2006-11-11T19:27:16Z A living trust is an arrangement by which you as the grantor place property in trust and name yourself or some other person as Trustee or Co-Trustee, but reserve the right to revoke the trust. tag:legalhelpmate.com,2008:5 ©2004-2005 Legal Helpmate Corp. - Legal Document Service. 2006-11-11T00:00:00Z 2006-11-11T00:00:00Z 2006-11-11T00:00:00Z

Your Revocable Living Trust does not need to be changed to incorporate these changes.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com Some time ago, Congress made certain changes to the estate taxes. As a result of the changes, effective January, 2004, the tax free amount increased to $1,500,000. (Back in 1997 it was $600,000.) This allows a married couple to leave a minimum of $3,000,000 tax free. 2006-09-20T21:15:22Z 2006-09-20T00:00:00Z 2006-09-20T00:00:00Z

Where Can I Get More Information About Advance Directives?

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com Provided as a public service by the New Jersey Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly, William P. Isele, Ombudsman, and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. 2006-09-20T21:14:28Z 2006-09-06T00:00:00Z 2006-09-06T00:00:00Z

When someone dies his or her assets are distributed according to the laws of your state. Probate court analyzes the assets, property or money and other things of value. The court will pay any debts for bills owed, and distribute anything leftover to you heirs.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com Do you have friends or relatives that have experienced probate? If you do, their advice more then likely will be, to do anything you can to avoid it. If you are unfamiliar with probate and the problems it can create, find out what you can do to avoid it. Below is an explanation of the basics. 2006-09-20T21:13:51Z 2006-08-22T00:00:00Z 2006-08-22T00:00:00Z

Assuming you don’t have any kind of revocable living trust arrangements, but you do have a will, the state will be able to determine your rightful heirs and the portion of your estate each will receive. If you don’t have even a will, the state will decide on who and what portion each heir will receive, using its own procedures. Unfortunately, after you are gone, the only way your property ownership can be re-titled is through court probate procedures and supervision.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com Probate is the system used by the state to deal with your estate. Two main functions of probate are to identify the rightful heirs to the estate and the share size that each heir will receive, and to replace your name with that of your heirs on the legal title of the property. 2006-09-20T21:13:06Z 2006-08-08T00:00:00Z 2006-08-08T00:00:00Z

Your Revocable Living Trust does not need to be changed to incorporate these changes. However, there are other developments which might be appropriate to consider.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com Some time ago, Congress made certain changes to the estate taxes. As a result of the changes, effective January, 2004, the tax free amount increased to $1,500,000. (Back in 1997 it was $600,000.) This allows a married couple to leave a minimum of $3,000,000 tax free. 2006-09-20T21:12:27Z 2006-07-25T00:00:00Z 2006-07-25T00:00:00Z

True, the two main problems with probate are that it can take up to a year to accomplish its own goals (not ours) and it is an expensive purchase of attorney advice and court costs when it may not be necessary at all.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com First of all, what is probate? We've heard various things about probate and we are pretty sure that it deals with court matters that involve our property. We generally know that probate is something that happens after we die and it’s a negative experience because it is expensive and it takes a lot of time. 2006-09-20T21:11:50Z 2006-07-10T00:00:00Z 2006-07-10T00:00:00Z

True, the two main problems with probate are that it can take up to a year to accomplish its own goals (not ours) and it is an expensive purchase of attorney advice and court costs when it may not be necessary at all.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com First of all, what is probate? We've heard various things about probate and we are pretty sure that it deals with court matters that involve our property. We generally know that probate is something that happens after we die and it’s a negative experience because it is expensive and it takes a lot of time. 2006-09-20T21:11:13Z 2006-06-18T00:00:00Z 2006-06-18T00:00:00Z

Consider creating a living trust if you expect that your estate or that of you and your spouse may owe the tax. A living trust has two advantages. It avoids probate and also saves on federal estate tax. Without the living trust, surviving spouse's estate will include his or her share of the couple's property plus the property inherited from the deceased spouse and thus incurs estate tax when he dies.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com Some people must consider federal estate tax when planning their finances. The estate tax occurs when someone dies owning a very large amount of property. Current figures for the estate tax exemption, which depend on the year of death, are as follows. Year Estate tax exemption 2004-05 $1.5 million 2006-08 $2 million 2009 $3.5 million 2010 No estate tax 2011 $1 million unless repeal is extended 2006-09-20T21:10:17Z 2006-06-02T00:00:00Z 2006-06-02T00:00:00Z

Probate Problems. Probate is the system used by the state to deal with your estate. Two main functions of probate are to identify the rightful heirs to the estate and the share size that each heir will receive, and to replace your name with that of your heirs on the legal title of the property. Assuming you don’t have any kind of revocable living trust arrangements, but you do have a will, the state will be able to determine your rightful heirs and the portion of your estate each will receive. If you don’t have even a will, the state will decide on who and what portion each heir will receive, using its own procedures. Unfortunately, after you are gone, the only way your property ownership can be re-titled is through court probate procedures and supervision.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com A living trust can solve many of the problems encountered in estate planning. Listed below are some of the situations helped by careful estate planning. 2006-09-20T21:09:31Z 2006-05-17T00:00:00Z 2006-05-17T00:00:00Z

The Frank Sinatra zinger is that since he was aware of the significant animosity between his children, who were products of his first marriage to Nancy Barbato, and his wife, Sinatra included a clause in his Last Will that automatically disinherits anyone who contests it. That means the heirs will have to make nice if they want to collect. No one who was mentioned in Sinatra's Last Will took advantage of the first opportunity to challenge it in court. A lawyer for the estate's executors credits a no-contest clause in the Last Will with being a "substantial deterrent" to any challenges.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com Frank Sinatra died May 14, 1998, at the age of 82 after suffering a heart attack. Like the song, Frank Sinatra did his Last Will his way. The Last Will, dated May 1, 1993, divides most of Sinatra's considerable estate between his fourth wife, Barbara Marx, and his three children, Frank Jr., Nancy and Tina. 2006-09-20T21:08:36Z 2006-05-01T00:00:00Z 2006-05-01T00:00:00Z

Your Revocable Living Trust does not need to be changed to incorporate these changes. However, there are other developments which might be appropriate to consider.

Legah Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com Some time ago, Congress made certain changes to the estate taxes. As a result of the changes, effective January, 2004, the tax free amount increased to $1,500,000. (Back in 1997 it was $600,000.) This allows a married couple to leave a minimum of $3,000,000 tax free. 2006-09-20T21:07:58Z 2006-04-17T00:00:00Z 2006-04-17T00:00:00Z

Why set up a living trust? The advantages of the living trust include the following:

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com A living trust is an arrangement by which you as the grantor place property in trust and name yourself or some other person as Trustee or Co-Trustee, but reserve the right to revoke the trust so that the property can be returned to you. Generally, the trust agreement provides that upon your death the property will go to the named beneficiaries. 2006-09-20T21:06:51Z 2006-04-04T00:00:00Z 2006-04-04T00:00:00Z

First of all, what is probate? We've heard various things about probate and we are pretty sure that it deals with court matters that involve our property. We generally know that probate is something that happens after we die and it’s a negative experience because it is expensive and it takes a lot of time. True, the two main problems with probate are that it can take up to a year to accomplish its own goals (not ours) and it is an expensive purchase of attorney advice and court costs when it may not be necessary at all.

Legal Helpmate http://www.legalhelpmate.com A discussion of how to handle probate