Sun City, Arizona
Estate Planning Lawyer – Get A Real Good Representation The One That You Deserve
What Estate Planning Entails
Estate planning is the process of planning for your death. While it includes burial planning, a good estate plan involves far more than that. What does estate planning entail?
In most cases, estate planning includes:
- Arranging appropriate insurance coverage
- Creating legal documents so that your wishes are carried out upon your death
- Arranging for the care of dependents
- Making sure property flows as seamlessly as possible to your heirs
Insurance coverage is often part of someone’s estate plan, because the life insurance is necessary to pay a number of bills after your death. You should have enough life insurance to pay off all of your debts, pay for your burial, and cover survivors’ financial needs through the grieving process. A better option is having life insurance payouts large enough to be invested and replace your income and pay any applicable estate taxes.
Estate planning starts with a will, though that’s only a starting point in most cases. It would be wise to create a medical power of attorney and financial power of attorney, so that there is no fighting over who makes decisions when you’re incapacitated. You may need to set up a trust to manage assets for dependent children, if it won’t all be going to your spouse. A special needs trust must be set up correctly so that assets are held in it for the benefit of a disabled spouse or child.
Arranging the care of dependents can be difficult. If you have minor children, you should name several potential guardians. Note that they don’t have to be given authority to manage the assets you leave to provide for the children. If you have a disabled family member you’re providing for, you can draft documents to name alternate guardians or conservators.
An estate in a community property state like Arizona generally passes to the spouse. However, there’s always room for dispute. A good estate plan will minimize the potential conflict. It may include putting property in a trust so that it is passed to those you want and managed by a competent trusted adult in the interim. It may include updating beneficiary information on insurance policies, bank accounts and retirement plans. It can aid in the managing of your estate, too. For example, making an account payable on death to your executor / next of kin allows them to pay the bills while everything else is in probate.
A proper estate plan must include an Arizona-specific will using modern verbiage. If you have property in other states, consult with an attorney who can title property or create secondary wills to simplify settlement of your estate when you die.
Law Firm – Highly Qualified To Provide Accurate Counseling
Why Is There So Much Fear of Going Through Probate?
The classic funeral scene in soap operas perpetuates a number of myths about probate. No, your family won’t be asked to hear a reading of the will right after your funeral. No, your heirs don’t all have to be present for the will to be filed or executed. Your will could mandate that all of your property be liquidated to charity, and a well-written will or trust prevents them from fighting it. No, you shouldn’t disclose secrets you want to share as part of your will. (You can do that with letters given to your family upon your death, but you can tell them whenever you want, too.)
We’ve already addressed the major flaws in the popular perception of probate. However, there are legitimate reasons why people often fear probate. There are jokes that the only things that are inevitable are death and taxes. Your estate may be subject to an estate tax. You need good estate planning to be able to keep a family business running or keep a family farm in the family without forcing them to mortgage it to the hilt. You need good estate planning to prevent heirs from fighting with each other or draining the estate seeking more. Work with a good estate attorney so that your estate is properly divided among spouses, children, and exes while planning for paying your creditors.
Fighting over the assets both in and out of court can be minimized by a few strategic decisions made while you’re alive. One is reviewing the disposition of all of your assets, so that you don’t end up giving 80 percent to one family member because they’re a beneficiary on your accounts and get half of what is left. Update your will after you divorce or remarry, because you will create problems if your old estate plan conflicts with Arizona’s community property laws. Revise your will and trust to take the disability of your spouse, children or heirs into account. If someone isn’t currently mature or competent enough to handle things, set up a trust so that a young adult must demonstrate stability before they inherit assets. Then you won’t have adult children fighting over assets because one blew their inheritance.
Don’t try to evade probate by just signing a quit claim deed; this could trigger Medicaid claw back provisions or leave your heir with a hefty tax bill. Or you may simply end up with heirs struggling to pay the mortgage and your medical bills until probate is resolved, because you didn’t have a basic trust in place. Spare your family this unnecessary grief and work with a good Arizona estate planning attorney.
Probate Lawyer – 5-star Rated Reviews In Our AVVO & BBB Profiles
Trial Lawyer – Always Preparing Ourselves To Provide Outstanding Results
What Can and Cannot Be Done Via Wills
Wills are the foundational document for an estate plan. However, there are many myths and misconceptions over what can be done via a will.
What Can You Do Via a Will?
Wills are a tool for naming an executor. That person gains the authority to take over your bank accounts and pay off your debts. If there are assets left, they are supposed to distribute assets based on what is spelled out in the will.
Wills spell out how you want your property distributed without the matter having to be decided by a probate judge in most cases. A good will divides property based on your wishes while clearly excluding heirs you don’t want to inherit. You don’t have to give an emotional diatribe. Instead, simply say in legal verbiage that X gets nothing or that the financial gifts given during your life are their inheritance.
Wills can be used to name preferred guardians for your children. If you’re in declining health, you can even sign a guardianship agreement that gives someone legal custody (temporarily or permanently). Any named guardian will have priority when it comes to custody upon your death, unless there is a next of kin who would come first.
A will can be used to fund a trust, if things are set up property. You can also create a trust while you’re alive, though the will puts additional assets in it upon your death.
What Can’t Be Done Via Wills?
A will cannot override beneficiaries named in a 401K or insurance policy. This is why you should create a list of assets and their values as part of your estate plan. Determine who gets what. In practice, this may be done by naming them as the inheritor of the asset in your will or naming them as a beneficiary on the policy or account. Break down the total values, and ensure that the person named on your accounts doesn’t end up with the lion’s share unless that is your intent.
Wills won’t determine who makes decisions for you when you’re incapacitated. That is handled by living wills and power of attorney documents. These documents terminate upon your death. Then your will goes into effect.
Wills are not last confessions, though that term is sometimes used along with “last will and testament”. You can include handwritten or typed letters to be given to your family to express how you feel about them or want to tell them after you’ve passed. The will can say who should get these letters, if you write them. But the will doesn’t exist to be a love letter or final condemnation of someone.
Wills cannot be used to name someone to run your business during probate. That is only possible when there is a trustee of a trust that includes your business, including rental real estate.
Lawyer – Let’s Talk About Your Interests During Your First Consultation
Some of the Most Common Myths about Trusts
There are many myths about wills and trusts. Here are some of the most common as well as the truth about these estate planning tools.
A Will Creates a Trust
A will may result in a trust created on behalf of your minor heirs. A will does not create a trust while you’re alive, especially if you want to use it to bypass probate. On the other hand, simply creating a trust without funding it results in an empty and thus useless trust. Even a will that pours your assets into a trust must be written to reflect this, so that assets are put in the trust on behalf of minor heirs or special needs relatives instead of divided up among the living.
Trusts Let You Evade Taxes
Trusts can sometimes be used to reduce death taxes, such as when you put assets in a charitable trust that will pass to a charity upon your death. You could get a tax write-off the year you put those assets in the charitable trust. The law treats it like a massive charitable donation, though you may get income from the trust for the rest of your life.
As long as the trust is irrevocable, the assets are no longer yours. The assets will then pass on to your heirs outside of probate. In these cases, your estate isn’t hit with estate taxes, but your heirs may have to pay inheritance taxes. Any assets in the trust may be taxed, as well. For example, you still have to pay the property tax bill on a house inside of a trust, whether it is a living revocable trust or an irrevocable trust. In many cases, the trustee will file a tax return every year. If a business is held in a trust so it can continue to generate income during probate, the trustee may pay the necessary taxes.
Trusts Are Only Used to Evade Taxes
We’ve already mentioned how trusts may reduce estate taxes or tax liability. However, that’s not the primary reason people use them. They’re primarily used to avoid probate. This can help protect your family’s privacy, since anything argued in probate court becomes public record. It can minimize the potential conflict over the disposition of assets. It can ensure that assets are managed on behalf of disabled heirs, whether it is a special needs adult or minor children.
You Have to Be Rich to Need a Trust
Arizona allows for assets to be put in a trust for the sake of someone who is on Medicaid. There are trusts that can reduce your reported income to the point where you qualify for Medicaid-paid nursing home care. A Medicaid asset protection trust could also ensure that the surviving spouse isn’t thrown into poverty by the medical bills generated by a disabled spouse in a nursing home. This population is only one step above the poverty line. Those reliant on special needs trusts are often living off of Social Security Disability Income.
Insurance Lawyer – Schedule An Appointment With Us Today
The Intersection of Wills, Trusts & Medicaid
Estate planning can involve planning the disposition of your property and your burial after your death. The most minimal estate plan is drafting a will and updating your accounts to reflect your wishes. Long-term care planning is planning for your care any time you end up in long-term care; Medicaid may be part of your long-term care planning, though this may only be possible with the creation of certain types of trusts.
Wills & Medicaid
Your will says who you want to get your house and your fine china. However, the will may be null and void if there is nothing left after your creditors are paid. If you enter a nursing home paid for by Medicaid, the state can often seize your assets to get reimbursed for the cost of providing care. You can avoid this by planning the transfer of assets many years in advance or by creating the right kinds of trusts.
Long-Term Care & Medicaid
Arizona has something called a Miller Trust. The Miller Trust is used to hold assets above the income threshold for qualifying for Medicaid. For example, you can set up the trust so that you keep your pension up to the qualifying limit for Medicaid. The rest of the money goes into a Miller trust. Then you qualify for Medicaid for long-term care. The trust is set up so that the balance is paid to the state of Arizona upon your death. These qualified income trusts or income only trusts allow those who otherwise earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but don’t have enough money to pay for long-term care to have access to nursing homes and home healthcare paid for by the state.
Trusts & Medicaid
We’ve already mentioned Miller Trusts. Another group that often relies on Medicare and may be the recipient of a trust is special needs adults. A special needs trust can be set up for anyone who is not able to manage their own financial matters. The ALTCS special needs trust is set up so that the special needs adult doesn’t lose federal or Arizona state benefits. The trust money can be used to pay for things Medicaid won’t like school tuition, fees for lessons, and orthodontics. Note that these are all additional costs beyond providing essential care; that’s why these trusts are called supplemental needs trusts. This type of trust can be used to receive an insurance settlement or inheritance without them losing the benefits they’re receiving.
Sun City, Arizona, and the adjacent Sun City West, is known as the “Fun City” of Arizona according to many in the area. On the city’s official website, it is even described as a city that incorporates the leisurely and pleasant aspects of life. It is a place for adults to live and thrive peacefully, where golfing on a weekday afternoon is as important to the daily schedule as picking up your grandkids from school. What is Sun City, however, and how did it get its reputation?
The Rich History of Sun City, Arizona
Sun City, Arizona has been around since the 1960s. It started with humble yet promising beginnings which included a handful of home models, the notable golf course that highlights the charm of the cheerful city, a recreation center, and a cluster of shops. It was built with the intention of attracting those who wished to retire in a beautiful and calm environment. Full of potential, the city ultimately flourished into what it is today.
Time magazine covered this blossoming city in 1962. Sun City, Arizona was featured right on the front cover, encapsulating its charm and appeal. This magazine bonanza was triggered by an alarming influx of 100,000 citizens moving in the opening week of the city’s foundation. What was once a literal ghost town, Marinette, now beckoned the beginning of a lifetime of peacefully retiring couples and singles ready to lay down their roots. It was a marvelous sight, and it continues to this day.
Who Lives in Sun City, Arizona?
Delving into the demographics of Sun City, there is a population just shy of thirty-nine thousand in this laid-back community. There are roughly two and a half thousand people per square mile, and the housing market is thriving with total households in the area averaging around twenty-three thousand. With almost twenty-eight thousand housing units in the area, that leaves quite a bit of wiggle room for the potential buyer. Half of this population includes mature, married couples, while the other half is primarily made up of nonfamily individuals. This is a place for families and individuals alike to retire to a relaxing, beautiful home in sunny Arizona.
What Gives Sun City, Arizona its Appeal?
Sun City boasts a lifetime of leisure and showcases this through its expansive sporting and recreation scene. It is riddled with lovely hiking trails, sewing communities, aerobic centers, and its ever-popular golf courses. In addition to these amenities, there are clubs, invigorating concerts, and fun-filled daily activities to enjoy. It is a paradise that you can enjoy any day you like. Every day, you can experience something new and different!
If you don’t want to busy yourself with human interaction, never fear! Arizona is known for its expansive national parks, natural and unique landscapes, and national monuments. Take a day and explore what Arizona has to offer, then come home and sink into your favorite chair while watching the sun go down over the Sun City horizon. What more could you want in a home, a community, or a lifestyle?
Driving Directions to Keystone Law Firm
Estate Planning Lawyer – Get A Real Good Representation The One That You Deserve
What Estate Planning Entails
Estate planning is the process of planning for your death. While it includes burial planning, a good estate plan involves far more than that. What does estate planning entail?
In most cases, estate planning includes:
- Arranging appropriate insurance coverage
- Creating legal documents so that your wishes are carried out upon your death
- Arranging for the care of dependents
- Making sure property flows as seamlessly as possible to your heirs
Insurance coverage is often part of someone’s estate plan, because the life insurance is necessary to pay a number of bills after your death. You should have enough life insurance to pay off all of your debts, pay for your burial, and cover survivors’ financial needs through the grieving process. A better option is having life insurance payouts large enough to be invested and replace your income and pay any applicable estate taxes.
Estate planning starts with a will, though that’s only a starting point in most cases. It would be wise to create a medical power of attorney and financial power of attorney, so that there is no fighting over who makes decisions when you’re incapacitated. You may need to set up a trust to manage assets for dependent children, if it won’t all be going to your spouse. A special needs trust must be set up correctly so that assets are held in it for the benefit of a disabled spouse or child.
Arranging the care of dependents can be difficult. If you have minor children, you should name several potential guardians. Note that they don’t have to be given authority to manage the assets you leave to provide for the children. If you have a disabled family member you’re providing for, you can draft documents to name alternate guardians or conservators.
An estate in a community property state like Arizona generally passes to the spouse. However, there’s always room for dispute. A good estate plan will minimize the potential conflict. It may include putting property in a trust so that it is passed to those you want and managed by a competent trusted adult in the interim. It may include updating beneficiary information on insurance policies, bank accounts and retirement plans. It can aid in the managing of your estate, too. For example, making an account payable on death to your executor / next of kin allows them to pay the bills while everything else is in probate.
A proper estate plan must include an Arizona-specific will using modern verbiage. If you have property in other states, consult with an attorney who can title property or create secondary wills to simplify settlement of your estate when you die.
Law Firm – Highly Qualified To Provide Accurate Counseling
Why Is There So Much Fear of Going Through Probate?
The classic funeral scene in soap operas perpetuates a number of myths about probate. No, your family won’t be asked to hear a reading of the will right after your funeral. No, your heirs don’t all have to be present for the will to be filed or executed. Your will could mandate that all of your property be liquidated to charity, and a well-written will or trust prevents them from fighting it. No, you shouldn’t disclose secrets you want to share as part of your will. (You can do that with letters given to your family upon your death, but you can tell them whenever you want, too.)
We’ve already addressed the major flaws in the popular perception of probate. However, there are legitimate reasons why people often fear probate. There are jokes that the only things that are inevitable are death and taxes. Your estate may be subject to an estate tax. You need good estate planning to be able to keep a family business running or keep a family farm in the family without forcing them to mortgage it to the hilt. You need good estate planning to prevent heirs from fighting with each other or draining the estate seeking more. Work with a good estate attorney so that your estate is properly divided among spouses, children, and exes while planning for paying your creditors.
Fighting over the assets both in and out of court can be minimized by a few strategic decisions made while you’re alive. One is reviewing the disposition of all of your assets, so that you don’t end up giving 80 percent to one family member because they’re a beneficiary on your accounts and get half of what is left. Update your will after you divorce or remarry, because you will create problems if your old estate plan conflicts with Arizona’s community property laws. Revise your will and trust to take the disability of your spouse, children or heirs into account. If someone isn’t currently mature or competent enough to handle things, set up a trust so that a young adult must demonstrate stability before they inherit assets. Then you won’t have adult children fighting over assets because one blew their inheritance.
Don’t try to evade probate by just signing a quit claim deed; this could trigger Medicaid claw back provisions or leave your heir with a hefty tax bill. Or you may simply end up with heirs struggling to pay the mortgage and your medical bills until probate is resolved, because you didn’t have a basic trust in place. Spare your family this unnecessary grief and work with a good Arizona estate planning attorney.
Probate Lawyer – 5-star Rated Reviews In Our AVVO & BBB Profiles
Trial Lawyer – Always Preparing Ourselves To Provide Outstanding Results
What Can and Cannot Be Done Via Wills
Wills are the foundational document for an estate plan. However, there are many myths and misconceptions over what can be done via a will.
What Can You Do Via a Will?
Wills are a tool for naming an executor. That person gains the authority to take over your bank accounts and pay off your debts. If there are assets left, they are supposed to distribute assets based on what is spelled out in the will.
Wills spell out how you want your property distributed without the matter having to be decided by a probate judge in most cases. A good will divides property based on your wishes while clearly excluding heirs you don’t want to inherit. You don’t have to give an emotional diatribe. Instead, simply say in legal verbiage that X gets nothing or that the financial gifts given during your life are their inheritance.
Wills can be used to name preferred guardians for your children. If you’re in declining health, you can even sign a guardianship agreement that gives someone legal custody (temporarily or permanently). Any named guardian will have priority when it comes to custody upon your death, unless there is a next of kin who would come first.
A will can be used to fund a trust, if things are set up property. You can also create a trust while you’re alive, though the will puts additional assets in it upon your death.
What Can’t Be Done Via Wills?
A will cannot override beneficiaries named in a 401K or insurance policy. This is why you should create a list of assets and their values as part of your estate plan. Determine who gets what. In practice, this may be done by naming them as the inheritor of the asset in your will or naming them as a beneficiary on the policy or account. Break down the total values, and ensure that the person named on your accounts doesn’t end up with the lion’s share unless that is your intent.
Wills won’t determine who makes decisions for you when you’re incapacitated. That is handled by living wills and power of attorney documents. These documents terminate upon your death. Then your will goes into effect.
Wills are not last confessions, though that term is sometimes used along with “last will and testament”. You can include handwritten or typed letters to be given to your family to express how you feel about them or want to tell them after you’ve passed. The will can say who should get these letters, if you write them. But the will doesn’t exist to be a love letter or final condemnation of someone.
Wills cannot be used to name someone to run your business during probate. That is only possible when there is a trustee of a trust that includes your business, including rental real estate.
Lawyer – Let’s Talk About Your Interests During Your First Consultation
Some of the Most Common Myths about Trusts
There are many myths about wills and trusts. Here are some of the most common as well as the truth about these estate planning tools.
A Will Creates a Trust
A will may result in a trust created on behalf of your minor heirs. A will does not create a trust while you’re alive, especially if you want to use it to bypass probate. On the other hand, simply creating a trust without funding it results in an empty and thus useless trust. Even a will that pours your assets into a trust must be written to reflect this, so that assets are put in the trust on behalf of minor heirs or special needs relatives instead of divided up among the living.
Trusts Let You Evade Taxes
Trusts can sometimes be used to reduce death taxes, such as when you put assets in a charitable trust that will pass to a charity upon your death. You could get a tax write-off the year you put those assets in the charitable trust. The law treats it like a massive charitable donation, though you may get income from the trust for the rest of your life.
As long as the trust is irrevocable, the assets are no longer yours. The assets will then pass on to your heirs outside of probate. In these cases, your estate isn’t hit with estate taxes, but your heirs may have to pay inheritance taxes. Any assets in the trust may be taxed, as well. For example, you still have to pay the property tax bill on a house inside of a trust, whether it is a living revocable trust or an irrevocable trust. In many cases, the trustee will file a tax return every year. If a business is held in a trust so it can continue to generate income during probate, the trustee may pay the necessary taxes.
Trusts Are Only Used to Evade Taxes
We’ve already mentioned how trusts may reduce estate taxes or tax liability. However, that’s not the primary reason people use them. They’re primarily used to avoid probate. This can help protect your family’s privacy, since anything argued in probate court becomes public record. It can minimize the potential conflict over the disposition of assets. It can ensure that assets are managed on behalf of disabled heirs, whether it is a special needs adult or minor children.
You Have to Be Rich to Need a Trust
Arizona allows for assets to be put in a trust for the sake of someone who is on Medicaid. There are trusts that can reduce your reported income to the point where you qualify for Medicaid-paid nursing home care. A Medicaid asset protection trust could also ensure that the surviving spouse isn’t thrown into poverty by the medical bills generated by a disabled spouse in a nursing home. This population is only one step above the poverty line. Those reliant on special needs trusts are often living off of Social Security Disability Income.
Insurance Lawyer – Schedule An Appointment With Us Today
The Intersection of Wills, Trusts & Medicaid
Estate planning can involve planning the disposition of your property and your burial after your death. The most minimal estate plan is drafting a will and updating your accounts to reflect your wishes. Long-term care planning is planning for your care any time you end up in long-term care; Medicaid may be part of your long-term care planning, though this may only be possible with the creation of certain types of trusts.
Wills & Medicaid
Your will says who you want to get your house and your fine china. However, the will may be null and void if there is nothing left after your creditors are paid. If you enter a nursing home paid for by Medicaid, the state can often seize your assets to get reimbursed for the cost of providing care. You can avoid this by planning the transfer of assets many years in advance or by creating the right kinds of trusts.
Long-Term Care & Medicaid
Arizona has something called a Miller Trust. The Miller Trust is used to hold assets above the income threshold for qualifying for Medicaid. For example, you can set up the trust so that you keep your pension up to the qualifying limit for Medicaid. The rest of the money goes into a Miller trust. Then you qualify for Medicaid for long-term care. The trust is set up so that the balance is paid to the state of Arizona upon your death. These qualified income trusts or income only trusts allow those who otherwise earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but don’t have enough money to pay for long-term care to have access to nursing homes and home healthcare paid for by the state.
Trusts & Medicaid
We’ve already mentioned Miller Trusts. Another group that often relies on Medicare and may be the recipient of a trust is special needs adults. A special needs trust can be set up for anyone who is not able to manage their own financial matters. The ALTCS special needs trust is set up so that the special needs adult doesn’t lose federal or Arizona state benefits. The trust money can be used to pay for things Medicaid won’t like school tuition, fees for lessons, and orthodontics. Note that these are all additional costs beyond providing essential care; that’s why these trusts are called supplemental needs trusts. This type of trust can be used to receive an insurance settlement or inheritance without them losing the benefits they’re receiving.
Sun City, Arizona, and the adjacent Sun City West, is known as the “Fun City” of Arizona according to many in the area. On the city’s official website, it is even described as a city that incorporates the leisurely and pleasant aspects of life. It is a place for adults to live and thrive peacefully, where golfing on a weekday afternoon is as important to the daily schedule as picking up your grandkids from school. What is Sun City, however, and how did it get its reputation?
The Rich History of Sun City, Arizona
Sun City, Arizona has been around since the 1960s. It started with humble yet promising beginnings which included a handful of home models, the notable golf course that highlights the charm of the cheerful city, a recreation center, and a cluster of shops. It was built with the intention of attracting those who wished to retire in a beautiful and calm environment. Full of potential, the city ultimately flourished into what it is today.
Time magazine covered this blossoming city in 1962. Sun City, Arizona was featured right on the front cover, encapsulating its charm and appeal. This magazine bonanza was triggered by an alarming influx of 100,000 citizens moving in the opening week of the city’s foundation. What was once a literal ghost town, Marinette, now beckoned the beginning of a lifetime of peacefully retiring couples and singles ready to lay down their roots. It was a marvelous sight, and it continues to this day.
Who Lives in Sun City, Arizona?
Delving into the demographics of Sun City, there is a population just shy of thirty-nine thousand in this laid-back community. There are roughly two and a half thousand people per square mile, and the housing market is thriving with total households in the area averaging around twenty-three thousand. With almost twenty-eight thousand housing units in the area, that leaves quite a bit of wiggle room for the potential buyer. Half of this population includes mature, married couples, while the other half is primarily made up of nonfamily individuals. This is a place for families and individuals alike to retire to a relaxing, beautiful home in sunny Arizona.
What Gives Sun City, Arizona its Appeal?
Sun City boasts a lifetime of leisure and showcases this through its expansive sporting and recreation scene. It is riddled with lovely hiking trails, sewing communities, aerobic centers, and its ever-popular golf courses. In addition to these amenities, there are clubs, invigorating concerts, and fun-filled daily activities to enjoy. It is a paradise that you can enjoy any day you like. Every day, you can experience something new and different!
If you don’t want to busy yourself with human interaction, never fear! Arizona is known for its expansive national parks, natural and unique landscapes, and national monuments. Take a day and explore what Arizona has to offer, then come home and sink into your favorite chair while watching the sun go down over the Sun City horizon. What more could you want in a home, a community, or a lifestyle?
Driving Directions to Keystone Law Firm
