size, as well as if you wish your estate to have ongoing donations/charity efforts. I have a friend whose estate would not require a trust, if they didn't wish the money to feed their pet causes.

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
    My mother-in-law and father-in-law have both passed away during the last 2 years. Each had a trust set up.

    This has made things *so much easier* for me in dealing with their estates. Dozens of pesky trips/phone calls/arguments to deal with the business of shutting down someone's financial life are so much simpler.
    Exactly! We went right to the Attorney afterward and set ours up. It will be redone eventually as we realize our son who is disability will need finer tuning of his part so he will have end less stress afterwards.

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
    My mother-in-law and father-in-law have both passed away during the last 2 years. Each had a trust set up.

    This has made things *so much easier* for me in dealing with their estates. Dozens of pesky trips/phone calls/arguments to deal with the business of shutting down someone's financial life are so much simpler.
    When my MIL was put into assisted living I set everything up as mentioned above. It took one month for everything to be settled. The main thing is to avoid probate. DH is an only child too so this should work in our scenario too.

  5. #15
    Senior Member Gardenarian's Avatar
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    Everything we have is going to our daughter, but we have set up a trust so she will not have to deal with legal hassles once we're dead.
    I really don't know how much difference it will make.

    We own quite a bit of real estate and I think it would be sensible for us to start selling it off in about 10 years, or if our health goes into decline. That was a long drawn out thing when my mom died, selling off all the property, cars, boats, etc.

    Minimalists have the edge here, for sure.

  6. #16
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    One thing to note, laws do change. I have a couple of friends (siblings), who co-own a restaurant together, after their mother passed. Everything else was set up with someone else's name either as a co-owner or TOD. TOD is a relatively recent thing in my state, and nobody really thought about their mothers vehicle. The sister tried to get it in her name, after someone hit her car (and the brother/executor doesn't care), however, that is the only piece they have to go to probate about.

  7. #17
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    Ugggh. Cars and probate. I had to reopen my 8 year dead mother’s estate when my dad died because the state i live in’s dmv wouldnt acknowledge the JTWROS (joint tenancy with right of survivorship) that was stated on the title (from another state) that named both my parents as the owners.

    The only upside to this was that i crossed the golden gate bridge 4 times during the 7 week period when i had no license plates. Since we have no toll booths, only license plate toll collecting, i felt like i was at least getting something in return for the hassle.

  8. #18
    Senior Member Simplemind's Avatar
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    My dad passed this last Sunday from this dreadful flu. I am so glad my parents put everything into a trust and made me trustee. My mom had dementia and after she died 6 years ago it became apparent that my dad did too. I was able to do a lot these past 6 years to liquidate the assets. In the past few days it has been a blessing over and over to have everything in place and easy to deal with.

  9. #19
    Moderator Float On's Avatar
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    Sorry for your loss Simplemind.
    Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.

  10. #20
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    Sorry about your dad, Simplemind.

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