Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Limitations Of Transfer On Death Deeds-Be Careful!
A transfer on death deed can be a valuable asset in your state planning tool box. As the name implies, a transfer on death deed is a deed to property that automatically transfers to someone else, whomever you name as the beneficiary, upon your passing. One major benefit to this deed, is that the… Read More »
How To Choose An Individual Trustee For Your Trust
If you are using or forming a trust as part of your estate planning strategy, you will need a trustee. A trustee administers the trust, manages it, and makes sure the assets or property put in the trust are distributed as you want them to be. Corporate Trustees For large estates, there are corporate… Read More »
Late Simpson’s Creator Had Problem With His Pet Trust – Don’t Make The Same Mistakes
In your estate planning documents, we often plan for everybody we can think of, from friends to family to charities. But what about our pets? What will happen to your pet after you pass? Yes, you can leave your pet to whomever you want in your estate documents (or if you have no estate… Read More »
Planning For Your Digital Assets In Your Estate Plan
When we think of assets and the property that we want to plan for or to pass on to our beneficiaries, we often think of physical assets or property. But there are also those assets that are in our computers, in our accounts, or in the cloud—that is, our digital assets. When making an… Read More »
An Occupancy Trust Can Help Multiple People In Your Estate Plan
When it comes to real property, like homes, there really are two separate rights. One right is the right to actually live in the property, and make it your home. That’s just possession, much like a tenant would rent property from a landlord. Then there is actual ownership, which gives someone the right to… Read More »
What Does Undue Influence Look Like?
Although it is true that the purpose of good estate planning is to avoid probate court, and to avoid challenges to your estate, things can happen that can lead to a challenge, even with the best laid plans. Challenges to your estate plan in probate court can be very stressful, and a scenario that… Read More »
How Good Estate Planning Can Deter Challenges To Your Will Or Estate
We often discuss the many benefits of good estate planning. One benefit that is often overlooked, is how good estate planning can avoid probate, and thus, any challenges to your estate plan that could potentially be filed in the probate court. Challenges to Estates A challenge to an estate once it is probated, generally… Read More »
What Happens When Family Law Agreements And Estate Planning Documents Conflict?
The interplay between divorce paperwork—specifically, marital settlement agreements or prenuptial agreements—and estate planning documents is a complex one that many people may overlook when drafting an estate plan or when getting divorced. This is especially true for people whose estate plan is drafted years after the completion of their divorce. People may give little… Read More »
Don’t Make These Mistakes In Your Powers Of Attorney
A financial power of attorney is an important document in your estate planning arsenal. This is a power of attorney (POA) that allows whomever you designate, to have full control over your financial affairs, in the event you aren’t able to do so for yourself. What Your POA Does A POA can be a… Read More »
Why You May Want To Avoid California’s 120-Hour Rule
When we think of leaving property to others, we just assume that they will predecease us. But what if they don’t? Or, what if they live longer than we do—but only slightly longer? This kind of situation can create problems that can potentially be avoided by good, solid estate planning. The 120 Hour Rule… Read More »