As people get old, they begin to have concerns regarding how their hard-earned assets will be taken care of when they die. As vile as the thought is, everyone must someday die and it is best you plan towards the inevitable. Fail to plan and you may end up seeing all that you have toiled for all your life go to shambles. Making plans towards the management of your estate when you become old, incapacitated or deceased, is referred to as “estate planning”. In planning your estate in Brooklyn, there are two important documents which you must know about and may have to employ, and these are wills and trusts Brooklyn.
Wills and trusts Brooklyn are estate planning tools which may or may not be needed simultaneously in an estate plan, and this is dependent on your wishes for your estate. If you wish to transfer all your assets into the ownership of a loved one without having it go public, you should consider opting for a trust Brooklyn as this would ultimately aid your cause. But as good as this sounds, a trust once created, will remove every assets transferred into the trust from your ownership. Hence, you would not be able to use the capital in a bank account which you’ve transferred into the trust, until that trust is revoked (cancelled). The bad news is that not all trusts are revocable. If this is a major source of worry for you, then you should distribute your assets using a will instead, but even this has its own downsides. But now, it’s time to go into more details about each of these estate planning documents.
Wills
A will is an estate planning document which clearly expresses the wishes of the testator (i.e the creator of the will) regarding the disposal of his or her assets after passing away. The testator may wish for his company to go to his first son, while his house go to the spouse, $10,000 to his friend or relative, and so on, and these wishes must be concisely spelt out in the will to avoid ambiguity.
What can I add to my will?
Basically, you should spell out in your will how you want your estate distributed to your loved ones when you pass away. You can also name a guardian who would take care of your minors when you pass away. Also you must name an executor who will ensure that your wishes are carried out, and the names of the beneficiaries.
Can I start writing my will just like that?
The answer is no. For a will, to be valid in Brooklyn, it must have to meet all requirements of NY state laws. First, you must be proved to be of sound mind when writing the will, and you must be witnessed by at least two persons who must also sign the will.
What happens to my will when I pass away?
Trusts
A trust is an agreement between two parties — the trustor and the trustee — for the trustee to hold and manage the trustor’s property on behalf of a third party, the beneficiary. When you create a trust, you have to fund it by transferring funds or assets into that trust. Whatever assets you transfer are removed from your name and would now belong to the trust, and you would not be entitled to directly benefit from it. However, you still retain a level of control by laying down instructions on how the trust assets will be managed by the trustee.
People create trusts mostly because it avoids probate, publicity and other estate fees that comes with it. Once the trustor passes away, the trust assets are passed on directly to the beneficiary without attracting any fees. A trust may also be used when you become incapacitated, as your assets will now be managed by the trustee who is bound to follow your instructions.
However, creating a trust is more expensive than creating a will and depending on the kind of trust, you may not be able to use the trust assets till death. Such kinds of trusts are known as irrevocable trusts. There are also revocable trusts which you can change at anytime, for example a living trust. If this worries you, you should note that you are at liberty to transfer only a few of your assets into the trust, and then create a will which would handle the distribution of your other assets at your death. Such a will is known as a “pour-over” will.
Creating Wills and Trusts Brooklyn requires special care and you should know exactly what you want for your estate, and which of these estate planning bests solves that problem. You can consult a Wills and Trusts Brooklyn Attorney to offer you legal advice and assistance in creating a will or a trust, or both.