By: Sarah Meinhart, estate planning attorney
Are you prepared to safeguard your assets and ensure a smooth transition for your loved ones? Understanding the details of trust administration and probate is crucial to effectively managing your estate. This comprehensive Q&A will explore valuable insights into how our firm can assist you throughout the process.
Trust Administration is the process by which a Trustee manages and distributes assets through a private Trust document. A trustee’s duties are very similar to the Personal Representative in a Probate Estate, being that they may be in control of burial/cremation, real estate, paying creditors, filing taxes, and arranging for disposition of assets, but a trustee may also be nominated for a continuing trust for a special needs or minor child. A trustee has a duty to follow state law and carries a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries of the estate.
It all begins with an initial consultation. Being prepared for the meeting will help us assist you. Bring any necessary documents, including Trust, Pour-Over Will, Trust Amendments, and death certificates, and any questions you may have about the process. Our goal is to make sure you are comfortable with the process before moving forward. If you decide to retain our firm, a Retainer Agreement will be drawn up outlining the scope of the attorney’s work and fees involved for attorney and office staff work. Throughout the following months, your will be kept informed of the process and any questions that may arise will be addressed in a timely manner.
There is no charge for the initial consultation. The initial consultation is to meet with an attorney and to learn about the general process of trust administration. Once we are retained, we can give you legal advice and assistance on the matter.
Probate is a legal process that helps one transfer his or her estate in an orderly and supervised manner. This takes place after a person passes away. Probate includes proving the validity of a will and any codicils, identifying what is included in a decedent’s estate, paying valid debts and taxes, and distributing the property to the beneficiaries according to the will. In the event someone died without a will, the probate court will appoint a personal representative to supervise the distribution of the estate according to statute.
Probate can be a complicated process that takes at minimum 5 months. Between filling out paperwork to open an estate, navigating the inventory of what is and is not a probate asset, and determining who is a creditor, most appointed personal representatives need at least some direction, even for an uncontested estate. An attorney can ensure you are protected throughout the process, ease stress through their knowledge of the process, and solve problems before they arise. The loss of a friend or family member is already an emotionally difficult situation, one through which easing the burden of the legality of the procedure with an attorney can reduce pressure and family tensions while providing transparency to the heirs and beneficiaries.
It all begins with an initial consultation. Being prepared for the meeting will help us get right to work. Bring any necessary documents, including wills, codicils, and death certificates, and any questions you may have about the process. Our goal is to make sure you are comfortable with the process before moving forward. If you decide to retain our firm, a Retainer Agreement will be presented outlining the scope of the attorney’s work and fees involved for attorney and office staff work. Throughout the following months, you will be kept informed of the process and any questions that may arise will be addressed in a timely manner.
There is no charge for the initial consultation. The initial consultation is to meet with an attorney and to learn about the general process of probate.
Most estates need at least 6 months to complete the process. Some estates can take up to 9 months and beyond, depending on the complexity. Estates with unique assets such as patents, real estate, and businesses can take over a year to properly administer. Small estates can be administered with a shortened process.
The only way to completely avoid probate is to pass away without any assets held solely in the decedent’s name at the time of death. Jointly held property with rights of survivorship is one example of an asset that would not need to be probated. Probate can be avoided altogether for privacy reasons with the use of proper estate planning, gifting, joint tenancy, and payable on death accounts.
Estate planning is a process by which you work with an attorney to create a set of documents to protect and designate the assets which make up your estate. These documents protect you and your loved ones in the case of incapacitation or death.
· Guardianship for Minor Children: Appoint guardians for your children in the event both parents are deceased while children are still minors. Make plans for minor children in the event both parents are incapacitated.
· Plan for your Children: If both parents are incapacitated or deceased, give your Guardian/Trustee direction on how to care for your children and how assets should be used to provide for minor children through college or technical school.
· Plan for Special Needs: Address current or potential special needs beneficiaries.
· Seamless Transfer of Assets: Ensure that all of your assets pass according to your wishes and not those of the state or judge.
· Tax Savings: Minimize estate (“death”) taxes
· Creditor Protection: Protect assets from current and future creditors of your beneficiaries
· Lower Expenses: Minimize the administrative expenses (and time) of the Michigan probate process.
· Privacy: Protect the privacy of your assets upon your death.
· Digital Assets: Provide your fiduciary access to digital assets stored in the cloud.
· Transition: Provide for seamless family business succession.
Everyone already has an estate plan, whether they have something in writing or not. If someone passes away without a will or trust, their estate will be distributed by the laws of the state in which you reside through the Probate Court. An estate plan makes your wishes known for how you want your assets handled and distributed and designates who you appoint as a fiduciary to carry out the administration of your estate.
If you become incapacitated and have not previously designed an individual as your Power of Attorney for Financial matters and a Patient Advocate Designation for Medical matters, you may need to have a guardian or conservator appointed by the court. Proper estate planning can keep your estate a private matter if you are incapacitated with the use of Power of Attorney and Patient Advocate Designations to assist you.
Appropriate drafting and funding of Trust documents will also keep your estate a private matter. A will is necessary to express your desire for minor child(ren).
An estate plan encompasses a range of documents and designations, including Wills, Testamentary Trusts, Trusts, Patient Advocate Designations, Financial Powers of Attorney, Funeral Representative Designations, Transfer on Death documents, Deeds, and a Certificate of Trust. When properly drafted, these documents can be utilized to minimize estate taxes, give direction to your advocate regarding medical care when you cannot communicate, protect your assets, provide for your family, plan for a disabled person, retain privacy, and create a legacy.
An estate planning attorney knows circumstances are always changing and you need documents to grow with you. Previously created “revocable” documents can be modified or reinstated as your situation demands.
Everyone passes away with an Estate Plan, whether you realize it or not. In Michigan, if a decedent has not specified where the decedent wishes to dispose of the estate, statute determines this for the decedent. In Michigan, the code probate attorneys follow is state specific, meaning a one size fits all form document probably doesn’t address how the law is drafted and interpreted in Michigan. When someone passes away without a proper estate plan, it can cause unnecessary stress, confusion, and frustration for friends and family of the decedent.
As our society advances in technology, most of us generate what are known as “Digital Assets”. Estate Planners can address ownership, access to or restriction from, and transfers of digital assets to your beneficiaries through carefully drafted estate planning.
Digital Assets include:
· documents and pictures stored in the cloud
· social media accounts
· digital music
· domain names
· online bank and financial investment accounts, including PayPal and Square cash accounts
· credit card rewards
· virtual currency
· income generating websites or blogs
· email accounts
A proper estate plan will address who is granted authority to access your digital assets and how to administer any assets that are income producing or have value. It will grant access to online accounts that may be useful in administering your estate. You can dictate if assets should be simply deleted, transferred, or given to a particular individual, as long as the platform of the digital assets allows such actions. The law is changing in attempt to address privacy of the decedent while balancing access of family and friends to memories of their loved ones, but laws take time to implement. In the meantime, addressing digital assets in your estate planning can ease the administration process for your designated agents by allowing them access to information necessary to carry out your wishes.
Regardless of your stage in life, consult an estate planning attorney in Ann Arbor to create your estate plan with a will and a trust. With the help of an experienced estate planning attorney at Pear Sperling Eggan & Daniels, P.C, you can rest assured that your assets will be easily located, managed, and passed to your loved ones.
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