Keep the peace after you die through good estate planning while you're alive
June 1st, 2021 by admin
Here are some best practices for handling an estate administration/asset distribution, with proper direction in wills and trusts, which will save money and maybe some hurt feelings in your family.
The parents’ homeplace
Parents often want to leave their assets, including their home, to their family members when both have passed away. With some exception, the homeplace is sold when both parents have passed, and the net proceeds are divided. But issues do arise in which the children (and their spouses) have different ideas about which Realtor to use, what the listing price should be and whether an offer to buy the home should be accepted or not. These issues can create unnecessary time delays and expenses that you can avoid if you provide a plan in your documents.
If you anticipate any disagreement among your inheriting family members, let the executor/trustee make these decisions, although in close consultation with other family members who inherit, of course. But it really makes sense to have a decider on these key points if there is any disagreement.
The old farm
Many families have parents who grew up in a more rural area, and the children move to a larger community. The parents may have a partial or whole ownership of their parents’ family farm. One or more of the inheriting family members may have their home on part of the property. They get to the public road on an old road. But there is no consensus about what happens when more and more family members have no significant sentimental attachment to the old farm. By now, of course, there are more generations of adult children (and spouses).
How do you get all the family members to agree to sell the old farm, protect the home and access of one family to the public highway with a separate deed and right of way which are duly recorded, and decide any other necessary issues?
Be mindful that the farm may need to be surveyed to address these and other issues, which will take some time and expense. But a current survey is worth it, if only to get a fully current understanding of the actual acreage.
Decide what to do to address these issues squarely now, rather than later. Family members get scattered, some of them are having family challenges of their own, and it is hard to get a consensus to resolve this looming problem.
Listen to your estate-planning lawyer when they suggest you address these issues while you can. The expense of not addressing them while they are reasonably solvable, and the adverse family impact of not addressing them when you can, will likely be high.
Personal property keepsakes
What about items of personal property of special value? You can list items directly in your will or trust, or you can prepare an attachment regarding your wishes about who gets what. This attachment (which we lawyers name a bit clunkily as “Personal Property Memorandum,”) can direct the division of personal items. Generally, the wishes of the decedent carry their own “moral imperative” (my phrase). But if you want to avoid differences among surviving family members, have your lawyer list the main personal property items (wedding rings, jewelry of a grandparent, and the like) in the will or trust so they are legally binding. And clearly communicate your decisions so there are no misunderstandings.
In the next column we will address other common issues, such as the importance of naming current alternate agents in your documents, reviewing beneficiary designations of non-probate assets, and other practical suggestions which will save you and your loved ones a lot of steps and money.
Remember: An informed choice is a smart choice.
This article was originally written by Mike Wells and published by the Winston-Salem Journal. To read the full article, visit the Winston-Salem Journal online here. Posted in: WS Journal Articles