What Are The Benefits to Having a Living Trust?
April 3, 2008 | 1 Comment
I recently met with some representatives from a local bank here in Memphis who want to begin referring all of their clients who need trusts and estate planning to our firm. During this conversation the branch manager asked me this question. “What are the benefits to having a trust”? The following is a synopsis of my answer to his question regarding Memphis trusts and estate planning needs and their benefits.
There are quite a few benefits to having a living trust over just a simple will. These benefits include saving time, money and having the ability for your wishes to continued long after your death.
The first big benefit is time. Estates in Memphis that are governed by a will must have the will validated through the court system. This means you must submit the will to the Memphis probate court to have it approved before any assets can pass to the beneficiaries. Doing this can take anywhere from six months all the way to two years. And while this time is passing the ownership of the property and assets is in limbo and can’t be sold or transferred.
Because the property can’t be transferred or sold a hardship could occur if the property has a mortgage on it. This means that the beneficiaries could be stuck paying the mortgage for quite some time until the will is fully probated.
The second benefit of a living trust is it can save lots of money in probate fees. Probating an estate is not cheap. Memphis probate fees can run anywhere from 2% to 5% of the total gross value of the estate and are the first fees that are paid by the estate
The third benefit of a Memphis living trust is that you don’t have to worry about it being contested. A simple will can be contested by anyone who thinks her or she should receive something from the estate of the deceased. All they have to do is go down to Adams Street and petition the Memphis Probate court for the item. Once this occurs the judge decides whether they should have it or not. Almost anything in a will can be contested, even the guardianship of minor children can be contested.
How to Contest a Will
January 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I ran across a great post from fellow Mississippi lawyer and blogger Ronald Morton.
Here is an excerpt from his post on discussing how to contest a will in Mississippi.
“The following are the situations in which a will may be contested:
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- Mental incapacity. You may contest a will if you believe your loved one did not have the mental capacity to write the will. The best way to prove this is with a statement from a doctor who examined your loved one around the time he or she wrote the will. You may also use medical records and other witnesses who were around your loved one at the time.
- Undue Influence. If you believe another person exerted undue influence over your loved one and induced your loved one to change the distribution under his or her will, you may contest the will based on undue influence. Generally, the person contesting the will is required to prove the person exerted undue influence. However, if the person had a fiduciary relationship with your loved one, that person may have to prove that there was no undue influence. People who might have a fiduciary relationship include a child, a spouse, or someone with a power of attorney.
Click HERE to continue reading Ronald’s post on this topic.
Will Contests Featured on Dr. Phil Show Today
November 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment
The November 13, 2007 episode of the Dr. Phil show will be all about will contests and estate planning blunders. For all of you out there who wonder if people really fight over wills this should be your chance get an earful.
The teaser for the show identified four sisters who were bitterly embattled in a will contest for the $400,000 inheritance left by an aunt. It seems that the aunt went away to stay with one of the sisters immediately before passing away, and during that time the original will was changed (this is a called a codicil to a will) in a way so that the sister and her kids received quite a large proportion of the estate.
This brings up an interesting question that each and every one of you should be thinking about when doing your estate planning here in Tennessee and Mississippi. Are you sure that your heirs will not be fighting over what you leave them in your will? Probably not.
This is another reason why almost everyone should seriously be considering having a Mississippi lawyer or Tennnessee Lawyer create a living trust for them. If a living trust had been in place for the Aunt all of the bickering, hurt feelings and very costly legal fees would have been avoided.
To find out more information about how the Ferrell Law Firm can help you with your Memphis living trust or Mississippi living trust give us a call today at 901-881-6352.
