You Know Your Family Better Than Anyone
You may already know who should receive your property when you are gone. Perhaps you want your spouse to keep the house, one of your children to manage your affairs, or a certain amount of money reserved for a grandchild. You may even have a personal possession in mind for a friend or relative who would value it.
But telling someone what you want—or assuming your family knows—is not the same as having an estate plan.
When a Florida resident dies without a valid will, state law controls how estate property is distributed. Those rules do not take personal relationships, informal promises, or a family member’s financial needs into account. The outcome may be quite different from what you intended.
A properly prepared will or trust records your decisions in a form that can be carried out. It also gives your family direction at a time when making those choices on their own could be especially difficult.
At Phillip A. Roach Attorney at Law, I work with clients to define their goals and prepare estate-planning documents that clearly express their wishes.
Do You Need A Will, A Trust, Or Both?
People often want to know whether they should have a will or a trust. In many cases, the answer is not one or the other. Each document has a different job, so a complete estate plan may include both.
A will states who should receive the property covered by it. It also lets you choose a personal representative to settle your estate. If you have minor children, you can use your will to nominate the person you would want to serve as their guardian.
A revocable trust works differently. It can own and manage assets while you are living, according to instructions you establish. You can act as the trustee for as long as you are willing and able to do so, then have a successor trustee take over when needed.
A trust may be useful if you want:
- A plan for managing trust property if you become incapacitated
- More control over when or how a beneficiary receives an inheritance
- To provide for children or grandchildren over time
- To coordinate property for a blended family
- Continuity in the management of a business or other assets
- Certain trust-owned property to pass without probate
A trust can be useful, but it is not necessary for everyone. It also does not always replace the need for a will. I can review your assets, the people you want to provide for, and the level of control you would like to maintain. Together, we can choose the documents that support your goals without making your estate plan more complicated than it needs to be.
Signing A Trust Is Not The End Of The Job
Creating and signing a trust does not automatically place your property in it. This is an important detail that is easy to overlook.
In general, a trust governs assets that have been transferred to it or arranged to pass to it. If the trust is signed but ownership of the intended assets is never updated, those assets may remain outside the trust.
Completing the plan may require reviewing deeds, bank and investment accounts, business interests, and other ownership records. Depending on the asset, transferring it to the trust may be appropriate. In other cases, it may be better for the property to pass through joint ownership, a beneficiary designation, or another arrangement.
The same principle applies to a will: it does not necessarily control everything you own. An account with a valid beneficiary designation, for example, will generally pass to the named beneficiary regardless of what the will provides.
Estate planning therefore involves more than preparing documents. Asset ownership, beneficiary designations, and the terms of the will or trust should all work together.
Planning for Complicated Family Circumstances
Dividing an estate into equal shares may sound simple, but it does not suit every family.
One child may need assistance managing an inheritance. Perhaps you have already provided significant financial help to one family member and want your plan to account for it. If you have remarried, you may be trying to support your spouse while preserving an inheritance for your children.
Other considerations may include a family business, out-of-state property, a beneficiary with a disability, or strained relationships among relatives. These issues do not go away when they are left out of the plan. Instead, your family may be forced to sort them out later.
You do not need to know legal terminology before meeting with me. We can begin with the basics: what you own, whom you want to provide for, and any concerns you have about how an inheritance might be received or managed. Family tension and decisions that could cause disagreement are also worth discussing.
I have practiced law since 1988. I draw on that experience to listen to your concerns, identify matters that may need closer attention, and prepare a plan based on the choices you want to make.
The Original Plan May No Longer Be The Best Plan
A will or trust may sit untouched for years, even as the people, property, and circumstances surrounding it change.
Children become adults, relationships evolve, and the person once chosen to manage an estate may no longer be available or suitable. You may sell property listed in the documents, acquire new assets, or move to Florida with a plan prepared under another state’s laws.
Marriage, divorce, a death in the family, the birth of a grandchild, the sale of a business, or a substantial financial change are all good reasons to review an estate plan. A periodic review is worthwhile even when no major event has occurred. Your priorities may have shifted, or the documents may not work quite the way you remember.
I can review your current will or trust and explain what it provides. When revisions are appropriate, I can prepare them correctly so your family is not left to interpret handwritten changes or informal instructions.
Put Your Decisions In Writing Now While They Are Yours To Make
Estate planning is often pushed aside while more pressing matters take priority. The trouble is that your family could need those plans long before a convenient time to prepare them ever arrives.
You do not have to gather every statement or settle every question before meeting with an attorney. An initial conversation can clarify what information you will need, which decisions can be made now, and which ones may require more time.
Call Phillip A. Roach Attorney At Law in Bonita Springs, Florida, at (239) 990-2024 to schedule a consultation. I serve clients in Collier, Lee, Hendry, Glades, and Polk counties and can help you create a will and trust plan that gives your family clearer direction when they need it.
