A Will is a document that records your final wishes. This document will control who gets your property, management of your estate, and who will be the guardian of your children. A Will only has control over probate assets (assets in your name alone), and not joint assets.
Without a Will, after your death, your estate is distributed under the intestate laws of the state where you live, which may not be how you want it to be distributed. Your Will can also establish trusts for your children so that distribution of the assets happens at certain ages (20, 25, 30?) selected by you. In your Will you name who the executor will be and the powers she/he will have during administration of the estate.
We are ready to help you legally plan what happens to your assets after death. Call (610) 644-2600 to speak with our attorney.
A POA is an essential estate planning document that gives a person, known as the “agent” or “attorney in fact”, the ability to handle your financial affairs: pay your bills, sign your tax returns, and communicate with other governmental agencies, among others tasks. Your agent can begin handling your affairs as soon as you are no longer able, or before then if you no longer want to.
Yes. There are many reasons to replace your agent under POA. For instance, if you named a spouse and are separated or filed for divorce, or named the child who moved to California and have another local child, or your agent is not handling your affairs properly, Crawford Diamond Flynn LLC can prepare the document to make the change.
Call us at (610) 644-2600 to learn more.
This document, sometimes called a “living will” or “medical directive” gives the person you choose as your medical agent (often a spouse or child) the power to make healthcare decisions when you no longer can. For example, if an illness or accident happens and you cannot communicate with your doctor, your healthcare agent will make decisions based upon your wishes, as known and stated in the document.
Besides giving your healthcare providers and others involved in your care a person with the authority to make decisions on your behalf, the HCPOA grants authority under HIPPA for the medical profession to give to and discuss with your agent your medical records and information, and the ability of your agent to stop providing medical care as you decide under the terms of the document.
How assets are titled determines how they are taxed and distributed at your death.
The “joint with rights of survivorship” (JWROS) title provides equal ownership to two or more people named in, for instance, a deed to real estate, bank and brokerage accounts, etal. Upon the death of one, the surviving joint tenant(s) receives ownership of the deceased party’s property. A Will does not affect the ownership of property held JWROS. The party’s own an undivided part of the whole of the property.
With a “joint tenants in common” title, each owner holds an undivided fractional interest in the same property and owns the whole of his undivided interest, and not an undivided part of the whole, as is the case with JWROS. Upon the death of a joint tenant in common, his interest in the property passes by the terms of his Will, and not the surviving tenant.
Distribution of assets owned solely by a decedant are either controlled by decedent’s Will, state laws if there is no Will, or (for example with a bank account) by a “transfer on death”, “payable on death” or “in trust for” designation on the account. Such bank accounts pass directly to the beneficiaries and not pursuant to the terms of the Will.
Assets can be held in a trust. The trust document names a trustee who has the power over how those assets are invested and distributed during your life and after your death, in accord with the trust document. Some trusts must file income tax returns, and others, known as “Grantor Trusts” do not.
For a gift to be considered legally complete there must be intent to make a gift on the part of the donor (the person doing the giving), and delivery of the asset from donor to donee, whether physically, implied or symbolically. Acceptance is generally presumed upon delivery. but can be refused, in which case the gift is not complete because there was an incomplete delivery.
Like a Will, a trust is a legal document that governs how assets are to be invested, disbursed on the beneficiary’s behalf and then distributed upon, for instance, the death of the settlor, the person who created the Trust. A Trust can be revocable and modifiable at any time, or irrevocable, in which case it can typically only be modified with court permission. Assets placed in trusts are titled in the name of the trustee under the trust’s agreement.